Publication:
Seismic Resilience: Experience and Lessons Learned from Japan

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (8.9 MB)
165 downloads
English Text (359.57 KB)
10 downloads
Other Files
Croatian PDF (9.13 MB)
13 downloads
Published
2025-08-01
ISSN
Date
2025-09-03
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Japan is a global leader in seismic resilience. The whole country is exposed to high risk of earthquakes, as well as landslides, floods, extreme weather events, and other hazards. Over the years, Japan has adapted its disaster regulations and practice, learning from past experiences and integrating new technologies and information into its approach. In addition to strengthening seismic resilience in the country and innovating approaches to it. Japan is also among the leading international actors promoting reforms and good practices in disaster risk management (DRM) more generally. Japan has been instrumental in the promotion of the Hyogo Framework for Action and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJE), Japan further scaled up its efforts to support countries around the world with DRM-related knowledge, experience, best practices, and innovation.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2025. Seismic Resilience: Experience and Lessons Learned from Japan. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43670 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Learning from Japan's Experience in Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-02) World Bank
    Globally, floods are the most frequent and damaging natural hazard. This poses a serious development challenge to many countries and their efforts to reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity. To help manage the impact of floods on people and economies, the World Bank provides technical assistance, advisory services, and financial support to a range of countries and cities around the world. Facing different types and combinations of flood risk, Japan’s rich history, range of investments and approaches taken offers a unique knowledge opportunity for other countries seeking to adopt and advance integrated urban flood risk management (IUFRM). This series of knowledge notes compiles many of the key lessons learned from Japan’s IUFRM efforts. While any strategy to reduce disaster risk must be developed based on a close understanding of local contexts, the aim of this series is to help members of the international community improve their own approaches to managing urban floods. These notes are not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis but rather a snapshot highlighting key aspects, practice and lessons learnt from Japanese practice. The four knowledge notes in this series cover urban floods from assessment and planning through to implementation and maintenance.
  • Publication
    Learning from Megadisasters : Lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014-06-26) Ranghieri, Federica; Ishiwatari, Mikio; Ranghieri, Federica; Ishiwatari, Mikio
    The successes of Japan’s disaster risk management (DRM) system as well as the ways in which that system could be improved are reflected in the lessons drawn from the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) and presented in the initial reports from the Learning from Megadisasters project. The GEJE was the first disaster ever recorded that included an earthquake, a tsunami, a nuclear power plant accident, a power supply failure, and a large-scale disruption of supply chains. Extreme disasters underscore the need for a holistic approach to DRM. Single-sector development planning cannot address the complexity of problems posed by natural hazards, let alone megadisasters, nor can such planning build resilience to threats. Faced with complex risks, Japan chose to build resilience by investing in preventative structural and nonstructural measures; nurturing a strong culture of knowledge and learning from past disasters; engaging in wise DRM regulation, legislation, and enforcement; and promoting cooperation among multiple stakeholders, between government agencies and ministries, between the private sector and the government, and among multiple levels of governance, from local to national to international. The book consolidates a set of 36 Knowledge Notes, research results of a joint study undertaken by the Government of Japan and the World Bank. These notes highlight key lessons learned in seven DRM thematic clusters—structural measures; nonstructural measures; emergency response; reconstruction planning; hazard and risk information and decision making; the economics of disaster risk, risk management, and risk financing; and recovery and relocation. Aimed at sharing Japanese cutting-edge knowledge with practitioners and decision makers, this book provides valuable guidance to other disaster-prone countries for mainstreaming DRM in their development policies and weathering their own natural disasters.
  • Publication
    Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) Synthesis of Implementation Results and Lessons Learned from Component I Project-Level Technical Assistance
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-04-10) World Bank
    The Africa Climate Resilient Investment Facility (AFRI-RES) was established in 2017 with a €5 million grant from the Nordic Development Fund. AFRI-RES aims to strengthen the capacity of African institutions and the private sector to plan, design, and implement investments in selected sectors to increase their climate resilience. A partnership with the African Union, it is jointly implemented by the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. This initiative fosters collaboration among three key stakeholders that have an interest in integrating climate considerations into the development process: project developers, project financiers, and the climate science community. AFRI-RES is divided into four components: (1) project-level technical assistance (TA); (2) outreach, dissemination, and training; (3) guidelines, standards, and good practice notes; (4) climate knowledge and data portal. The program also included strategic dialogue, outreach, and management. Under the component 1, AFRI-RES aimed to integrate climate resilience from the initial design stage of projects to effectively address and mitigate climate risks. Through a competitive process, AFRI-RES provided catalytic grants to World Bank projects through two separate funding rounds. Teams used the funding to implement a range of methods, models, and tools to enhance the ability of assets, communities, sectors, and systems to operate effectively in the face of shocks and stresses. Details of the funding usage and lessons learned are provided in this synthesis note.
  • Publication
    Private Sector Participation in Market-Based Energy-Efficiency Financing Schemes : Lessons Learned from Romania and International Experiences
    (Washington, DC, 2003-11) World Bank
    Financing of energy-efficiency (EE) projects in a country almost always commences with public funds. Examples are energy service company (ESCO) businesses in the United States and Canada that were able to take advantage of public funds for public buildings (World Bank 1999), most of the EE funds worldwide as compiled in a recent Alliance to Save Energy report (ASE 2002), or various EE projects funded by international financial institutions (IFIs). A sustainable EE business can, however, develop only if public funding is complemented by funding from the private sector. In the past few years, some equity funds with IFI and private sector participation have sprung up, such as the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Fund for Emerging Markets (REEF) and Dexia-FondElec, and several IFI/GEF projects in transition and developing countries have experimented with various features that would reduce the barriers for private sector involvement in financing EE projects. The longest running of those financial schemes is the Hungary IFC/GEF Guarantee Fund. In light of the lessons learned from those projects, this report concentrates on the example of Romania, where implementation of a World Bank GEF project with a market-based EE financing mechanism has just started. Until recently, Romanian energy consumers were enjoying energy prices well below world market prices. With restructuring of the energy sector, the energy price level is now going up and subsidies are being phased out. Together with restructuring and privatization in the industrial sector, there are now incentives for investments in energy efficiency that would reduce costs and improve the competitiveness of Romanian companies.
  • Publication
    From Crisis to Stability in the Armenian Power Sector : Lessons Learned from Armenia's Energy Reform Experience
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2006) Sargsyan, Gevorg; Balabanyan, Ani; Hankinson, Denzel
    In the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse, Armenia, like other former Soviet republics, began to struggle with the implications of its newfound independence. In the electricity sector, this meant learning how to manage and sustain a fragment of a system that had never been designed to function as a stand-alone grid. Armenia's electricity system-and, indeed, its entire energy supply system-had been designed to operate as part of a much larger, integrated Trans-Caucasus system. Plants were built to run on fuel imported from thousands of miles away, from neighbors who, with the Soviet Union gone, could offer little certainty that such supply would continue under terms that Armenia could afford. The problems with this system began to show in 1992. The start of the war over Nagorno Karabakh, and the resulting imposition by Azerbaijan and Turkey of an economic blockade, cut off Armenia's only source of gas and oil for its thermal plants. Four years prior to that, a massive earthquake had forced a shut down of the Medzamor nuclear power plant, a source of roughly one-third of Armenia's generating capacity. Supply from a new gas pipeline, built in 1993 through neighboring Georgia, was regularly interrupted by acts of sabotage. Armenia was left to rely almost entirely on its hydropower resources, at great expense to Lake Sevan, one of the country's most precious natural resources.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    The Container Port Performance Index 2020 to 2024: Trends and Lessons Learned
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-09-22) World Bank
    The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) provides a global benchmark of how container ports perform in handling vessel calls. Developed jointly by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, it measures the time ships spend in port and relates this to the number of containers moved during that time. This approach makes the CPPI a unique diagnostic tool that can highlight patterns in port operations and shed light on global and regional supply chain dynamics. Now in its fifth edition, the CPPI report covers the period from 2020 to 2024. It builds on a well-established methodology to generate scores for more than 400 container ports worldwide. Over time, the CPPI has become a trusted reference point for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers who seek to understand how ports adapt to shocks, recover from disruptions, and identify opportunities for investments, reform and modernization. A major innovation in this edition is the introduction of multi-year trend analysis. Rather than presenting annual snapshots, the report now tracks how CPPI scores have changed across five years. This longitudinal perspective reveals shifts in port performance, showing where scores have risen, fallen, or remained stable. By linking these movements to external factors, the CPPI offers insights into how global and regional supply chains evolve under pressure. The results clearly mirror the crises that have shaken global trade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CPPI scores in different regions declined sharply as congestion, equipment shortages, and delays overwhelmed many ports. By 2023, global averages rebounded in parallel with easing freight markets and reduced congestion. Yet 2024 brought new challenges: the Red Sea crisis disrupted major trade lanes, while climate-related constraints at the Panama Canal added further stress. These shocks were reflected in lower global and several regional average scores, underscoring the vulnerability of maritime transport to geopolitical and environmental events. The CPPI is not about comparing one port against another, but about understanding changes in performance over time. Ports that improved their scores often did so by reducing time at anchor, optimizing berth operations, investing in digital tools, and strengthening coordination across logistics partners. The evidence confirms that improvements are possible across ports of all sizes, and that rising scores are linked to deliberate actions to minimize time in port relative to containers moved. By consolidating five years of results, this edition transforms the CPPI into a long-term reference point. It shows how global crises have affected shipping, how different regions have adapted, and what lessons can be drawn for future resilience. The World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence remain committed to maintaining the CPPI as a global public good, providing transparency, comparability, and practical insights to support more reliable and sustainable maritime supply chains.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, June 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10) World Bank
    The global economy is facing another substantial headwind, emanating largely from an increase in trade tensions and heightened global policy uncertainty. For emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), the ability to boost job creation and reduce extreme poverty has declined. Key downside risks include a further escalation of trade barriers and continued policy uncertainty. These challenges are exacerbated by subdued foreign direct investment into EMDEs. Global cooperation is needed to restore a more stable international trade environment and scale up support for vulnerable countries grappling with conflict, debt burdens, and climate change. Domestic policy action is also critical to contain inflation risks and strengthen fiscal resilience. To accelerate job creation and long-term growth, structural reforms must focus on raising institutional quality, attracting private investment, and strengthening human capital and labor markets. Countries in fragile and conflict situations face daunting development challenges that will require tailored domestic policy reforms and well-coordinated multilateral support.
  • Publication
    Lifelines
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2019-06-19) Hallegatte, Stephane; Rentschler, Jun; Rozenberg, Julie
    From serving our most basic needs to enabling our most ambitious ventures in trade and technology, infrastructure services are essential for raising and maintaining people’s quality of life. Yet millions of people, especially in low- and middle-income countries, are facing the consequences of unreliable electricity grids, inadequate water and sanitation systems, and overstrained transport networks. Natural hazards magnify the challenges faced by these fragile systems. Building on a wide range of case studies, global empirical analyses, and modeling exercises, Lifelines lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience—the ability of infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a natural shock—and it makes an economic case for building more resilient infrastructure. Lifelines concludes by identifying five obstacles to resilient infrastructure and offering concrete recommendations and specific actions that can be taken by governments, stakeholders, and the international community to improve the quality and resilience of these essential services, and thereby contribute to more resilient and prosperous societies.
  • Publication
    Mapping Impact In Chad
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-25) World Bank
    In the Sahel, Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) is a set of social protection policies, systems, and programs that promote human capital, productivity, and resilience of the poorest and strengthen their capacity to prepare for, cope with, and adapt to shocks. Through the delivery of regular social safety nets, productive inclusion interventions, and shock-responsive programs, ASP has demonstrated strong positive impacts on various dimensions in the Sahel. For the poorest and most vulnerable, it has resulted in improvements in household welfare and food security, productivity, and resilience. More broadly, it has shown significant positive impacts on the economy, society, and future generations.
  • Publication
    Women, Business and the Law 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-02) World Bank
    “Women, Business and the Law 2023” is the ninth in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. The 2023 edition identifies barriers to women’s economic participation and encourages reform of discriminatory laws. This year, the study also includes research, a literature review, and analysis of 53 years of reforms for women’s rights. Examining the economic decisions that women make throughout their working lives as well as tracking regulatory changes from 1970 to today, the study makes an important contribution to research and policy discussions about the state of women’s economic opportunities. By presenting powerful examples of change and highlighting the gaps still remaining, “Women, Business and the Law 2023” is a vital tool in ensuring economic empowerment for all. Data in “Women, Business and the Law 2023” are current as of October 1, 2022.