Do you have enough toilet paper?

...just wash it away already...

I thought most people have had at least a month's stock of toilet paper and tissue paper after that March 11, 2011 debacle in which we had a situation where it was nearly impossible to find any in the stores for nearly a month afterward because of the panickers buying it all up. Bread and milk were hard to find too...

Next time you think some of your inept coworkers can get away with doing * , spare a thought for yourself, the Japanese taxpayer who, everyday, has to pay for this kind of ****.

Being prepared for 'The Big One' now means being prepared for a big dump right after the real 'big one'?!

That's why I keep the phone book they insist on giving me every year.

Good idea. My great grandfather used to slice up newspapers into neat pieces to hang them in the toilet every Saturday. The device to hang them was a piece of string nailed to the wall with another nail at the end to pierce the stack of sliced paper to hold them in place.

I've always kept a couple of months worth of toilet paper. Also, extra water, food, a battery operated radio and solar charged lanterns. My wife thought I was some kind of survivalist for years - until March 11, 2011 and our power was out and with that our water pump, and even the cellphone service was gone. It took days before grocery stores had food again. All of a sudden I was a hero in her eyes. Have a little back up of essentials appropriate for your budget and your living space. Consider it cheap insurance. Be grateful if you never need it.

That's why I keep the phone book they insist on giving me every year.

Ouch!

That's why I keep the phone book they insist on giving me every year.

Droll Quarry,

Refresh my memory... which one of the government ministers owns stock in the TP company?

Funny you should ask. I mentioned the Mino Monta-inspired craze for a number of items above, including natto and cabbage. It turns out an independent investigation into the purported health benefits of some items advertised on his now-defunct TV show were the result of research and data that was . . . how shall I put this? . . . creatively massaged by research sponsored by the very manufacturers of the products in question.

In particular, it turned out the health benefits of natto were greatly exaggerated. Of course, this news wasn't revealed until well after a craze to stock the larder with natto made it virtually impossible to buy the stuff without standing in Soviet-style bread lines. Manufacturers couldn't keep up with the demand. Then when the news hit that the scientific claims were partly bogus, people stopped buying natto as quickly as they started. This left manufacturers up to their neck in stinky, fermented soy beans that they couldn't sell. It was messy in more ways than one, and Mino Monta lost a TV show for it.

Granted, I don't see toilet paper losing its intrinsic value the way natto did after the scandal, but I see it causing more problems than not if people start hoarding for no other reason than some pencil pusher from the Ministry of Economy saying, "Hey, the next Big One could wipe out your ability to wipe."

Refresh my memory... which one of the government ministers owns stock in the TP company?

Sales gimmick!

I had to do a quick check to make sure this article wasn't from The Onion. It beggars belief that the Government are encouraging people to stock up on toilet paper in case of a large earthquake threatening the factories where it is made! Sure, toilet paper is a creature comfort and nice to have in your everyday life, but I think I will continue to use my limited storage space for items such as canned food, water, batteries, candles etc in case of an emergency, and make sure I avoid curry if the big one hits.

Agree with other posters that this smacks of cronyism.

If an earthquake did happen his neat little stack would just fall over, no?

How about enough water? ...enough batteries? enough canned food? All of these are even more important/

you can never have enough toilet paper. We hear increasing noises that the "Big One" is long overdue, so make sure you are nice and safe......

Please don't let my wife see this!

Oh, heavens, no kidding! If it isn't fear of the next big quake, then it's fear of radiation, flooding, landslides, an impure water supply, or radiation-tainted mutant veggies from Fukushima. By most locals' estimation, Japan's more dangerous than the Gaza Strip on any given day.

I'm going to have to buy another bug-out bag to supplement the 12kg one sitting in our hallway closet to accommodate all the "must haves" that officials and "experts" insist we prepare. But at least TP's light, right?

And pointofview is absolutely correct: Thanks to this article, there's going to be a sudden run on TP this week that'll boggle the senses, much like the Great Banana Shortage of '08 or the Absurd Natto Famine of '07, or the Comic Cabbage Collapse of '06. Granted, Mino Monta largely spurred those decidedly low points in Japanese consumer history, but still....

yep by my bog roll at Costco here so usually have plenty!

That pile of paper is about the same size as many Japanese kitchens -- so what do the yokels do? Starve?

People in Japan believe anything. Reminds me of the banana diet. I betcha it`ll be impossible to get crap tickets now.

We have plenty of toilet paper. But since we haven't stockpiled food, toilet paper will not likely become an issue. Like David Varnes said above, this reeks of cronyism. To be expected with the people currently in charge.

A comical article to wipe away every particle. It is an issue which an astute reader can substitute the tissue.

I have a lot of toilet paper rolls in my house in Sacramento, California USA--mostly because my stepdad bought them for really cheap at Costco and only need to buy them at most twice a year.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this is completely a good idea in Japan, given how tiny many apartments are in that country.

@Dennis Bauer

So if i fill my room with toilet paper, i will be save?

Well at least, it might "cushion" your fall...

So if i fill my room with toilet paper, i will be save?

So, just how much of a kickback do you think the Ministry received for this promotion?

Have they no better ways to waste our taxes?

It's a tissue issue.

How about setting up some other factories in lower risk zones as well?

OK, my product XXX is produced in an earthquake zone also, you should stock up now!

I guess everyone used up the last big stock pile scare of 2011.

Toshiyuki Hashimoto, a ministry official in charge of paper production, warned a toilet paper shortage could occur if another calamity as big as the March 2011 earthquake would hit the country again.

Please don't let my wife see this!

As they say, "The job ain't over till the paper work's done."