The Japanese government on Friday urged the public to refrain from excessively hoarding disaster kits, as some items have gone out of stock due to a surge in demand following a megaquake advisory issued by authorities the previous day.
On online shopping sites operated by Amazon.com Inc. and Rakuten Group Inc., products such as drinking water, emergency toilets and preserved foods quickly rose in the best-selling rankings. Some items have already sold out.
At some stores of DIY store giant Cainz Corp., water, backpacks with disaster kits and goods to prevent furniture from falling over have sold out. This strong trend has been observed in central Japan, one of the areas where a potential massive quake is expected to strike.
Supermarkets, including Ito-Yokado owned by Seven & i Holdings Co., have limited sales of drinking water to 12 two-liter plastic bottles per family to discourage stockpiling.
A Japanese beverage firm has seen a higher-than-usual increase in water orders, while a spokesperson from a company manufacturing liquid milk for newborns said, "We may need to consider ramping up production if sales continue to rise."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shared a guide on its social media about food stockpiling, calling on people not to hoard. It asks them to buy slightly more than usual on a daily basis, consume older goods first and then replenish their stock.
Related coverage:
Japan braces for potential massive quake after M7.1 temblor
Japan sees higher-than-usual risk of megaquake off Pacific Coast
M5.3 quake jolts near Tokyo, unlikely linked with potential megaquake
