ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the history of earthquake preparedness in Japan and outlines various countermeasures as they relate to earthquakes, including the framework of Japan's legal system on disasters, the earthquake insurance system, the earthquake preparation system, and earthquake prediction systems. It also examines significant lessons learned in the wake of the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake of 1995. The chapter discusses the details of the legal system as related to disaster preparedness for earthquakes prior to the Tohoku Earthquake, in order to show the steps the Japanese government had taken to prepare for massive earthquakes and tsunamis. In addition to powerful hurricanes battering the country every autumn, strong, recurring earthquakes have been known to strike periodically. Owing to Japan's susceptibility to powerful earthquakes, the Japanese government has an imperative responsibility to prepare for the disasters. In 1950, the Construction Standard Act was enacted to statutorily mandate the safety standard against earthquakes.
