TOKYO (AP) – Japan on Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that hit its northeastern region, where many lives of survivors are still waiting.
Carrying bouquets, many walked to the coast or visited graves to pray for relatives and friends taken by the tsunami. Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga were among those who observed a moment of silence at 2:46 pm – the minute the quake started – at a memorial in Tokyo.
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck on March 11, 2011 was one of the largest ever recorded and triggered a huge tsunami that swept the interior, destroying cities and causing melts at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. More than 18,000 people died, mainly in the tsunami, and almost half a million people were displaced.
In addition, the government recognized about 3,700 other people – most of them from Fukushima – who died of causes linked to the disaster.
Ten years later, more than 40,000 people have still not been able to return home to and around Fukushima, where areas near the destroyed plant are still banned due to radioactive contamination.
“Reconstruction in the areas affected by the disaster has progressed significantly, but the recovery of the survivors’ hearts is not progressing as much as we would like,” said Makoto Saito, a teacher at a primary school in Minamisoma, a city hit by the triple disaster where his son Shota de 5 years in the tsunami.
Saito, representing the survivors of Fukushima, said in his speech at the ceremony that he fears that memories are disappearing outside the disaster zone and that he is committed to continuing to tell the lessons of the disaster and his son’s stories.
Naruhito said “my heart hurts” when he thinks of those who have struggled with adversity, drastic changes in their lives, lost loved ones, jobs and communities. He especially noted the plight of many Fukushima residents who are unable to return.
“I also consider it important to heal emotional scars and to care for the mental and physical health of those affected, including the elderly and children,” he said. He emphasized that it is important for people to support and help them to rebuild their lives “without leaving a single soul behind in this difficult situation”.
The reconstruction of roads, rail lines and other important infrastructure and housing has been completed mainly at the cost of more than 30 trillion yen (US $ 280 billion), but many empty plots remain empty in the northernmost coastal cities in the prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate, where existing population losses were accelerated by the disaster.
In the city of Otsuchi in the prefecture of Iwate, where the tsunami destroyed the prefecture, killing about 40 employees, families in dark suits gathered in an empty lot where the building was. In Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, dozens of residents prayed in a cenotaph with the names of more than 3,000 victims.
No deaths were confirmed directly by the radiation, but Fukushima was left behind in recovery efforts, with 2.4% of the land classified as prohibited zones near the nuclear power plant. The decommissioning of the melted reactors is an unprecedented challenge, with some questions after 10 years of work if this can be done.
Thursday’s ceremony is the last national commemoration of the 2011 disaster organized by the government. It takes place just two weeks before the start of the Fukushima Olympic torch race for the late Tokyo Summer Games in July.
Suga said the Olympics will show Japan’s recovery from the disaster and be proof of human victory over the coronavirus pandemic. Some disaster survivors, however, say their work is only half done.
“We are now at a stage of ending the reconstruction of the disaster,” Suga said at the memorial service. He acknowledged that some people are still struggling with the pandemic that is increasing their difficulties and pledged to provide support to meet individual needs in rebuilding their environment, livelihoods and businesses.
The rest of the country also marked the day by promoting awareness for disaster prevention. In Kyoto, western Japan, the authorities carried out emergency exercises.
___
Follow Mari Yamaguchi on https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi