Extreme weather

Being located in the pacific northwest Japan is no stranger to extreme weather, which includes typhoons. Typhoons also known as hurricanes are most common in Japan between May and October with August and September being the peak season.  The hardest hit are typically the smaller islands but the main island is usually hit by a couple a year as well.  

Typhoons vary greatly in their strength and potential hazard to the island.  Luckily, they are slow moving storms which makes their direction easy to predict and makes accurate early warnings given to the citizens possible.

Flooding from a Typhoon

Most deaths from typhoons are actually caused by the rapid rise in sea level and landslides, but the death tolls in recent years have been much lower thanks to Japan's early warning system run by the Japan Meteorological Agency who tracks the storms in real time and give updates on their locations.  

"Japan Meteorology Agency" Tropical Cyclone Information. http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/

Subsidence

The subsidence hazard in Japan has actually greatly decreased over the years thanks to new laws and ordinances that restrict groundwater pumping in soft ground.  Although there has been a slight increase from the recent low due to the nation-wide dry spell Japan is experiencing.  but they continue to protect their citizens from threats like sinkholes by placing informative signs to make citizens aware of dangerous areas and enforcing their ordinances on pumping ground water in sensitive areas.