THE TRANSITION OF SABO WORKS FOR DISASTER MITIGATION IN JAPAN Masao Okamoto1* INTRODUCTION Ten years have passed since the beginning of the 21st century. During that time, a huge number of large-scale natural disasters occurred in various parts of the world (Table 1). Table 1. Major natural disasters that occurred in the world from 2001 to 2010 (As of March 3) Disaster Damage Date Region Country Est. Damage (m/y) Type Name Killed (US$ Million) Tropical 03/2004 Eastern Africa Madagascar Galifo 363 250 cyclone 08/2006 Middle Africa Ethiopia Flash flood 498 3 05/2003 Northern Africa Algeria Earthquake 2,266 5,000 01/2010 Caribbean Haiti Earthquake 230,000 Tropical 09/2004 Haiti 2,754 50 cyclone Tropical 10/2005 Central America Guatemala 1,513 988 cyclone United Tropical 08/2005 Northern America Katrina 1,833 125,000 States cyclone 02/2010 Southern America Chile Earthquake 799 08/2007 Peru Earthquake 593 600 05/2008 Eastern Asia China Earthquake 87,476 85,000 10/2004 Japan Earthquake 40 28,000 08/2007 Korea General flood 610 300 Tropical Typhoon 08/2009 Taiwan 630 250 cyclone Morakot South Eastern 09/2009 Indonesia Earthquake 1,177 2,000 Asia 05/2006 Indonesia Earthquake 5,778 3,100 12/2004 Indonesia Tsunami 165,708 4,452 Tropical 05/2008 Myanmar Cyclone Nargis 138,366 4,000 cyclone 02/2006 Philippines Landslide 1,126 2 Tropical 11/2004 Philippines Winnie 1,619 78 cyclone 12/2004 Thailand Tsunami 8,345 1,000 03/2002 South Asia Afghanistan Earthquake 1,000 1 Director General, Japan Sabo Association, 2-7-5, Hirakawac-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan (*Corresponding Author; E-mail:
[email protected]) -41- Tropical 11/2007 Bangladesh Sidr 4,234 2,300 cyclone 12/2004 India Tsunami 16,389 1,023 01/2001 India Earthquake 20,005 2,623 12/2003 Iran Earthquake 26,796 500 10/2005 Pakistan Earthquake 73,338 5,200 12/2004 Sri Lanka Tsunami 35,399 1,317 04/2009 Southern Europe Italy Earthquake 295 2,500 (Quoted from EM-DAT, Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters and added data of 2010) Last year, Taiwan suffered serious damage due to Typhoon Morakot.