Overview
- Ministers approved the Disaster Agency bill on March 6 with a goal of establishing the body in 2026, with government sources indicating November as a possible start date pending Diet passage.
- Draft provisions include local disaster bureaus to be phased in from fiscal 2027 and a new training and research institute tentatively called the Disaster Academy.
- The National Police Agency’s latest Shoten report highlighted reforms to prevent a repeat of the 2025 Okawara wrongful‑arrest case, stressing more precise and proper investigative practices.
- A Fukushima district court branch handed a five‑year prison sentence to a 37‑year‑old for assisting the suicides of five people met via social media, calling the crimes malicious with irreversible consequences.
- Reporting from Beijing describes China keeping public statements restrained a week after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, reflecting caution ahead of planned talks with the United States.