Japan opened a new National Disaster Management Agency on Monday, according to Kyodo News. The agency is based in Tokyo and is headed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. It will lead the country's response to disasters and plan ways to reduce damage before they strike.

The law setting up the agency took effect on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at his morning news conference, according to a record posted by the prime minister's office. He said Goshi Hosono will serve as disaster management minister. Hosono will also stay on as the minister for rebuilding after past disasters, Kyodo reports. Michihito Kaneko was named vice minister, Kihara said.

The minister can make recommendations to other parts of the government, and they must respect them, Kyodo reports. It is the first new agency at the Cabinet level since the Digital Agency started in September 2021, the outlet says.

Japan faces the threat of very large earthquakes, Kyodo reports. They include possible quakes along the Nankai Trough, the Japan Trench and the Chishima Trench, and one directly under Tokyo. The country was also hit by a strong earthquake on the Noto Peninsula in 2024, a magnitude 7.1 quake in Kumamoto in July and floods in Chiba in August, the outlet says.

The agency plans to pick places for regional offices in the summer of 2027, Kyodo reports. Those offices are set to open by July 2028.

What we know: The new agency started work on Monday, with Hosono as its minister.
What we don't: How much staff and money the agency will have, and where its regional offices will be.