Professor Kaoru Takara has been interested in physically-based stochastic hydrological analysis, using state-space modeling of river basins with advanced technologies such as the Kalman filter, rain radar, satellite remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and computer intensive statistics (CIS). Modeling and forecasting of heavy rainfalls, floods and landslides are key to prevent and reduce disaster risks in river basins. His current interests include: probable maximum precipitation (PMP), probable maximum flood (PMF), frequency analysis of meteorological and hydrological extremes with parametric and non-parametric methods, climate change impacts, downscaling of global climate model (GCM) outputs for applications at basin scale, and disaster risk governance. Prof. Takara has published 25 co-authored books, 200+ peer-reviewed papers in academic journals, and 130+ articles in annuals and journals.