Objective: Every disaster had drawn attention to food stockpiles. There is a possibility that its quality and quantity have changed through disaster experiences. In order to help to consider future strategies, we clarified the countermeasures that had not been progressed while they had been acknowledged as a problem for long time and the areas moved ahead from the events and newspaper articles in the past 30 years.
Methods: Articles published in Yomiuri and Asahi Newspapers between 1879 and 2018 were searched by a keyword query on “food stockpile.” The authors independently reviewed 530 articles and excluded 210 irrelevant ones. The remaining 320 articles were ordered chronologically and grouped into ten categories.
Results: The number of articles increased not only after natural disasters but also during Year 2000 problem and the pandemic of influenza A (H1N1). Countermeasures to people stranded due to mass transit disruptions and the food stockpiling bill had not been progressed. Recommended quality and quantity of food stocks were improved after the Great East Japan Earthquake and publication of the final report on the Nankai Trough Giant Earthquake Countermeasures while actual stockpiles did not meet the recommendation.
Discussion: Other than natural disasters, the increased number of articles could be caused by people’s concern about the risks of technology accidents and infections and social needs for information. Given the fact that stockpile by companies and food stocks for one week have not been achieved, obligatory and financially supported measures such as the food stockpiling law would be necessary.
