Press Releases
Resolution on World Tsunami Awareness Day Proposed by Japan Adopted at the Second Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (Statement by Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida）
1. The Government of Japan highly welcomes that the resolution to establish the World Tsunami Awareness Day was adopted by consensus at the Second Committee of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York on December 5 (December 4 local time).
2. This resolution was jointly proposed by 142 countries, including Japan, as a follow up to the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It designates November 5 as the World Tsunami Awareness Day and has considerable significance. Japan hopes that as a result of this resolution, interest in the threat of tsunami will increase and progress will be made with tsunami countermeasures worldwide.
3. Through the implementation of this resolution, the Government of Japan will contribute to protecting as many precious lives as possible worldwide.
(References)
1. The specific content of the draft resolution includes: (1) November 5 shall be designated as the World Tsunami Awareness Day; (2) the significance of preparedness for disasters through early warning systems, the utilization of traditional knowledge and Build Back Better (BBB) as well as the prompt dissemination of information are recognized; and (3) all member countries, organizations and individuals shall be asked to observe the World Tsunami Awareness Day in an appropriate manner in order to enhance awareness of tsunami.
2. The designation of November 5 derives from "Inamura no Hi" (the burning of rice sheaves), an anecdote about a villager who issued an early warning when a large tsunami occurred in Wakayama Prefecture on November 5, 1854 by setting fire to rice sheaves he had harvested himself, saving the lives of the villagers by making them evacuate and working to build the affected areas back better.