Safety tips is a Japan Tourism Agency–copyrighted safety information website and push-notification app designed mainly for international travelers in Japan. The app sends real-time alerts such as Earthquake Early Warnings, tsunami and weather warnings, and provides what-to-do guidance. It also supports multilingual risk communication, including phrase cards and linked official information sources. The site includes step-by-step emergency procedures (e.g., earthquake, tsunami, evacuation info, heat stroke alerts).
Map
Safety Tips for Travelers
General information
Safety tips combines a traveler-focused safety website and a push-alert smartphone app to help people in Japan react quickly during hazards.
It provides multilingual alerts (e.g., earthquake/tsunami/weather) and practical guidance such as evacuation flowcharts and helpful phrases for communicating locally.
The emergency section organizes procedures to follow for multiple scenarios (earthquake, tsunami warnings, evacuation information, volcanic warnings, heat stroke alerts).
Japan faces frequent natural hazards; Safety tips is positioned as a risk-communication and early-warning companion for visitors who may struggle with language barriers or unfamiliar alert systems.
The platform emphasizes acting based on accurate official information and directs users to public agencies and transport operators for updates during emergencies.
Its emergency content is structured as simple decision paths (e.g., “Where are you now?” during an earthquake; type of tsunami warning; evacuation alert levels), supporting quick action under stress.
Status
Purpose
Topics For Preparedness
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Geographical Scope
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
Safety tips addresses the problem that foreign travelers may not receive, understand, or trust urgent alerts during disasters in Japan. It reduces language and information barriers by pushing official-type warnings and pairing them with clear “what to do now” guidance, communication aids, and curated links to authoritative sources.
In Japan, groups that can be more vulnerable during emergencies include children, older adults, and people with disabilities who may require assistance with mobility, communication, or medical needs. For Safety tips specifically, the most directly addressed group is international visitors (a “migrant/foreign” population in practice), because the service provides multilingual alerts and communication support that help overcome language barriers when seeking instructions, evacuation routes, or medical help.
Japan’s disaster governance is multi-level: national government sets core policy and coordination (Cabinet Office and national councils), while prefectures and municipalities have defined responsibilities and plans. The system is also multi-stakeholder, involving designated public institutions/corporations, utilities, media, experts, and community-level planning structures.
Japan has an advanced, institutionalized disaster management framework, anchored in the Basic Act on Disaster Management and supported by national and local disaster management plans and coordination mechanisms. National structures (e.g., Cabinet Office, national disaster councils) and warning providers like the Japan Meteorological Agency underpin preparedness through planning, coordination, and issuance of warnings for major hazards.
Japan’s readiness is generally high and resilience-oriented, with extensive warning/alert infrastructure and strong national coordination capacities for large-scale emergencies. The presence of mature systems for issuing and disseminating emergency warnings (e.g., JMA’s emergency warnings for extraordinary events) and nationwide disaster management coordination supports an “advanced resilient” classification, even though risk cannot be eliminated.
To ensure users receive timely, understandable, actionable safety information, enabling fast protective actions (e.g., evacuate, seek shelter, follow official instructions) and reducing confusion for non-Japanese speakers.
Push notifications for warnings, in-app “what to do” flowcharts, scenario-based web guidance (earthquake/tsunami/evacuation/weather/heat), downloadable phrase/communication cards, and curated links to official sources.
Users do not influence public decisions, but they gain individual decision-making capacity: the service helps them interpret alert types and choose immediate actions (shelter/evacuate/seek information), especially through structured guidance paths (e.g., tsunami warning categories, evacuation alert levels).
Capacity-building is provided through repeated exposure to standardized warnings and procedural guidance, plus communication tools that help users navigate emergencies even without Japanese language skills. Over time, this can improve preparedness behaviors (knowing alert levels, evacuation concepts, and where to find reliable information).
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
- Multilingual push alerts for major hazards (earthquake early warnings, tsunami, weather, etc.).
- Action flowcharts tailored to user context (e.g., inside a building vs. outside during an earthquake).
- Downloadable helpful phrase/communication cards to interact with locals and services.
- Safety tips API to distribute the same disaster information through other applications (ecosystem approach).
English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese.
Japan Tourism Agency (primary public owner/oversight), with distribution through the “Safety tips for travelers” platform and app channels; technical delivery supported via app/API infrastructure.
Japan Tourism Agency is a government-supervised/public-agency and therefore has experience in DRRM.
- Japan Tourism Agency (oversight/copyright),
- JNTO as distributor/host domain, warning-information providers (e.g., Japan Meteorological Agency)
- Third-party app/services integrating via the Safety tips API.
- User downloads the app and selects language/settings; enables notifications.
- When hazards occur, the app pushes alerts (EEW/tsunami/weather/other) and shows guidance on what to do.
- User follows scenario guidance (earthquake/tsunami/evacuation levels) and uses phrase cards if needed.
- For partners, third-party apps can integrate the Safety tips API to relay the same information.
For end users: a smartphone and connectivity for timely updates (INFO NOT AVAILABLE for detailed technical requirements beyond OS compatibility).
For system delivery: ongoing public-sector maintenance/coordination and information feeds (high-level only; detailed budgets are INFO NOT AVAILABLE)
Ongoing service model: continuous operation with regular updating of warning categories, guidance content, and external links. Specific project phases, milestones, and monitoring KPIs are INFO NOT AVAILABLE on the pages reviewed, but the structure implies continuous monitoring because warnings and advisories are delivered in real time.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
Information on it is not available.
Likely challenges include ensuring reliable push delivery, maintaining accurate multilingual terminology, keeping guidance aligned with evolving alert systems (e.g., evacuation alert levels), and encouraging adoption by short-stay visitors. The platform mitigates comprehension issues by using simple decision trees, downloadable phrase cards, and by steering users toward official sources for situational updates.
INFO NOT AVAILABLE (no explicit “risk & mitigation plan” document on the Safety tips pages viewed).
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
Information on it is not available.
High scalability is implied by:
- Nationwide applicability
- Multilingual content
- The Safety tips API enabling integration into external apps (scaling distribution without rebuilding core data pipelines).
Smart, adaptive features include real-time push alerts, scenario-based guidance flows, multilingual communication support, and an API layer for ecosystem integration.
Information on it is not available.
Information on it is not available.
- Language was the main barrier, so providing multilingual alerts and instructions is essential for effective response by international visitors.
- Warnings alone were not enough: pairing alerts with immediate, step-by-step “what to do” guidance improves user action and reduces confusion.
- In real emergencies, short decision paths/flowcharts outperform long text, because users need fast, low-cognitive-load instructions.
- Credibility depends on official alignment: linking/anchoring information to authoritative sources strengthens trust and usability.