Kyodo – The great Tohoku earthquake was almost ten years ago. A lot has changed in Fukushima Prefecture since then. But not everyone is happy with the progress of the reconstruction, as a recent survey showed.
Kyodo News conducted it in November among every 100 residents of all three prefectures hit by the disaster. In addition to Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate were also recorded. The results of the study were now published on Thursday and caused a surprise.
In Miyagi, 80 percent of those surveyed were satisfied with the reconstruction and in Iwate, 66 percent. In Fukushima, however, only 30 percent found the reconstruction to be sufficient.
Housing situation in Fukushima also worse
Overall, 59 percent said that reconstruction is progressing or at least to some extent. On the other hand, there were 41 percent who felt that there was not enough progress. One person abstained.
Many appreciate the rapid reconstruction of the infrastructure. Others, however, stated that the work took too long. 66 percent of all respondents said that their lives are back on track because they live in a social housing or a new house.
But here too there were clear differences among the prefectures. While Miyagi with 80 percent and Iwate with 70 percent had new homes, in Fukushima it was just 49 percent.
In addition, there are the costs of rebuilding their homeland, which was difficult for most of the respondents due to the reduced income. A 58-year-old man from Natori, Miygai said he had to take out loans several times to rebuild his home. He will probably not have paid off his debts until he is 80 years old.
The work situation remains uncertain
Natori himself officially declared the reconstruction to be complete in March 2020. However, as the man explained, while it looks like the city has recovered, the reconstruction has not yet been completed.
Other respondents felt the same way. According to a man in his forties from Rikuzentakata, Iwate, there is still a great shortage of jobs and incomes are uncertain. He himself has had to change jobs three times since the disaster.
It is understandable that the people from Fukushima in particular have worse scores, as they also had to struggle with the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The resulting evacuations made reconstruction much more difficult, so that progress was made much more slowly than in the other prefectures.
Government should not forget personal reconstruction of the people
Among the dissatisfied respondents from Fukushima, many said that they are disappointed that the radiation has still prevented them from going back home and that the urban landscape has not been restored.
A man in his fifties from Futaba, Fukushima, said that lots of lots in his hometown are vacant and he can’t imagine the city becoming a place to return. The destroyed nuclear power plant is located in Futaba, and only recently has the evacuation orders in the community been at least partially lifted.
As Professor Jun Oyane of Senshu University explained, for people to rebuild means to get their lives back before the disaster. It is therefore important, after the infrastructure has been created, to concentrate on the different needs of the individual residents and to help them with their personal reconstruction.
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