In order to ensure supplies of daily necessities such as drinking water, food, medical supplies, and materials and machinery necessary for disaster recovery and emergency countermeasures, local public bodies hold official stores.
Especially since the great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, quantities of stockpiles are dramatically increasing. The situation as of April 1st 1996, with regard to stockpiles held by local public bodies is shown in Chart 11.
A total of 1,431 warehouses in 44 prefectures and 11,623 warehouses in 270 municipalities have been set up to store stockpiles.
In addition a total of 239 warehouses are rented by 16 prefectures, and 876 warehouses are rented by 106 municipalities.
