Record typhoons, biblical floods, heatwaves, landslides and earthquakes: this summer, Japan really has seen it all and images of the destruction caused have been beamed around the world. More than 220 died in floods in July mainly because “less than one percent of people affected by local evacuation recommendations actually went to the shelters, thinking that there would not be a problem,” notes Jean-Francois Heimburger, an expert on natural disasters in the country. Unlike in other countries, even the highest levels of evacuation orders in Japan are not compulsory and the vast majority of people ignore them.
