Launching the Disaster Support Navigator for people affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake

We have made the Disaster Support Navigator and the Yadokari support estimator available free of charge to everyone, linking the two apps and adding assistance programs for people affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

The Institute of Poverty Prevention, which provides the Yadokari app to help people find assistance programs and estimate potential benefit amounts, worked with volunteer IT engineers and other residents from Civic Tech Sodegaura, proj-inclusive and partner groups after the earthquake on 1 January 2024. Together, we urgently developed a version of the Disaster Support Navigator covering government and other assistance for people affected by the earthquake. It was released on 28 January 2024 through Civic Tech Sodegaura’s website. At the time of the announcement, the Institute was based in Koyama Kamifusa-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto, and chaired by Shiratori.

The Disaster Support Navigator is free and requires no download or installation. By answering simple questions in a smartphone or computer browser, users can find programs they may qualify for in their municipality, along with the offices to contact.

The linked Yadokari support estimator, still under development at the time, was adapted to assist people affected by the earthquake. It focuses on programs that help people rebuild their lives. From the Navigator, users can also access Yadokari to explore everyday assistance beyond disaster-specific programs and estimate the support amounts they may receive.

Available programs and contact points

The service mainly covers assistance from national, prefectural and municipal governments, together with municipal contact offices.

Open the Disaster Support Navigator for the Noto Peninsula earthquake (external site, Japanese)

Open the Yadokari support estimator (external site, Japanese)

Important information

These apps provide reference information before a visit to a government office. They do not guarantee eligibility for the programs shown. Volunteers manually review municipal websites and enter the information. The apps were released while still in development because of the urgent need, with the following limitations at the time of publication:

• Eligibility is assessed through simple questions, so a displayed program may not necessarily be available to the user.
• The apps cannot reflect every change to information on official websites. Updates were planned approximately once a week.
• The apps support Japanese only.

We plan to continue updating the assistance programs available through both apps. We hope they make it easier for people affected by the earthquake to connect with government support and take steps toward rebuilding their lives.