Japan Launches Disaster Agency to Coordinate Emergency Response
Japan has launched a National Disaster Management Agency to bring preparedness, emergency response and recovery under a stronger central command. The Tokyo-b...
Japan has launched a National Disaster Management Agency to bring preparedness, emergency response and recovery under a stronger central command. The Tokyo-based agency is intended to improve coordination with local governments as the country prepares for major earthquakes and other natural hazards.
Established under legislation passed by the Diet in July, the agency will oversee disaster planning, emergency operations and reconstruction. The government says it aims to fundamentally strengthen the country’s disaster-management system.
National and local coordination
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi heads the agency. Reconstruction Minister Goshi Hosono will also serve as disaster management minister, with authority to recommend improvements to ministries and other government bodies. They are expected to give those recommendations due consideration.
The agency has about 350 employees, roughly 1.6 times the number previously assigned to disaster management at the Cabinet Office. It is the first agency placed directly under Cabinet supervision since the Digital Agency was established in September 2021.
Coordination is the central test. Regional offices are planned to help the national government work with municipalities during emergencies, including areas that lack disaster specialists or have limited budgets. Their locations are due to be selected by summer 2027, with offices expected to open by July 2028.
That timeline means the agency’s local network will take shape over the next two years. Its headquarters will meanwhile oversee nationwide preparedness and response.
Preparing for major hazards
The agency’s remit includes torrential rain and volcanic eruptions as well as earthquakes. Plans address the possibility of major quakes along the Japan Trench, the Chishima Trench and the Nankai Trough, as well as beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Its work will also extend beyond the emergency itself: the agency is tasked with supporting people affected by disasters and overseeing restoration and reconstruction in damaged areas. Improving evacuation shelters and reducing deaths linked to disasters are among the priorities identified for the new system.
Hosono is expected to urge the public to take an active role in preparedness, including by stocking supplies. The next major step for the agency will be choosing where to place its regional offices, which are designed to bring coordination closer to local authorities.