After World War II, Japan implemented the economic development route of giving priority to the development of heavy chemical industry, and built many coastal industrial zones along the Pacific coast, such as Keihin (Tokyo, Yokohama, Chiba), Zhongjing (Nagoya) and Hanshin (Osaka, Kobe). Focusing on these areas, Japan has not only built a large number of steel, oil refining, petrochemical, shipbuilding, power generation and other factories, but also built highways, railways, airports and other infrastructure services for them, resulting in the occurrence of various public hazards concentrated in these specific areas.

In addition, due to Japan's small land area and concentrated population, the population density is 2,874 people/square kilometer, which is two or three times that of Western Europe, 20 times that of the United States and 26 times that of Russia. The harm of public hazards to residents' physical and mental health is also manifested in an unprecedented form.

In Japan, in addition to urban residents, the victims of public hazards are mostly farmers, fishermen and other low-income classes. Therefore, the problem of public hazards is closely related to social problems such as the gap between the rich and the poor, and it has become more noticeable.