Focus on resolving pending issues from 2011 disaster

Explore measures based on fall in population

Eight years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred. The number of people who died or went missing has amounted to 18,430, while more than 3,700 people have lost their lives in deaths connected to the disaster. This disaster on an unprecedented scale has been deeply engraved in the 30-year history of the Heisei era. We pray anew that the souls of victims may rest in peace.

After the occurrence of the disaster, the government estimated reconstruction would take 10 years. Two years are left before the latter half of this 10-year period ends, which was set as a five-year Reconstruction and Revitalization Period.

Further efforts must be made to resolve pending issues.

Prevent isolation

In Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which suffered serious tsunami damage, projects to reconstruct homes that will become the foundation for disaster-stricken people are nearing their goals.

Reconstruction has been completed for about 30,000 homes, which account for 98 percent of the projected number, and the progress rate for residential land development exceeds 90 percent.

The number of evacuees in temporary housing complexes one year after the disaster exceeded 110,000, but it has declined to the 3,000-person level. For Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, the central government projects that temporary housing units will be dismantled in about two years.

Of concern is that isolation is becoming conspicuous among residents at their relocation sites.

In apartment-style reconstruction housing, there are many elderly households and many reports of people dying alone. Activities to monitor such households, conducted by local municipalities in cooperation with nonprofit and other organizations, have also tended to lessen with the passage of time.

It is essential to work toward encouraging exchanges between disaster victims who moved to relocation sites and local residents who live there. It is important to push community formation by providing support for organizing events involving many residents and for the management of residents’ associations.

In tsunami-devastated areas, utilization of the residential land formed by large-scale land elevation is nowhere in sight, leaving the matter a big issue to be tackled.

In the city of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, no plan has been scheduled for the time being as to the utilization for residential use of about 66 percent of the elevated land.

Further efforts must be made to come up with measures to enhance the charms of local communities.

The railroad linking Miyako and Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture will be restored in late March as the Sanriku Railway Rias Line. The city of Kamaishi is one of the venues for the Rugby World Cup.

It is essential to use such an opportunity for the revitalization of regional communities without letting it end as a mere passing topic.

In areas around the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, projects have been undertaken since last year to consolidate public facilities and residential housing in preparation for residents’ return.

Make effective plans

Designate part of the difficult-to-return zones due to high radiation levels as specified bases for rehabilitation and revitalization, and perform decontamination work there earlier than other locations.

It will cost a massive amount of time and money to decontaminate the entire area of difficult-to-return zones. It can be considered a realistic measure to narrow down the base areas within each town and village and revitalize them. The central government, for its part, should steadily advance the decontamination work.

However, it will take three to four years for the evacuation order given to the specified bases for rehabilitation and revitalization to be lifted.

Regarding the Fukushima Prefecture town of Futaba where almost all the areas are designated as difficult-to-return zones, more than 60 percent of evacuated residents said in response to a survey conducted last autumn that they have decided not to return. Listed high as a reason for their not returning to the town is their anxiety over health care and welfare services.

In order to eliminate such anxiety, it is necessary to show to the evacuated residents a blueprint for effectively implementing regional revitalization.

How should medical institutions, commercial facilities and others be provided? Working out a relevant plan that goes as far as containing specific measures will be indispensable.

Even in those areas where the evacuation order has been lifted, moves among residents to return to their hometowns has remained sluggish. Even in the town of Naraha in Fukushima Prefecture, where the return-home ratio is considered to be relatively high, the number of residents at present remains at just nearly half of what it was before the disaster.

Given such present circumstances, no optimism is warranted regarding those difficult-to-return zones even after their decontamination work.

In areas surrounding the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, a massive amount of soil from the decontamination work was generated, and bags stuffed with such contaminated soil have been piled up on farmland and the like. In order to promote residents’ return, the disposal of the contaminated soil is a matter of urgency.

In the village of Iitate in Fukushima Prefecture, an experiment has started to cultivate items such as flowers by developing a tract of farmland with the use of contaminated soil at low radiation levels. Under the trial, low-lying land is raised with contaminated soil that is then covered by ordinary soil. It is important to expand the reuse of such soil, while gaining residents’ understanding by giving them scrupulous explanations.

Lengthy support sought

Rather than advancing the rehabilitation of their communities separately, local governments should be advised to consolidate medical institutions and nursing care facilities that are scattered over a wide area. They should also cooperate with one another in their attempt to invite commercial facilities. Isn’t it time local governments should consider measures that also take into account the likelihood of large numbers of residents not returning to their hometowns?

Regarding the Reconstruction Agency, whose term of establishment expires in two years, the Cabinet has decided to establish an organization to succeed it. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphasized that the state government will stand at the forefront until the reconstruction is accomplished.

The government’s long-lasting support is needed for the disaster-affected areas. Among all the areas, it is difficult to foresee when the effort toward reconstruction can be complete for Fukushima Prefecture, as the nuclear accident has left a deep scar on the prefecture.

The system of the succeeding organization will be taken up for discussion within the government and the ruling parties in the days ahead. An organization that can assume the grave responsibility for the reconstruction of the affected areas must be created.