Acute mental care policy in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, Japan, 2011

The earthquake that struck Tohoku, Japan, on March 11th 2011, was the worst massive earthquake in the last two decades in this country, following those happened in Kobe in 1995 and in Niigata in 2006. The comprehensive picture of Japanese mental health care after the Tohoku earthquakes will be reported soon elsewhere, here some of the general principles of post-disaster mental health care are presented. These basic principles are also outlined in the Guidelines for Local Mental Health Care Activities after a Disaster in more detail. Although the guidelines were prepared prior to the Tohoku earthquakes, the following will introduce the basic principles of mental health care activities that can be applicable to the Tohoku relief effort.