The Ise Bay typhoon, a killer storm that swept through the Chubu region on Sept. 26, 1959, claiming more than 5,000 lives, became an opportunity for the nation to make great progress in disaster prevention efforts, including the construction of seawalls and river levees, as well as the enactment of the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act.
But 60 years after the disaster, experts are calling for new measures and preparation amid increasing possibilities of unprecedented disasters triggered by, for instance, global warming and urbanization that could cause damage unimaginable back then.