EXCLUSIVE: Japan to Set Up Disaster Management Agency in Nov. 2026

Tokyo, Dec. 1 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government is considering setting up its planned disaster management agency under the cabinet on Nov. 1, 2026, Jiji Press learned Monday. In or after fiscal 2027, the agency will have a local base in an area forecast to experience strong shakes from a huge earthquake in the Nankai Trough and another in an area to be affected by a temblor in the Japan and Chishima trenches in the Pacific, in addition to the headquarters in Tokyo. According to government sources, the agency will have four sections, tasked respectively with comprehensive coordination, strategic disaster management planning, disaster responses and enhancement of regional disaster management capabilities mainly through the construction of a cooperation framework among industry, government, academia and the civil sector. The agency will have a dedicated minister. The government will consider giving the agency authority to make recommendations to other agencies even in peacetime. Personnel at the agency will be larger in number than the current 220 staff covering disaster management at the Cabinet Office. The government will submit legislation needed to establish the agency to the next ordinary session of parliament in 2026. The Nankai Trough extends from off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture to Miyazaki Prefecture, while the Japan and Chishima trenches are located off the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions. The government estimates that a Nankai Trough quake could cause significant damage mainly in central Japan, while a major quake along the Japan Trench or Chishima Trench could heavily impact areas from northern to northeastern Japan. The government plans to set up the agency in November 2026 to secure more than three months for preparations after the planned legislation is passed. In addition, the government wants to avoid the June-October period, when disasters tend to occur frequently due to heavy rains and typhoons. The disaster management agency was proposed by former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in light of intensifying storms and floods and large-scale quakes that hit Japan. The government created a preparation office for the agency in November 2024. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the successor to Ishiba, said in her policy speech before parliament last month that the government would accelerate preparations to establish the agency. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]