Jiji Press

Govt Asks Prefectures to Secure Hotels as Shelters

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
A Cabinet Office building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

Jiji Press

10:30 JST, January 21, 2026

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The government has asked prefectures to lead efforts to secure hotels as shelters during large-scale disasters.

Guidelines drawn up by the Cabinet Office call on local officials, mainly in prefectural governments, to work to secure accommodation and match it with evacuees.

The guidelines suggest that local governments select such hotels in normal times, while ensuring that shopping facilities and hospitals are located nearby to improve living conditions for evacuees.

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The Cabinet Office also advises local governments to list hotels based on whether rooms are barrier-free and if evacuees can use them continuously for a certain period.

Local governments are also advised to confirm whether meals are provided and whether pets are allowed.

After a disaster occurs, local government officials will visit designated shelters and individual homes to find out whether people want to move to hotels.

After a powerful earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in January 2024, some evacuees left hotels used as shelters without informing anyone, making their whereabouts unknown.

Such actions could leave local governments unable to deliver information on support measures for residents in disaster-hit areas.