Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enters the prime minister’s office on Dec. 2. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The government is finalizing startup plans for the new Disaster Management Agency for disaster preparedness and response on Nov. 1 next year and for its two regional hubs in or after fiscal 2027, it has been learned.

One branch of the command center will be located in an area specified for promoting disaster preparedness against a powerful earthquake along the Japan Trench and Chishima Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

The other branch will be situated in an area designated for a megaquake along the Nakai Trough, also in the Pacific.

More than 30 requests to host a regional hub have been submitted by municipalities across the country.

The government plans to finalize its basic policy for promoting disaster management measures through Cabinet approval within the year and submit the legislation to establish the agency to the ordinary Diet session next year for enactment.

The Disaster Management Agency will function as a government-wide command center, overseeing everything from pre-disaster planning and initial response to recovery and reconstruction of affected areas.

The agency, which will be placed under the Cabinet, is expected to be granted authority to issue recommendations to other government ministries and agencies.

It will be formed by reorganizing the Cabinet Office’s disaster management function and will consist of four departments, including one responsible for planning disaster countermeasures and another in charge of handling emergency responses.

The government also intends to expand staffing.

The creation of the agency is an initiative spearheaded by former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

In her first policy speech to the Diet in October, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said, “To fundamentally strengthen our disaster management framework, we will accelerate preparations for establishing the Disaster Management Agency in the next fiscal year.”

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