Disaster Management Agency

A national government agency placed in the Cabinet (内閣) by the Act for Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency (防災庁設置法, Act No. 61 of 2026) (Article 2). Its tasks are to assist the Cabinet, together with the Cabinet Secretariat (内閣官房), in the Cabinet's work on disaster management (防災) — disaster prevention, emergency response, recovery from a disaster and reconstruction after it — and to see that the government's administrative work on disaster management is done smoothly and quickly, both in line with the basic principles of Article 2-2 of the Basic Act on Disaster Management (Article 3). Its work includes planning and coordinating the government's basic policy and plans for disaster management, setting up and running the disaster management bodies of Chapter II of the Basic Act on Disaster Management, the disaster management plans (防災計画) that Act provides for, and emergency relief for disaster victims; work that concerns nuclear disaster management (原子力防災) alone is not its work but stays with the Cabinet Office (内閣府) (Article 4, paragraphs (1) to (3)). Its head is the Prime Minister (内閣総理大臣), who may issue Disaster Management Agency Orders (防災庁令) on the matters in its charge, to carry out an Act (法律) or a Cabinet Order (政令) or where one of them specially delegates a matter; such an Order can set a penalty, impose a duty or restrict a right only where an Act delegates it (Article 6, paragraph (1), and Article 7, paragraphs (3) and (4)). A Minister for Disaster Management (防災大臣), who is a Minister of State (国務大臣), assists the Prime Minister and directs the Agency's work (Article 8, paragraphs (1) to (3)).