No. 12 Visiting disaster-stricken areas in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures

(Published in the October 15, 2012 issue of Public Relations Inagi)

　On August 24, 2012, I visited Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture as part of a joint training session of the Tokyo Mayors Association.
In Sendai City, a vast plain area of ​​4,633 hectares along the coast was flooded by the tsunami. I climbed onto the roof of an elementary school in the Arahama district, which was the most severely affected area, and looked around, but it was hard to imagine that the vacant land covered in endless summer grass had once been a new residential area.
Although mass relocation and facility reconstruction are still a long way off, progress has been made in the removal and disposal of rubble. Originally, there was a vast equestrian field along the coast, which could be used as a temporary storage area, and intermediate processing from sorting to incineration was carried out smoothly. In Miyagi Prefecture, there was no impact from radioactivity, so recycling was progressing, with scrap metal being sold for 25,000 yen per ton, generating an annual income of 700 million yen.
In the event of a major disaster, the removal and disposal of rubble will have an impact on subsequent reconstruction, so securing temporary storage space is an issue for Inagi City as well.
After the on-site visit, Mayor Emiko Okuyama gave a lecture. We would like to share specific stories from the person who took command at the scene of March 11th, which we hope will serve as a reference for future disaster prevention measures.
The next day, the 25th, I left the Mayor's Association and entered Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture. In June of last year, we concluded a mutual support agreement in times of disaster, and we are currently dispatching civil engineering staff for one year to support reconstruction efforts. In order to encourage the staff, we visited Mayor Hidekiyo Tachiya and presented him with a donation.
Even in Soma City, the damage to the Isobe district and other coastal areas was severe, and recovery still has a long way to go. I was relieved to hear that Soma Nomaoi, which had to be scaled back last year, was able to be held at almost the same scale as usual this year, and that many tourists visited.
Through this visit, I was glad to learn that the disaster-stricken areas are slowly regaining their vitality. We will continue to provide support to the extent that we can.