Risk intelligence · Earthquake and tsunami
Japan cannot be reduced to one hazard score. A coastal machiya district, volcanic island village, river basin, and mountain onsen town face different combinations of shaking, tsunami, liquefaction, landslide, access, and evacuation risk. This page is AKIYAZ’s public framework for turning government and scientific datasets into a region-by-region diligence resource.
Decision rule
Identify obvious exposure early. Confirm the details before money is at risk.
A public screen cannot replace local hazard maps, engineers, insurers, or legal review. It can make the next broker call, field inspection, specialist check, and evacuation question much sharper.
Regional context
Use the regional profiles to understand why the same price or building type can carry very different diligence questions in a coast, island, river basin, historic district, or mountain valley.
Primary question
Next field check
Exposure readout
Screening level
Property screen
This screen uses official Japanese government and scientific sources for a first-pass diligence brief. Treat it as a starting point: tsunami, flood, landslide, evacuation, and building-condition questions still need local confirmation.
Diligence brief
Submit an address or coordinate to generate a first-pass diligence brief.
Result band
Waiting
Assessment method
The useful question for property diligence is not “is Japan dangerous?” It is “what type of exposure is this exact place carrying, and what design, insurance, evacuation, and resale consequences follow?”
Use J-SHIS to identify probabilistic shaking and fault influence, then ask whether the building’s age, structure, roof weight, and retrofit history match that exposure.
Use MLIT/GSI hazard maps and local inundation assumptions to test elevation, distance to coast/river, and safe vertical or horizontal evacuation.
Screen reclaimed land, alluvial plains, old river courses, and soft-ground layers before pricing renovation or foundation work.
Check bridge, tunnel, ferry, mountain road, and island dependencies. A beautiful property can become operationally fragile if there is only one route in or out.
Combine hazard layers with actual construction: year built, seismic code era, timber frame condition, retaining walls, slope, roof, drainage, and emergency utilities.
Translate exposure into practical terms: retrofit budget, insurance availability, lender comfort, guest safety, evacuation signage, and disclosure obligations.
Official sources
The public screen names the agencies and source families behind the assessment, then states what each source can and cannot prove. Property-specific advice still depends on the exact site, local maps, building records, and professional review.
National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED)
The live parcel screen converts a location into regional hazard references and checks an official averaged-hazard seismic-intensity signal. This informs the earthquake-shaking score only.
Use limit: Mesh-level hazard data is not a structural survey and does not identify retrofit condition, foundation quality, or building survivability.
Open example source evidenceGeospatial Information Authority of Japan
The live parcel screen uses this official geocoder to resolve Japanese address text into longitude and latitude before querying elevation and mesh-based hazard data.
Use limit: Address geocoding can resolve to an approximate place label rather than a surveyed parcel boundary; exact lot checks still require registry, survey, and local map confirmation.
Open example source evidenceGeospatial Information Authority of Japan
The live parcel screen requests approximate elevation for the coordinate and uses it as an early proxy for tsunami, flood, liquefaction, and slope-diligence questions.
Use limit: Elevation alone is not inundation exposure. It must be checked against municipal tsunami, flood, storm-surge, landslide, and evacuation maps.
Open example source evidenceMLIT / Geospatial Information Authority of Japan
Reference portal for official hazard-map layers including tsunami inundation, flood, landslide, storm surge, and evacuation information published by national and local authorities.
Use limit: Use the portal and municipality hazard maps for final local confirmation. National datasets are useful for screening; local maps remain authoritative for parcel-level inundation, landslide, and evacuation details.
Open example source evidenceCabinet Office, Government of Japan
National scenario planning, damage assumptions, and policy context for Nankai Trough earthquake and tsunami exposure in relevant coastal regions.
Use limit: Scenario pages are regional planning context, not a parcel-level determination.
Open example source evidenceJapan Meteorological Agency
Operational warnings, observations, earthquake intensity information, and public alert context for interpreting official disaster communication.
Use limit: Operational warning pages explain current/observed events and alerting context; they do not replace acquisition due diligence.
Open example source evidenceWhat the screen gives you
Responsible framing
“This public-data screen shows likely exposure layers and the next diligence questions.”
“This property is safe” or “this property will flood.” Only licensed specialists and official local determinations can close that gap.