According to a piece published recently in The Japan Times, the Kyoto Infrastructure Ministry will soon be requiring toilets and potable water stations be installed in elevators.
The decision was spurred by a magnitude-8.1 earthquake that struck near islands south of Tokyo on May 30th. The Times reported:
The earthquake caused about 19,000 elevators to stop in the capital and neighboring prefectures... People were trapped temporarily in 14 elevators and it took 70 minutes to rescue them in one case, ministry and industry officials said.
(No deaths were reported from the quake.)
It is hoped that the new emergency regulations will make the situation easier to endure for those trapped in elevators in the future.
Get the full story at The Japan Times website.