As humanity is faced with an unending series of catastrophic disasters around the world, it has become even more important for Japan to share its knowledge and skills internationally.

Japan has accumulated a wide range of specialized knowledge that can be useful in preparing for future disasters, painfully learned through the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and other devastating natural disasters. Voluminous records, analyses, research and surveys from various angles were conducted to understand the damage, recovery and reconstruction processes.

I am among the many who experienced firsthand the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, the great flood in Bangkok in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012.