An intensive two-day research workshop at UNU-ISP and Waseda University brought together scholars, policymakers and practitioners from Japan and overseas to consider how a human security approach can help us understand and respond to natural disasters. It explored the disasters of 11 March 2011 in relation to a range of other recent “mega-disasters”, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The key research findings were shared through a public symposium on 22 February 2012 at UNU headquarters.