This is the first book to examine the origins of modern Japan's infrastructure of resilience. Drawing from a rich collection of previously unexplored sources, Janet Borland vividly illustrates that Japan's contemporary culture of disaster preparedness and its people's ability to respond calmly in a time of emergency are the result of learned and practiced behaviors. She traces their roots to the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which killed over 100,000 people when it struck the Tokyo region.