Annual Report on Sediment-related Disasters in Japan
“Annual Report on Sediment-related Disasters in Japan” is available online.
The Annual Report on Sediment-Related Disasters (Japanese edition) is a key publication issued by the Sabo & Landslide Technical Center (STC) since 1982. It is updated and published annually under the supervision of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which oversees the nationwide collection of fundamental data.
The latest edition is available for purchase at designated bookstores (Latest Edition Here), and past editions can be accessed free of charge on the STC website (Back Numbers Here)(Japanese).
The report compiles and organizes information on sediment-related incidents and disasters involving casualties from the previous year, as reported to MLIT. It includes details such as location, weather conditions, geology, sediment movement phenomena, sediment volume, damage, recovery efforts, and photographs. Its primary readers are local residents in hazard-prone areas and municipal officials, as well as academic researchers interested in sediment-related disaster prevention.
Examples of references in academic research
Shinohara, Y., and Komatsu, H. (2016)：
The recent trend in annual death toll by landslide disasters in Japan, Journal of the Japan Society of Erosion Control Engineering. Vol. 68, No.5, p.3-9
Shinohara, Y. and Kume, T. (2022)：
Changes in the factors contributing to the reduction of landslide fatalities between 1945 and 2019 in Japan, Science of the Total Environment, 827, 154392
Back number of “Annual Report on Sediment-related Disasters in Japan”(Japanese version)
Number of deaths and missing caused by natural disaster in Japan (1974-2024)
(Cited from “Annual Report on Sediment-related Disasters 2024 in Japan”, 5pp)
Fig. 1.1 Number of deaths and missing caused by natural disaster in Japan (1974-2024)
Notes:
- The annual figures for deaths and missing persons from all natural disasters are based on the White Paper on Disaster Prevention (2024 Edition) (published by the Cabinet Office). Figures for debris flows, landslides, slope failures, and avalanches are based on data from the Sabo Department, Water and Disaster Management Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, as of the end of 2024.
- The number of deaths and missing persons due to all natural disasters refers to damage caused by typhoons, tornadoes, heavy rain, floods, slope failures, debris flows, storm surges, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and other abnormal natural phenomena.
- The number of deaths and missing persons due to avalanches is based on data compiled from avalanche hazard areas where protected houses and similar structures are located. It does not include cases from other locations, such as those involving hikers caught in avalanches while climbing.
- Among the number of deaths and missing persons caused by debris flows in 1991 and 1993, 55 and 33 respectively, the figures include 43 deaths and 1 missing person due to the pyroclastic flows of Mt. Unzen (Fugen-dake).
- The number of deaths and missing persons due to all natural disasters in 2024 remains undetermined, as the final figures have not yet been compiled.
- Of the 22 deaths and missing persons caused by the Northern Kyushu Heavy Rain in 2017, 2 individuals are included under debris flows and similar phenomena, as the specific type of sediment movement that caused their deaths remains unknown.
