Verification of National Reconstruction Agency

Abstract

The intensive reconstruction works of the area affected by the tsunami following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake were launched on February 10, 2012, with the inauguration of the Reconstruction Agency, which consists of about 300 seconded staff members provided by respective ministries of the central government. The main functions of the Reconstruction Agency are to mediate conflicts between central ministries, to designate special districts for reconstruction, and to allocate special subsidies to the affected municipalities for promoting reconstruction. This paper reviews the agency's activities over the two-year period and tries to verify whether the establishment of such a reconstruction agency would be effective as a regular institutional scheme for reconstruction after large-scale disasters in the future.