The actor, who was born in 1957 in Sagamihara, Japan, later graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the Sagamihara area southwest of Tokyo on Sept. 1, 1923, just before noon triggered a widespread inferno in the region, causing most of the victims to perish in the fire.

Kishida and his Cabinet ministers, wearing matching light-blue uniforms, walked to the prime minister’s office for an emergency response meeting to discuss initial measures with hypothetically hard-hit Sagamihara city, the 1923 epicenter.

Kishida was to join a joint earthquake drill hosted by Sagamihara and joined by eight cities incluing Tokyo.

In 2016, a mass stabbing at a facility for the mentally disabled in Sagamihara, Japan, left 19 people dead.