Japan is known not only for its experience with devastating disasters, but also for innovations in disaster risk reduction. Back in 1990, when the United Nations started its first International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (1990-1999), Japan was one of the strongest supporters.
In 1994, Japan hosted the first World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Yokohama, which gave a strong boost to the decade-long activities of disaster risk reduction. In the following year, in 1995, Japan experienced one of the major urban disasters in recent times: the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, causing more than $100 billion of direct losses. Over a number of years, the city of Kobe and the prefecture of Hyogo struggled to recover from the physical, social, economic and psychological aspects of the disaster. The recovery lessons were widely utilized in other countries.
In the year following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Japan hosted the second World Conference on Disaster Reduction, which coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake. This was the year when the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) was adopted by United Nations member states as the basic agreed outline for disaster risk-reduction activities. This is considered the most important recent policy contribution from Japan to the world in disaster studies.