Article 68-3Request to Call up Disaster Relief Operation

①In cases where a disaster involving an area of a municipality has occurred or is imminent, when the mayor of a municipality finds it necessary for implementing emergency measures, the mayor may ask the prefectural governor to issue a call under Article 83, paragraph (1) of the Self-Defense Forces Act (referred to as "call" in the following paragraph). In this case, the mayor of a municipality may notify the Minister of Defense or the person designated by the Minister to that effect and regarding the conditions of the disaster involving an area of the municipality.

②When unable to ask as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the mayor of a municipality may notify the Minister of Defense or a person designated by the Minister to that effect and regarding the conditions of the disaster involving an area of the municipality. In this case, the Minister of Defense or the person designated by the Minister, having been notified as described above and finding there to be particular urgency and no time to wait for a call in light of the condition, may dispatch the units prescribed in Article 8 of the Self-Defense Forces Act for the protection of life and property without waiting for a Call.

③When the mayor of a municipality has made the notification set forth in the preceding two paragraphs, the mayor must promptly notify the prefectural governor to that effect.