Japan earthquakes

It is said that Japan experiences up to 1,500 seismic events every year (including tremors).

Even spread across a year, this is a massive amount of instances spread across a year's time. I am curious how such occurrences affect everyday life. I would imagine that everything from safety precautions to building infrastructure is influenced by such events.

I watched a documentary in which it stated their more advanced trains (bullet trains) are programmed to stop when seismic activity is detected.

If you live in Japan - can you share some insight on how disruptive seismic activity is for society?

Image credit to CNN
http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160415110359-11-japan-earthquake-0415-super-169.jpg