Table-Top Exercise on Responding to Large-Scale Infrastructure Failures with Particularly Serious Social Impact Held

On December 18, Governor Koike attended the “Tabletop exercise on responding to large-scale infrastructure failures that would make a particularly serious social impact,” co-hosted by the Cabinet Secretariat and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. State Minister for Economic Security, Onoda Kimi, also attended this exercise.

 Governor Koike stated, “The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has also been engaged in staff training to prepare for various risks, including natural disasters such as a major earthquake striking directly beneath the capital and torrential rains, as well as missile attacks. In addition to these, we must also anticipate scenarios where major infrastructure, such as power and communications systems, fails.”

The governor noted that this is the first time such a large-scale exercise has been conducted based on the deliberations made by the national government, bringing together all relevant agencies in the capital. She then emphasized that it is a very important opportunity for local and national governments, infrastructure service operators, and others to share insights into various damage and responses, and to strengthen cooperation, on the assumption that a large-scale power outage occurs, affecting a wide area of the metropolitan region.

 “Recently, cyberattacks, system failures, ransomware, and similar incidents have been occurring frequently both at home and abroad. Should major infrastructure failures occur on a large scale and in a complex way, they could seriously impact people’s lives and our social and economic activities. While preparing for such situations, we will push forward the defense of the capital with all our strength to protect the lives and livelihoods of Tokyo residents,” she said in concluding her address.