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The Disaster Certificate (Risai Shomeisho)

No certificate, no aid. The 罹災証明書 (risai-shōmeisho, "disaster victim certificate") is the municipal paper that converts your ruined living room into every downstream procedure: cash, housing, tax relief, and loans.1

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at your municipal disaster-response counter and the Cabinet Office damage-assessment pages.

Overview​

The certificate documents your home's damage grade after a municipal survey. Since the June 2013 Basic Act amendment, mayors must survey without delay once you apply and then issue the certificate.12

Delivery standards remain municipal discretion under the national guideline frame. Counters, reception dates, and fast tracks differ by city even though the grades are national.1

The damage grades​

Six grades decide everything downstream: 全壊 (zenkai, "total destruction"), 大規模半壊 (daikibo-hankai, "large-scale half destruction"), 中規模半壊 (chūkibo-hankai, "medium-scale half destruction"), 半壊 (hankai, "half destruction"), 準半壊 (jun-hankai, "near-half destruction"), and partial damage.12

For wooden one- and two-story homes flooded without destructive force, the depth reference runs (as of 2025-06; confirm current criteria with the Cabinet Office):2

FloodingGrade
Floor depth 1.8m or more大規模半壊
Floor depth 1.0m to 1.8m中規模半壊
Floor depth 0.1m to 1.0m半壊
Floor depth under 0.1m準半壊
Below floor onlyPartial damage

Where torrent or debris adds destructive force, each threshold shifts one grade heavier: 1.8m or more reads as total destruction (as of 2025-06).2 The flood vocabulary to learn is 床上浸水 (yuka-ue-shinsui, "above-floor flooding") versus 床下浸水 (yuka-shita-shinsui, "below-floor flooding").3

Applying at the ward office​

A unified national application form has existed since November 2024, and evacuees sheltering far from home can file with the home municipality from their evacuation address.4 File at the municipal disaster counter with a damage description and supporting photos.43

Photos are optional for a standard application. They become the decision basis only when you request photo-based assessment.3

Ask for photo assessment when the damage is obvious

Three paths skip the site visit: total loss obvious from photos, flood depth verifiable from photos, and minor damage you consent to self-assess. Checking the photo-assessment box can cut weeks off issuance.3

The survey visit and issuance​

The standard path runs an exterior first survey, then an interior second survey with you present.1 In major events with stretched staffing, issuance commonly takes one to four weeks (as of 2026-09; confirm current windows with your municipality).1

Requesting a second survey when the grade looks wrong​

A light first look can under-grade interiors. Request the second survey, bring additional photos and any repair quotes, and walk the surveyor through every damaged element.1

What the certificate unlocks​

The certificate gates the national rebuilding payment, local supplementary aid, tax relief, mortgage deferment, loan screening, and temporary-housing eligibility.1 Insurers also take it as supporting evidence, though their payout scale runs on a separate adjuster track.1

Legal residents hold full eligibility throughout. Applications are Japanese-first in practice, so bring a bilingual helper for the counter visit if your Japanese is limited.

Good to know​

Photograph everything before cleaning up​

Flood households clear debris within hours, destroying the evidence the survey needs. Shoot every room, surface, waterline, and possession before touching anything.3

Minor damage can use the photo fast track​

Where you agree the damage is minor, the self-assessment path issues the certificate from your photos with no site visit. It exists to speed exactly these cases.3

Grades follow the national guideline but counters are municipal​

The six-grade scale is national while reception dates, photo fast tracks, and delivery standards are municipal. Two neighboring cities can move at different speeds on the same typhoon.1

See also​

References​

Footnotes​

  1. Cabinet Office. "Operations Guideline for Housing Damage Assessment" (Mar 2021, full PDF, R3.3). https://www.bousai.go.jp/taisaku/pdf/r303shishin_all.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  2. Cabinet Office. "Operations Guideline, general provisions" (June 2025 revision excerpts, PDF). https://www.bousai.go.jp/taisaku/pdf/r605shishin_1.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Cabinet Office. "Unified certificate form reference: photo-based assessment and self-assessment method" (2024-11-12, PDF). https://www.bousai.go.jp/taisaku/pdf/241112_rasaitouitu.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  4. Cabinet Office. "Unifying the disaster-certificate application form" notice (2024-11-08, PDF). https://www.bousai.go.jp/pdf/241108_syomeisyo.pdf ↩ ↩2