Japan Diet Starts Debates on Disaster Agency Bill

Tokyo, April 14 (Jiji Press)–The Diet, Japan’s parliament, at a House of Representatives plenary meeting Tuesday kicked off deliberations on a bill to establish a disaster management agency. The agency, which is set to serve as the government’s command center for disaster prevention and response, will be created through the reorganization of the Cabinet Office’s disaster management-related division and the drastic enhancement of its functions. The legislation’s entry into force is planned within this year, and the government aims to launch the new agency this autumn. During the Lower House meeting, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the new agency will function as “a control tower for comprehensive disaster prevention and consistent disaster response from the time of occurrence through recovery and reconstruction.” She added that the government aims to “drastically strengthen the disaster prevention system” with the launch of the agency. According to the bill, the new agency will be placed directly under the cabinet. The post of disaster management minister will be newly created for the supervision of the agency, which will also have a vice minister, the top bureaucratic post. The minister will have the authority to issue recommendations to other government agencies and ministries. The agencies and ministries will be obliged to respect the recommendations so that government organizations can work in unity to implement necessary measures. Located in Tokyo, the agency’s headquarters will comprise four departments, including one in charge of initial response in the event of a disaster and another for promoting disaster preparedness. Two local bureaus of the agency will be created in or after fiscal 2027 to enable the government to better prepare for potential major earthquakes in the Nankai Trough in the Pacific Ocean off central to southwestern Japan, and in the Japan and Kuril trenches off the Pacific coasts in northern to eastern Japan. The agency will have 352 staff personnel, up from 220 at the current Cabinet Office division. It will actively recruit disaster management experts from the private sector. In addition, a disaster management academy will be established to promote human resources development through training and research activities, according to the bill. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]