From 23-30 September 1995, a four-person delegation of Habitat International Coalition (HIC) undertook a fact-finding mission (FFM) in Kobe, Japan to investigate allegations of housing rights and human rights abuses related to the period following the 17 January 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. The basis upon which the FFM team analyzed the situation in Kobe was international human rights law, with particular emphasis placed on the human right to adequate housing. Moreover, the team “ two members of which have extensive post-earthquake experience in their own countries - sought to examine how experiences in other nations previously affected by large-scale natural disasters, most notably Mexico and India, might be of use in assisting in the longer-term implementation of a post-quake reconstruction plan in a manner fully consistent with international human rights standards.