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The "China-Japan Symposium on Seismic Disaster Prevention and Mitigation" was held in October 8th – 10th, 2009 at Chengdu city, Sichuan Province, China. It was organized by National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and Bureau of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences　(CAS), with supports from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology　(MEXT), JAPAN, and CAS. 

There were 20 participants from Japan, representing disaster prevention research communities, and about 80 participants from China, who specialize in such a field. The symposium was mainly operated by Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS. (Photo 9 – Group photo of the Symposium)
On the first day, the 9th, we had a field investigation of a fault offset of 5 meters in height, and 3 meters in width, made by surface faults associated with the Wenchuan Earthquake ( Photo 1). We also visited Zipingpu Dam which is located near the hypocenter but was safe from severe damage (Photo 3), and Dujiangyan, the world cultural heritage (Photo 4). 

On the following two days, we had a conference from 8 a.m till 6:30 p.m. It was composed of the following 4 parts after the opening ceremony (Photo 5); Part 1: Keynote Lecture on "Earthquake and Disaster Mitigation", Part 2: Session on "Research on Seismic Mechanism and Warning", Part 3: Session on "The Mechanism and Prevention Technology of Secondary Disasters of Earthquake, and Part4: Session on "Earthquake Disaster Emergency Management and Post-earthquake Reconstruction". 

In Part 1, Dr. Okada, the President of NIED, reported the "Researches on seismic disaster mitigation in Japan after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake" (Photo 6), and Dr. Ikeya, the President of　Sabo Technical Center, made an overall report on "Quake lakes and their management-Experience in Japan" (Photo 7). From Chinese side, Dr. Wang, the Academician of CAS, introduced "Seismic Geo-hazard Assessment of Engineering Sites", and Prof. Li from National Disaster Reduction Center explained "Natural Hazards Emergency Management in China", while Prof. Huang from Chengdu University of Technology introduced "Distribution and Mechanism of Landslides induced by Wenchuan Earthquake". 

In Part 2, it was reported the comparison of mechanism and characteristics of large inland earthquakes in China and Japan, and the investigation results of surface faults associated with the Wenchuan Earthquake, as well as the mechanism of earthquakes, and prediction of inland earthquakes. 

In Part 3, it was introduced the landslides and floods caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake, and detailed field survey on civil structure such as tunnels and dams, as well as the long-lasting influence caused by earthquake, and seismic performance of school structures by shaking test using E-Defense. 

In Part 4, it was reported the overview of recovery and reconstruction process from the Wenchuan Earthquake and the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. At the end, Professor Hamada, the former president of Japan Society of Civil Engineers, gave a lecture on the global view of current natural disaster and international cooperation for recovery (Photo 8), while Professor Deng Wei, the Director of the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, gave a lecture on technical aspects regarding to the reconstruction and development of mountain areas. 

At this symposium, wide variety of subjects such as seismic mechanism, disaster research, recovery and reconstruction were discussed. Although, the difference between China and Japan became clear in some fields. Both China and Japan realized the significance of cooperation throughout the symposium, which turned out to be a nice kick off to the collaboration in future.