Geographical Study of the Disaster in Japan

Abstract

Japan is subject to disasters due to its natural condition. Until the 1970s, the relationship between river flood and the geomorphological condition in alluvial plains was studied and the results were applied to hazard mapping. After the 1980s, landslide and debris flow, earthquake, and volcanic activity became the main problems of disaster prevention. After the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake Disaster of 1995, geographical studies on earthquake disaster have increased. The Association of Japanese Geographers (AJG) established the Commission of Disaster Responses in 2001, and the commission holds symposia on disasters from the geographical viewpoint every year in the general meeting of the AJG. The mapping of the tsunami stricken area of the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster of 2011 was carried out by a special team of the Association of Japanese Geographers. A study relating to that disaster is being conducted now in the fields of physical geography and human geography. The role of the Japanese geographer is becoming very important throughout the world in the study of disasters.