Japan has a reputation abroad as a country whose government, corporations and citizens are fully prepared for natural and man-made catastrophes after the bitter lessons of the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and the Kobe earthquake, both in 1995, as well as the regular occurrence of typhoons.
This is not the case, however, according to a consensus opinion by professionals and experts specializing in security affairs and crisis management.
At a recent Tokyo symposium, government and private-sector experts agreed crisis management must be institutionalized in government policies, corporate management and citizens' way of life, especially to cope with new threats to public safety.