In the past decade, Japan has faced two major national crises — the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 plant brought about by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the country has found it difficult to learn from the past and make use of lessons to prepare for future crises, for a number of reasons — changes in administration, people in charge of the crises retiring or being transferred to different departments, and changes of jurisdiction due to administrative reorganization.
In order for Japan to be well-prepared for future hardships, it must assess past crises so as to avoid creating gaps in a feedback loop in policy making and reform efforts.