Safety tips is a free disaster-information app developed under Japan Tourism Agency supervision, with alerts associated with selected locations in Japan.[47] Installation does not guarantee delivery: unregistered locations, network problems, proximity to an epicenter and server conditions can delay or prevent earthquake warnings.[49] Our advice: check locations and permissions before departure, and prepare a fallback that does not depend on receiving a new notification.
Understand what the app is for
The official tourist page describes a push-enabled app for earthquake early warnings, tsunami warnings and weather warnings within Japan, with evacuation flowcharts, useful phrases and information links.[48] The developer lists 15 languages, including English, Japanese and simplified and traditional Chinese.[47] Its support page says the app is designed for Japan only; users bear communication charges associated with downloading and using it.[49]
Editorial scope: this guide was checked on September 20, 2026, not a claimed release or effective date. It concerns disaster-notification preparation rather than train cancellations or ticket refunds. Our advice: explain the app's purpose to companions and read its action guidance before an emergency, without treating installation as a safety certificate.
Choose alert locations, not just a moving map dot
Before first use, the developer instructs users to select warning locations in Settings, with a maximum of five locations within Japan.[47] Location services must be activated when setting locations through GPS; GPS also displays the user's current location on the map.[47] The notification description refers to selected locations rather than an unlimited personal itinerary subscription.[47]
Our advice: compare your first accommodation and upcoming destinations against the selected locations. Before moving from Tokyo to Kyoto, for example, check whether Kyoto is included instead of assuming that a moving map dot confirms the alert configuration. This is a planning example, not a tested claim about interface labels, background tracking accuracy or automatic switching speed.
Revisit old settings and check notification permission
The product page warns that notifications stop when a prediction point has not changed for more than one month; it states an exception when automatic point setting is enabled.[47] The support page repeats the one-month warning without that exception.[49] It separately instructs iPhone users to enable notification services to receive earthquake warnings.[49]
Our advice: reopen settings when returning to Japan or staying for a long period. The two pages differ in detail, so use the product page's explicit automatic-setting exception without interpreting it as protection against unrelated delivery failures. Check locations, GPS and notification permission separately. This article does not provide untested Android background-operation instructions or promise that permissions alone ensure delivery.
Distinguish warning categories from earthquake history
The product page lists earthquake early warnings, tsunami, volcanic and weather warnings, tropical cyclone information, heat-illness warnings, civil protection information and evacuation information for selected locations.[47] Its earthquake notification description uses local seismic intensity 4 or greater, whereas the earthquake history list shows intensity 3 or greater with up to ten records.[47] The civil-protection description specifically identifies ballistic-missile attack information from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.[47]
Our advice: do not infer that your phone should have sounded merely because an earthquake appears in the history list. Identify the category and relevant location first. Equally, do not expand the civil-protection entry into verified coverage of every security incident. We make no uniform timing, sound or threshold claim across all notification categories.
Evacuation information has a coverage boundary
The developer says displayed evacuation information concerns municipalities using L alert, and identifies shelter information as a link to an external application.[47] It also describes evacuation flowcharts and communication cards for asking people nearby questions during a disaster.[47] The tourist-facing official page independently describes action flowcharts and helpful phrases.[48]
Our advice: ask your accommodation about local evacuation arrangements and save the relevant names and addresses separately. Treat external links as additional resources to check, not proof that everything is stored on your phone. Use communication cards to ask for help rather than interpreting an empty list as an all-clear. This research did not verify municipality-by-municipality coverage or the current opening status of individual shelters.
A quiet phone is not evidence of safety
The support page lists circumstances in which earthquake warning delivery may be delayed or unavailable, including an unregistered location, proximity to the epicenter, network trouble, maintenance, heavy server load or no warning being issued by JMA.[49] It also lists a registered location more than 2,000 kilometers from the epicenter and a source depth exceeding 150 kilometers.[49] These statements do not promise new live warnings during a network outage.[49]
Our advice: separate previously saved reference material from incoming alerts when preparing an offline fallback. We did not test which cards or screens remain available without connectivity, so we do not label the app a complete offline evacuation tool. Save accommodation details, companion contacts and checked local guidance independently, and carry backup power. Do not make reopening the app or waiting for another notification your only response.
Check your actual device before departure
The official app page provides iOS and Android download links and states iOS 9.0 or later and Android 5.0 or later.[48] Editorial limitation: the page has no explicit update date, and we did not test current store builds. Those displayed figures are not our certification that a particular phone or operating-system version can currently install the app or reliably receive notifications.
Our advice: follow the official download route and check the requirements shown for your device in its current store listing. Then choose a readable language, register locations, review permissions and read the action flowchart. Schedule a settings review for a long stay. Ask the developer about unresolved device or offline questions before travel rather than assuming an old installation remains fully configured.
Before departure
- Select up to five Japanese warning locations; GPS-based selection requires location services.[47]
- Review the one-month location-setting rule and automatic-setting exception.[47]
- Enable iPhone notification services for earthquake warnings.[49]
- Distinguish intensity-4 notification criteria from the intensity-3 earthquake history list.[47]
- Remember the L alert municipality boundary and external shelter-information link.[47]
- Our advice: save fallback details separately and never interpret missing alerts as an all-clear.
Sources & freshness
Sources accessed 20 September 2026. Numbers identify sourced facts; unnumbered planning steps are editorial advice, not operator promises. Recheck prices, availability, sales rules and operating status before travelling.
- [47] Safety tips (English) ↗
RC Solution Co. · Source publication date: not stated · Accessed: 2026-09-20
- [48] Safety tips for travelers — The App “Safety tips” ↗
Japan Tourism Agency (hosted on JNTO website) · Source publication date: not stated · Accessed: 2026-09-20
- [49] Safety tips Support ↗
RC Solution Co. · Source publication date: not stated · Accessed: 2026-09-20
Applies to: Japan; specific services and routes are defined in the article. Source publication dates and exact scope are stated in the article; an undated page is not a permanent guarantee. Article published and sources verified: 2026-09-20. Service effective dates are not page publication dates.
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