Japan: National Disaster Management Agency Launches With 352 Staff to Coordinate Megaquake Preparedness
Japan's government launched the National Disaster Management Agency in Tokyo on November 2, headed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with Reconstruction Minister Goshi Hosono serving concurrently as the first disaster management minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara announced. Based in Tokyo with 352 staff, about 1.6 times the personnel previously assigned to disaster management at the Cabinet Office, it is the first agency established directly under Cabinet supervision since the Digital Agency in September 2021.
Reorganised and expanded from the Cabinet Office's disaster management division under legislation passed by the Diet in July, the agency will serve as the government's disaster command centre, covering preparation, assistance to people hit by disasters and restoration and reconstruction. The disaster management minister can issue recommendations that other government bodies are expected to respect, and the agency will support municipalities facing budget constraints and shortages of disaster specialists.
The agency is aimed at Japan's most demanding scenarios: a major earthquake directly beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, a megathrust quake along the Nankai Trough, quakes along the Japan Trench and Chishima Trench, and an eruption of Mount Fuji. Regional hub locations are to be decided by summer 2027, with local bureaus opening by July 2028. At the launch, Hosono urged residents to stockpile food and secure furniture, warning that central and local governments have limits in a massive disaster, and the agency aims to improve evacuation centres with portable toilets, hot meals, bathing facilities and beds.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：日本内阁府大楼（东京），っ 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0 授权 / Photo: Cabinet Office building in Tokyo, Japan, by っ, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
