Basic Act on Disaster Management

The purpose of this Act is to protect the national land and the lives, bodies, and properties of citizens from disasters by formulating basic principles, establishing the necessary system through input by the national government, local governments, and other public institutions, and, in addition to clarifying where responsibilities lie concerning disaster management, drawing up a basic policy on necessary disaster control measures including formulation of disaster management plans, disaster prevention, emergency disaster control measures, disaster recovery efforts, reconstruction from disasters, and financial measures concerning disaster management, thus developing and promoting a comprehensive and systematic disaster management administration and contributing to the preservation of social order and securing the public welfare.

In this Act, the meanings of the terms listed in the following items are as prescribed respectively in those items:

the term "disaster" means damage resulting from a storm, tornado, heavy rainfall, heavy snowfall, flood, slope failure, mudflow, high tide, earthquake, tsunami, liquefaction of the ground, volcanic eruption, landslide, or other abnormal natural phenomena, or a large fire or explosion or other causes provided for by Cabinet Order and similar to the above in the extent of damage they cause;

the term "disaster management" means preventing a disaster preemptively, preventing expansion of damage after a disaster has occurred, and recovering from a disaster and reconstructing after a disaster (hereinafter referred to as "recovery and reconstruction");

the term "designated administrative organs" means the following organs designated by the Prime Minister:

the Cabinet Office, the Imperial Household Agency and organs prescribed in Article 49, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the Act for Establishment of the Cabinet Office (Act No. 89 of 1999), the Digital Agency, the Disaster Management Agency, and organs prescribed in Article 3, paragraph (2) of the National Government Organization Act (Act No. 120 of 1948);

organs prescribed in Articles 37 and 54 of the Act for Establishment of the Cabinet Office, in Article 16, paragraph (1) of the Imperial Household Agency Act (Act No. 70 of 1947), and in Article 8 of the National Government Organization Act;

organs prescribed in Articles 39 and 55 of the Act for Establishment of the Cabinet Office, in Article 16, paragraph (2) of the Imperial Household Agency Act, in Article 15 of the Act for Establishment of the Disaster Management Agency (Act No. 61 of 2026), and in Article 8-2 of the National Government Organization Act;

organs prescribed in Articles 40 and 56 of the Act for Establishment of the Cabinet Office and in Article 8-3 of the National Government Organization Act.

the term "designated local administrative organs" means local branch offices of designated administrative organs (referring to local branch offices prescribed in Articles 43 and 57 of the Act for Establishment of the Cabinet Office (including as applied mutatis mutandis pursuant to Article 18, paragraph (1) of the Imperial Household Agency Act), Article 17, paragraph (1) of the Imperial Household Agency Act and Article 9 of the National Government Organization Act), and any other local administrative organs of the State designated by the Prime Minister;

the term "designated public corporations" means incorporated administrative agencies (referring to incorporated administrative agencies prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Act on General Rules for Incorporated Administrative Agencies (Act No. 103 of 1999)), the Bank of Japan, the Japanese Red Cross Society, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), and any other public institutions and corporations engaged in public welfare undertakings such as providing electricity, gas, transportation and telecommunications services designated by the Prime Minister;

the term "designated local public corporations" means local incorporated administrative agencies (referring to local incorporated administrative agencies prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Local Incorporated Administrative Agency Act (Act No. 118 of 2003)), a port authority (referred to as "a Port Authority" in Article 82, paragraph (1)) prescribed in Article 4, paragraph (1) of the Port and Harbour Act (Act No. 218 of 1950), administrators of public facilities including land improvement districts prescribed in Article 5, paragraph (1) of the Land Improvement Act (Act No. 195 of 1949), and corporations engaged in public welfare undertakings such as providing electricity, gas, transportation and telecommunications services in the respective prefectures designated by the governor of the relevant prefecture;

the term "disaster management plans" means a basic disaster management plan, a disaster management operation plan, and an area disaster management plan;

the term "basic disaster management plan" means a basic plan on disaster management formulated by the National Disaster Management Council;

the term "disaster management operation plan" means a plan on disaster management prepared by the head of a designated administrative organ (when the relevant designated administrative organ is a commission prescribed in Article 49, paragraph (1) or (2) of the Act for Establishment of the Cabinet Office or Article 3, paragraph (2) of the National Government Organization Act, an organ set forth in item (iii), sub-item (b), or an organ set forth in sub-item (d) of the same item that is based on a council system, the designated administrative organ; the same applies hereinafter excluding Article 12, paragraph (8), Article 25, paragraph (6), item (ii), Article 28, paragraph (2), Article 28-3, paragraph (6), item (iv), Article 28-6, paragraph (2) and Article 28-12, paragraph (6), item (ii)) or a designated public corporation (for the affairs or operations delegated by the head of a designated administrative organ or by a designated public corporation, the head of the designated local administrative organ or the designated local public corporation which received the relevant delegation) with respect to the function or operations under their jurisdiction based on the basic disaster management plan;

the term "area disaster management plan" means disaster management plans concerning certain areas and comprises the following plans:

prefectural area disaster management plan: formulated for an area of a prefecture by the prefectural disaster management council of the relevant prefecture;

municipal area disaster management plan: formulated for an area of a municipality by the municipal disaster management council or the mayor of the relevant municipality;

multi-prefecture mutual area disaster management plan: formulated by a joint committee of prefectural disaster management councils and relating to an area which covers the area of two or more prefectures in whole or in part;

multi-municipality area disaster management plan: formulated by a joint committee of municipal disaster management councils and relating to an area which covers the area of two or more municipalities in whole or in part.

Disaster control measures must be taken in accordance with the basic principles of the following matters:

considering the natural characteristics of Japan, it is always assumed that a disaster may occur, taking into account changes in Japan's population, industries, and other social and economic conditions, and efforts are made to minimize damage and achieve a prompt recovery if a disaster occurs;

while ensuring proper division of roles and mutual coordination and cooperation among the national government, local governments, and other public institutions, disaster management activities conducted voluntarily by each resident, those conducted by voluntary disaster management organizations (which means voluntary disaster management organizations based on a spirit of mutual cooperation among residents; the same applies hereinafter), and activities by various other actors in the area are promoted as well;

measures for disaster preparedness are combined appropriately and implemented in an integrated manner, and efforts are made continually to make improvements based on surveys, forecasts, and assessments grounded in scientific knowledge concerning the effects of disasters on the safety of citizens, the lives of the citizenry, and the national economy, and on lessons learned from past disasters;

even immediately after the occurrence of a disaster or during other times when it is difficult to gather necessary information, efforts are made to ascertain the status of the disaster as accurately as possible and distribute human resources, goods, and other necessary resources appropriately based on the disaster status, and thereby protect human lives and bodies as the first priority;

while striving not to hinder voluntary efforts by disaster victims, the victims are provided with appropriate aid according to the timing, such as by enabling all disaster victims, regardless of the disaster-stricken area, to enjoy a good living environment universally to the extent possible, taking into account the ages, genders, existence or non-existence of disabilities, and other circumstances of the disaster victims;

necessary preparations for recovery and reconstruction must be made, and, in the event of a disaster, efforts must be made promptly to restore facilities, aid victims, and achieve reconstruction from the disaster.

Based on the basic principles prescribed in the preceding article (hereinafter referred to as "basic principles") and in light of the mission of protecting the national land and lives, bodies and properties of citizens from disasters, the State has the responsibility to take all possible measures concerning disaster management by mobilizing all its organizations and functions.

To perform the responsibilities prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the State must formulate a plan on which disaster prevention, emergency disaster control measures, and recovery and reconstruction are to be based, implement the plan on the basis of laws and regulations, pursue the implementation of affairs or operations concerning disaster management handled by local governments, designated public corporations, and designated local public corporations, etc., undertake the overall coordination of the implementation, and ensure that the burden of expenses related to a disaster is appropriate.

In carrying out the functions under their jurisdiction, designated administrative organs and designated local administrative organs must cooperate with each other so that the responsibilities of the State prescribed in paragraph (1) can be fully fulfilled.

The head of a designated administrative organ and the head of a designated local administrative organ must provide recommendations, guidance, and advice to prefectures and municipalities or take other appropriate measures concerning the functions under their jurisdiction so that the formulation and implementation of area disaster management plans of the prefectures and municipalities under this Act can be performed smoothly.