Machizukuri has established Japan as a successful model of community building and inclusive community engagement through institutionalizing a participatory decision-making system. Derived from Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), Machizukuri plays a pivotal role in managing disaster preparedness, management, and recovery, aligning with Disaster Risk Reduction efforts of civic engagement. The Machizukuri movement promotes peaceful rehabilitation after rapid-onset disasters, e.g., earthquake in Kobe (1995), Tohoku (2011), and Kumamoto (2016). This study applies Robert D. Putnam’s Social Capital theory of bonding and bridging as a theoretical framework. Abductive reasoning in the qualitative method was used to review the literature acquired by a systematic engine-driven search of English-language publications between 1918 to 2022 using a Boolean search string technique. The result found that Machizukuri’s existing study emphasized topology perspective (rural and urban areas) in Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima City, Tohoku City, Kobe City, Tokyo, and Yamamoto. Machizukuri value reflects social capital with positive outcomes in bridging and bonding, including in topology areas to cope with rapid-onset disasters, e.g., the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. The linking type of social capital by Michael Woolcock in 2001 emerged in a complex disaster event in Kyoto included in the result. However, Machizukuri was insufficient in the case of climate change and the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. Therefore, it is also significant to consider the reactive nature of Machizukuri in rapid-onset disasters to be developed into a proactive movement to facilitate innovation to climate change and build community resilience in slow-onset disasters.