Japan Data

No Signal: Survey in Japan Raises Concerns over Smartphones as Disaster Lifelines

Society Disaster

Smartphones have become the go-to communication tool for many Japanese households in case disaster strikes. However, a recent survey highlighted the need to be prepared for issues with connecting.
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Calling Home

As more and more households in Japan rely on comprehensive communication apps on smartphones for day-to-day correspondence, children have less need to remember their parents’ mobile phones numbers, which some experts say may become a serious issue if an earthquake or other calamity strikes.

In February, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance surveyed 1,000 mothers about whether their elementary school-aged children had their mobile number memorized. Only 25.6% of respondents with children in the first to third grades and 31.8% with children in the fourth to sixth grades said that the children could or probably could recite their mothers’ mobile phone number from memory. Around 60% of mothers acknowledged that their child did not know the number by heart.

Does your child know your mobile phone number?

Low Awareness of Emergency Message Service

The method respondents intended to rely on most for contacting children during a disaster was comprehensive communication smartphone apps like Line at 25.8%. Directly calling mobile phones (smartphones or junior mobile phones) was third at 13.0%, with roughly 40% of respondents depending on smartphones. Only 2.5% of respondents chose Disaster Emergency Message Dial (171), a disaster voice message board provided by telecommunications company NTT, while 40% of households had no plan in place at all.

Means of Communicating During a Disaster

Disaster Emergency Message Dial allows people to use telephone and mobile phone numbers to record and play back messages to check the safety of loved ones or confirm meeting places during a disaster. Awareness of the service was high among respondents at 65.6%, However, only 20.5% knew how to use it and just 11.4% had set a household specific four-digit PIN, which can be used to record and play back private messages.

Disaster Emergency Message Dial (171)

NTT allows people to practice using the service on the first and fifteenth of every month as well as other set periods throughout the year and encourages households to use these times to become familiar with the different features so as to be ready in case disaster strikes.

Data Sources

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)

smartphone disaster