Japan rapidly recovering beyond its expectations

"Before, we focused on preventing damage from disaster. The idea still holds but the tsunami taught us that this can be 'overruled' by a major disaster," said Yoshio Ando, counselor of the Secretariat for the Reconstruction Headquarters in Tokyo, as reported by the Inquirer. He said there was a need to train residents to escape from areas about to be hit by a tsunami. Ando also said the government was also considering relocating communities vulnerable to tsunamis to higher grounds.

"If we base our efforts on a concept of 'disaster reduction,' we must certainly focus on people-oriented measures that move away from an exclusive reliance on waterside defensive structures. Instead, we must engage in thorough disaster-prevention education founded on the fundamental concept of 'escape' and develop hazard maps," elaborates the advisory council through a report titled "Towards Reconstruction: Hope Beyond the Disaster."