2011 Volume 52 Issue 4 Pages 199-205
In Japan, the frequency of the concentrated downpour has increased lately, and further there occur large earthquakes frequently. Quite recently, a massive earthquake occurred on 11th March, off the Pacific coast of the Tohoku area, causing devastating damages. On account of such natural disasters, damage scale along railways has become large and its damage modes have been diversifying at the same time. Therefore, at first, this paper explains about circumstances of climate change, and introduces features of natural disasters corresponding to such changes. Moreover, this paper shows the recent state and the future prospects of the research and development in the Japanese disaster prevention technological field.