September 30, 2018
Japan's big retailers moving to increase hazard endurance amid abnormal weather
Employees at the shopping mall were busy receiving hundreds of customers late in September for a special three-day sale after a hiatus of three months.
The facility was forced to suspend its business due to the flood of a nearby river following torrential rain early in July. The heavy rain, triggered by the approach of a rain front, played havoc in widely scattered areas in southwestern and western Japan.
The shopping center, located on a site of 118,460 square meters in Ogori City, Fukuoka Prefecture, consists of the main building, which houses more than 70 shops, directly run and tenant, and the parking just in front of the building with a capacity of 1,600 cars. But both of them were extensively inundated with river water which climbed over the banks.
The facility, opened in 2013, had a retention basin beneath the building, as the area is within a flood danger zone on the newest hazard map made by the local authorities. But the basin was overwhelmed, and as a result, water got into many parts of the shop area. Dozens of vehicles parked were flooded. But the mishap caused no human damage.The early July heavy rain also forced some other shopping facilities in the affected areas to close its business, but damage to them proved to be lighter than at the Ogori facility.
The series of occurrences at distribution facilities came at a time when Japan's major commercial businesses, particularly those in the distribution sector, have been asked to cooperate in overcoming natural disasters, because their business is directly linked to people's daily life.
The distribution sector is hoped to play greater roles than ever for hazard endurance, because Japan sees unprecedented, abnormal weather patterns to occur almost every year.The Ogori facility, operated by Ion Kyushu Co., conducted evacuation training for cases of fire and earthquake earlier years, but it plans to carry out an evacuation drill annually for cases of a flood, too, from now on. It also expects to improve the water level gauge system for the on-site, underground retention basin.
Other big distribution facilities involved are also expected to improve their ability for hazard endurance.The Ion Ogori shopping center launched what it dubs
the "ReStart Campaign" to mark its comeback to business, introducing new lines of items, expanding the eat-in food court and building a small corridor which accommodates handicraft shops run by citizens.
A long line was built toward a lottery amid the shop area."We offer many kinds of gifts for customers with receipts of 3,000 yen or more," said an employee. "This is a token of our thanks to the customers for their support to our reopening."
