05m 00s

"New Evacuation Plan Aims to Leave No Person Behind in the Event Mt. Fuji Erupts"

Learn Japanese from the News

Broadcast on May 1, 2023 Available until April 30, 2024

Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News." In this program we learn Japanese and more about Japan from news stories presented in simple Japanese. Today's headline is "New Evacuation Plan Aims to Leave No Person Behind in the Event Mt. Fuji Erupts" which was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on March 30, 2023. Keywords include「避難する(ひなんする)hinan suru」"evacuate" and「警戒レベル(けいかいれべる)keekai-reberu」"alert level."

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[Transcript]

"New Evacuation Plan Aims to Leave No Person Behind in the Event Mt. Fuji Erupts"


 
Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News."

Join us as we learn Japanese and about the country through Japanese news stories. Today's headline is…

富士山(ふじさん)が噴火(ふんか)したとき「避難(ひなん)が遅(おく)れる人(ひと)をなくす」 新(あたら)しい計画(けいかく)

"New Evacuation Plan Aims to Leave No Person Behind in the Event Mt. Fuji Erupts"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on March 30th.

Mt. Fuji is the symbol of Japan known for its scenic beauty. But many people don't realize that it's actually an active volcano that could erupt at any time.

Let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.

避難(ひなん)する
evacuate

警戒(けいかい)レベル
alert level

Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.

「富士山(ふじさん)が噴火(ふんか)したとき、どのように避難(ひなん)するか、静岡県(しずおかけん)や山梨県(やまなしけん)、神奈川県(かながわけん)などが新(あたら)しい計画(けいかく)を発表(はっぴょう)しました。
避難(ひなん)が必要(ひつよう)な人(ひと)は、3つの県(けん)に住(す)んでいる約(やく)80万人(まんにん)です。噴火(ふんか)の前(まえ)、地震(じしん)が増(ふ)えた場合(ばあい)などは、気象庁(きしょうちょう)が「噴火警戒(ふんかけいかい)レベル」を上(あ)げます。レベルが上(あ)がったら、親戚(しんせき)の家(いえ)やホテルなどに避難(ひなん)します。
人口(じんこう)が多(おお)い所(ところ)では、みんなが車(くるま)で避難(ひなん)すると、道(みち)が混(こ)んで避難(ひなん)が遅(おく)れる心配(しんぱい)があります。このため、お年寄(としよ)りなど以外(いがい)は、歩(ある)いて避難(ひなん)します。
富士山(ふじさん)に登(のぼ)っている人(ひと)は、気象庁(きしょうちょう)が臨時(りんじ)の情報(じょうほう)を出(だ)したら、「噴火警戒(ふんかけいかい)レベル」がいちばん低(ひく)いレベル1でも、山(やま)を下(お)ります。
3つの県(けん)の市(し)や町(まち)などは、これからもっと細(こま)かい避難(ひなん)の計画(けいかく)を作(つく)ります。」

A new plan was unveiled that aims to leave no one behind in the event Mount Fuji erupts. It affects about 800,000 people living in the surrounding areas, in addition to climbers and tourists.

Now we'll break down a few sentences from the story that contain helpful expressions and keywords.
Let's start with the following sentence:

富士山(ふじさん)が噴火(ふんか)したとき、どのように避難(ひなん)するか、静岡県(しずおかけん)や山梨県(やまなしけん)、神奈川県(かながわけん)などが新(あたら)しい計画(けいかく)を発表(はっぴょう)しました。

"Shizuoka, Yamanashi, and Kanagawa prefectures have announced a new plan for how to evacuate in the event that Mt. Fuji erupts."

避難(ひなん)する means "evacuate," that is, to get away from a place of danger to a safer place.

We also use the word 逃(に)げる, which basically means the same thing as 避難(ひなん)する.

When you're facing danger or are in an emergency situation, we use 逃(に)げる rather than 避難(ひなん)する, because it more directly describes the act of escaping.

So let's say you want to tell someone to escape. We use the てください form to make a request. So say 逃(に)げてください or simply 逃(に)げて.
Or if you want to express a strong command, use the imperative form 逃(に)げろ!.

OK, let's move on to our next sentence.

富士山(ふじさん)に登(のぼ)っている人(ひと)は、気象庁(きしょうちょう)が臨時(りんじ)の情報(じょうほう)を出(だ)したら、「噴火警戒(ふんかけいかい)レベル」がいちばん低(ひく)いレベル1でも、山(やま)を下(お)ります。

"Climbers on Mt. Fuji should descend as soon as the Japan Meteorological Agency issues a special bulletin, even when the "volcanic alert level" is at Level 1, the lowest level."

臨時(りんじ)is a word we use to describe something that is done in response to special or extraordinary circumstances.
So when we talk about 臨時(りんじ)の情報(じょうほう)released by Japan's weather agency, we're referring to special bulletins, alerts, and warnings that it issues quickly as unexpected weather situations develop.

And that's all for today.

The last time Mount Fuji erupted was over 300 years ago, but observations have confirmed that it's still active, and there's no telling when it might erupt again. It's great to see local authorities updating their evacuation plans so that people are better prepared.

Tune in next time for more!

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