Takahasi, born in 1927, a professor of the University of Tokyo, urged in the 1970s a drastic change in water control policies that were focused on physical infrastructure such as banks. 

He proposed an integrated flood management approach that includes river as well as environment and human communities in river basins. His concept laid the foundation for the 1997 amendment to Japan's River Act, which is still known as one of the most advanced river-related legislations in the world.