Abstract
After the legislation of Landslide-Prevention-Law in 1958, the landslide prevention technique has somehow been enhanced to the scientific level. Although it has a history of only a few decades, it has been given the assured status as a field of civil engineering.
This achievement is a result of the great efforts put forth by its pioneers, whom for years, had been fighting against landslide disasters which threatened the inhabitants.
The author tried to trace back the history of the pioneers' efforts and the development of the landslide prevention technique. In this paper (1), the history from the dawn to the end of World War II will be described.
