🏗️ Kumamoto Quake: 4 More Relief Measures Added

❓ What's changing?

On September 15, 2026, Japan's Cabinet approved an amendment to the cabinet order designating the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake as a "severe disaster" (gekijin saigai) and specifying the relief measures that apply to it. The original order was promulgated and took effect on August 7, applying eight measures: higher national subsidy rates for restoring public civil engineering facilities (71% to 84% on a five-year average), higher rates for farmland and farm road restoration (86% to 97%), subsidies for public social education facilities and public housing for disaster victims, and more. As damage assessment progressed, four additional measures are now being designated. The published材料 lists among them the special disaster-related credit guarantee under the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Credit Insurance Act (Article 12, applied locally to Yatsushiro City, Uki City, Mifune Town, Kashima Town and Hikawa Town in Kumamoto Prefecture), a one-half subsidy for restoring private school facilities (Article 17), and a special burden-sharing rule for municipal infectious disease prevention work such as disinfection (Article 19). A severe-disaster designation exists to shift more of the restoration cost onto the national government so that recovery moves faster.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Small and medium-sized business owners in Yatsushiro City, Uki City, Mifune Town, Kashima Town and Hikawa Town in Kumamoto Prefecture — including restaurants, shops and factories run by foreign residents
• ●Corporations operating private kindergartens, schools or colleges whose facilities were damaged
• ●Low-income households who lost their homes in the quake (eligible for public housing for disaster victims)
• ●Residents of affected municipalities where disinfection and infectious disease prevention work is carried out
• ●Contractors, farmers and fishery operators involved in restoring farmland, farm facilities and public infrastructure

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

The most direct effect is on foreign business owners running shops or factories in Yatsushiro City, Uki City, Mifune Town, Kashima Town and Hikawa Town. The newly added disaster-related credit guarantee provides a 100% guarantee on business rebuilding funds in a frame separate from both ordinary credit guarantees and Safety Net Guarantee No. 4: up to 280 million yen (ordinary guarantee within 200 million yen, unsecured guarantee within 80 million yen), with an 80% compensation rate and a 0.41% premium rate. Because it is a separate frame, a business that has already used its working-capital guarantee line can still secure rebuilding funds. Applications go through the Credit Guarantee Corporation and your bank, so paperwork in Japanese is required. The added subsidy for private school facilities also means faster repairs at private kindergartens and schools that children attend. For municipal infectious disease prevention work such as disinfection, the national share rises from one-third to two-thirds, making it easier to keep sanitation measures going where evacuation life is prolonged.