• Japan has taken steps to make its buildings more resilient to seismic activity.
• Strategic planning, updating building codes, and a culture of preparedness have driven progress.
• Japan's approach could offer lessons for the US, where many communities are vulnerable to disasters.

Prone to major earthquakes that trigger fires and tsunamis, Japan has become a world leader in building disaster-resilient communities.

Three experts in public policy and urban development told Business Insider that, over many decades, strategic planning, a culture of disaster preparedness, and regularly updated building codes have helped Japan produce neighborhoods and cities that can better withstand seismic shocks and other disasters.

While Japan experiences more regular and severe seismic activity than most of the US, the country's approach to disaster resilience could offer a model for American communities prone to major fires, floods, earthquakes, and other destructive events, especially as they increase in frequency.

"Each disaster has served as a catalyst for deeper reflection and adaptation, and this continuous cycle of learning and adjusting is one key reason why Japan has been so proactive in addressing disaster risk," Christian Dimmer, an associate professor of urban studies at Waseda University in Tokyo, told Business Insider.

After major seismic events, Japan updates its national building codes based on what it learned from the earthquakes. Older buildings quickly become non-compliant and less attractive to renters and buyers, so they're often torn down and replaced with safer modern buildings. In America, the average age of a demolished building is 67 years, while in Japan, it's 32, per Jiro Yoshida, a business professor at Pennsylvania State University. This isn't just a result of building code reform: Japan lost a significant portion of its homes during World War II, and those that were rapidly built to replace them were often poor quality.

"Japan has gradually cranked up the expectations on housing," Daniel Aldrich, professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University, told BI. "So a house built in the 2020s is much safer than one built in the early 1990s, than one built in the '70s, than one built in the '50s."

Strategic land-use planning can reduce deaths and destruction

New construction is both built to be more disaster-resistant and sometimes used to protect older, more vulnerable buildings. In one such case, a 15-building concrete Tokyo apartment complex, complete with steel shutters and a sprinkler system, was erected in a way that strategically protected a neighborhood of mostly wooden homes, creating a 1.2-kilometer-long firewall.

Additionally, Japan has developed various land-use strategies to reduce casualties and damage from earthquakes, fires, and other disasters. Officials identify neighborhoods and regions that are particularly vulnerable and create firebreaks around rivers, railroads, and roadways to prevent fires from jumping from one area to another, Dimmer said. Cities have created new greenspaces, including pocket parks featuring emergency water stores and rations, widened some of their extremely narrow streets, and phased out dead-end streets.

"What stands out in Japan's approach is the institutionalized mechanism of learning from disasters and translating those lessons into concrete, actionable policies," Dimmer said.

After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which also triggered massive fires and a major tsunami that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama, the country learned that green spaces are critical fire breaks and to act as evacuation zones, Dimmer said.

In the wake of Japan's 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, the country invested in coastal infrastructure, including massive seawalls, and relocated residents out of particularly vulnerable areas.

"There are efforts to bring people closer to the city centers, reduce sprawl, and then also if you have built in a place that you shouldn't have built or is deemed unsafe, then there are subsidies to help you move," said Miho Mazereeuw, an associate professor of architecture and director of the Urban Risk Lab at MIT who's writing a book entitled "Design Before Disaster: Japan's Culture of Preparedness."

A 'culture of preparedness' braces residents

In Japan, schoolchildren are required to participate in regular earthquake, fire, typhoon, and other disaster preparedness drills. They study evacuation routes and learn how to take cover depending on the emergency. They also memorize a famous phrase: "Don't push, don't run, don't speak, and don't go back." But it's not just kids who are trained — residents of all ages are educated in disaster response. And, in 2015, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government produced a post-disaster survival manual, the Bosai book.

"There is this culture of preparedness that's been ingrained in every level of society, from what children are taught in schools, to organizations that are community-level," said Mazereeuw. Communities are asked "to really think through both the city design and then also how the community members interact with each other, support each other through these kinds of events."

Dimmer said this culture is based on the understanding that building a more disaster-resilient society requires collective action and major investments.

"Adequate financial resources, building civic structures, and empowering individuals to exercise foresight are crucial," Dimmer added. "Equally important, however, is addressing the underlying cultural mindset that views these efforts as essential for the greater good, rather than seeing them as burdensome or unnecessary."

Building more resilient structures can keep people safe

Government officials in Japan have worked to keep people safe from disasters like tsunamis and volcanoes by consistently pushing construction firms to improve resiliency. And so far, it's been working.

When a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa, Japan, in January 2024, at least 57 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed. Robert Geller, professor emeritus of seismology at the University of Tokyo, told CNN that modern buildings fared better than older houses.

When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Kahramanmaras, Turkey in February 2023, at least 230,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and more than 4,800 people died. Damage from earthquakes can vary significantly depending on where they occur, which makes it difficult to compare two events. However, experts told BI that Japan's resiliency measures have helped the country reduce building damage and save lives.

To be sure, Japan's approach to disasters isn't foolproof. Big earthquakes in recent decades have damaged or destroyed many buildings and had high death tolls. There are also high environmental costs of tearing down older structures and rebuilding as much as Japan does, such as creating significant carbon emissions and waste that can be detrimental to the environment. There are also cultural costs. Many older, often wooden buildings in Japan have been demolished in order to rebuild more disaster-resilient structures.

"Of course, I believe in human safety being the most important thing, but I lament a bit the loss of many more traditional homes," Mazereeuw said, adding that she hopes buildings can begin to be retrofitted more frequently rather than torn down.

Aldrich said the US may struggle with this strategy without first reforming its "patchwork" building codes that are different across cities and states. In comparison, he said Japan's national government has made changes to building codes that apply to the entire country, a model that he said the US should take some lessons from.

"The US should work to create updated federal standards for designing built structures — both residential and commercial — that can withstand floods and fires," he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that she supported getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "the way it exists today." 

In an appearance on CNN’s "State of the Union," Noem’s stance appeared in line with that of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who have both suggested shutting down FEMA could be an option, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reportedly gained access to FEMA’s sensitive disaster relief data to review its programs. 

"Can and should Donald Trump shut it down?" CNN’s Dana Bash asked Noem. 

"He can. And I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team," Noem said. "And he's talking about it, which I'm grateful for. He'll work with Congress, though, to make sure that it's done correctly and that we're still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or a crisis in their life. He's been very clear that he still believes there's a role for the federal government to come in and help people get back up on their feet. But there's a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we've seen incredible change." 

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Noem, who visited Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday to meet with Hurricane Helene victims and survey the damage, told CNN that she oversaw 12 different natural disasters that prompted a FEMA response when she was governor of South Dakota.

As Trump considers block grants for state and local officials experiencing natural disasters, Noem said Sunday that she knew from experience that local officials, such as county emergency management directors, mayors, city council and commissioners "made way better decisions than the people in Washington, D.C."  

Asked what she would tell Trump if the president asked her to get rid of FEMA, Noem said, "I would say yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today." 

"We still need the resources and the funds and the finances to go to people that have these types of disasters like Hurricane Helene and the fires in California," Noem told Bash. "But you need to let the local officials make the decisions on how that is deployed so it can be deployed much quicker. And we don't need this bureaucracy that's picking and choosing winners." 

Noem said Trump "has been clear, too, that he still wants to help people," but condemned FEMA for "targeting individuals, helping some people and not others." The secretary appeared to be referencing how FEMA employees under former President Biden skipped homes in hurricane-ravaged areas that had displayed pro-Trump signs last year. 

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Noem also referenced how Trump managed to close 80% of the open FEMA cases in North Carolina related to Hurricane Helene," adding, "It's amazing when you have somebody who cares … how quickly the response can be." 

The DHS secretary also defended Musk, as DOGE conducts an audit of federal agencies.

"We're working with them at the president's direction to find what we can do to make our department much more efficient," Noem said. "This is essentially an audit of the federal government…. And one of the things I've been very clear to the appropriators in the Senate and the House is please give me the authority to reprogram funds." 

Asked if she felt comfortable with Musk's data access, Noem said, "Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do. And he has gone through the processes to make sure that he has the authority. The president has appointed him. I am today by the work that he is doing, by identifying waste, fraud and abuse. And his information that he has is looking at programs, not focusing on personal data and information." 

After the interview, Musk posted to X on Monday morning that his DOGE team discovered that FEMA last week alone sent $59 million to "luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants." Musk said that "sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order," and, "that money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!" 

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"A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds," Musk added. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has long been a leading adversary, and target, of President Donald Trump.

But the governor of the nation's most populous state, one of the Democratic Party's leaders in the resistance against the second Trump administration and a potential White House contender in 2028, is leaving politics aside as he feverishly works to secure more federal assistance for people and businesses devastated by last month's deadly wildfires in metropolitan Los Angeles.

"Thank you, President Trump, for coming to our communities to see this firsthand and meeting with me today to continue our joint efforts to support people impacted," Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday evening after his huddle with the president at the White House.

In a video posted on social medial, the governor said, "So, here at the White House. Just finished a meeting with President Trump. Had a very successful day up on Capitol Hill as well, meeting in a bipartisan manner with Republican and Democratic leaders about disaster aid and disaster recovery for people impacted by the fires in Southern California."

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Newsom described his meetings with Trump and members of Congress as "the spirit of collaboration and cooperation … defined."

The governor's trip was his first to Washington, D.C., since Trump took over in the White House and is part of his effort to secure additional federal funding to aid in wildfire recovery from the destructive blazes that killed 29 people, destroyed over 12,000 homes and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.

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Late last month, the governor approved $2.5 billion for fire recovery work, which he hopes will be reimbursed by the federal government. 

And the state will likely need much more help from the federal government because the bill to cover rebuilding costs is expected to reach into the tens of billions of dollars.

Newsom, after his meeting with Trump and his crisscrossing of Capitol Hill, emphasized that "we continue to cut red tape to speed up recovery and cleanup efforts as well as ensure rebuilding efforts are swift. We’re working across the aisle, as we always have, to ensure survivors have the resources and support they need."

Relations between Newsom and Trump haven't always been so harmonious.

Their animosity dates back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California's lieutenant governor.

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And while they did seek common ground at times during Trump's first term in the White House, the verbal fireworks resumed over the past two years as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats' 2024 standard-bearer last summer. 

Newsom regularly criticized Trump, and the former and future president handily returned the favor, treating Newsom and heavily blue California as a political punching bag.

After Trump's convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to "Trump-proof" his heavily blue state. 

"He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election," Trump responded.

But Newsom followed through, and earlier this week, California lawmakers approved $25 million in legal funding proposed by the Democratic governor to challenge actions by the Trump administration. And the legislature also allocated another $25 million for legal groups to defend undocumented immigrants facing possible deportation by new Trump administration efforts.

After the outbreak of the fires early last month, Trump repeatedly criticized Newsom's handling of the crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy and, pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, called on Newsom to step down.

"Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!" Trump charged in a social media post Jan. 8, repeating a derogatory name he often labels the governor.

Trump also placed blame for the deadly wildfires on Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, another Democrat, and the policies approved by state lawmakers. In an executive order issued last month, he described management of the state's land and water resources as "disastrous."

Newsom pushed back. Disputing Trump, the governor noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and he has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

Newsom also claimed Trump spread "hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation."

But when Trump arrived in Los Angeles late last month to survey the first damage — just four days after his inauguration as president — the governor greeted him at the airport.

"Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us," Newsom told Trump as he greeted the president upon his arrival in Los Angeles last month. "We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help." 

The president declared that "we're looking to get something completed. And the way you get it completed is to work together."

Ahead of his stop in Los Angeles, Trump had threatened to withhold wildfire aid until certain stipulations were met in California, including changes to water policy and requiring an ID to vote.

"It wasn't discussed, and I hope we can move beyond that," Newsom said Thursday when asked in a CNN interview about any conditions for federal aid Trump may have demanded.

"Some of the conditions that were being bandied about just seemed to be, for me, a little bit of noise, a little bit political. At the end of the day, we're all in this together."

Newsom has also stepped back in recent weeks in pushing back against Trump's zingers.

Following Trump's orders, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week opened two dams in Central California, letting roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs.

Trump celebrated the move in posts on Truth Social Friday and Sunday, declaring, "the water is flowing in California," and adding the water was "heading to farmers throughout the State, and to Los Angeles."

But water experts argued that the newly released water won't flow to Los Angeles, and it is being wasted by being released during California's normally wet winter season.

Newsom, apparently aiming to rebuild the working relationship he had with Trump during the president's first term in the White House, didn't raise any objections to the water release.

"For Newsom, it's not just the last disaster, it's the next one. Because when you are governor of California, you know in the not too distant future there will be more wildfires, or floods or earthquakes, and he's going to need help from the federal government," Jack Pitney, a veteran California-based political scientist at Claremont McKenna College, emphasized.

Pitney argued that "whatever [Newsom] thinks about Trump, he needs the president's help."

But looking ahead, he noted that Newsom is "termed out in two years. So, once he's no longer governor, he can be as partisan and anti-Trump as he wants. But, for now, that has to be on hold."