Japanese engineers smashing disciplinary silos as natural disasters worsen March 12, 2021 (Mainichi Japan) Mitsuyoshi Akiyama, left, president of Engineers Without Borders Japan, probes damage of a bridge in Kumamoto Prefecture after powerful earthquakes struck the area in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Mitsuyoshi Akiyama/Kyodo) Toyokazu Sakaki, director of Engineers Without Borders Japan, gives an interview in Tokyo on Feb. 19, 2021. (Kyodo) TOKYO (Kyodo) -- As the magnitude and complexity of natural disasters become more magnified, Japanese civil engineers are stressing the importance of preparing for future calamities from the perspective of "multihazard" risk. Kazuo Konagai, former president of the nonprofit Engineers Without Borders Japan, told Kyodo News in a recent interview that he is growing more and more concerned intense climate change-fueled natural disasters are increasing the risk of simultaneous hazardous events.