参議院議員小見山よしはる | 民主党岐阜県参議院選挙区第3総支部長

Support activities for the Great East Japan
Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster Area

Yoshiharu Komiyama
Member, House of Councillors

n Date: March 27, 2011
n Places visited: Sendai City, Ishinomaki City, Onagawa-cho
n Summary of activities: Delivery of relief supplies;
visit to the Onagawa-cho Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters;
inspection of Sendai City, Ishinomaki City, Onagawa-cho

At 5 in the morning of March 27, I left the accommodation for members of the House of Councillors in Kojimachi, Tokyo, and headed for Sendai. I arrived in Sendai at 09:15. There were many trucks carrying heavy machinery and industrial waste trucks on the roads. Crowded gasoline stands could be seen here and there as well. There were even queues of cars stretching for about one kilometer at gasoline stands that had introduced a method of selling gasoline after distributing numbered tickets in advance. At 10:00 I visited the Sendai District Branch of the East Japan Railway Workers’ Union. Guided by Mr. Ujiie, the head of the union’s Executive Committee, and one other person, I left for Ishinomaki City at 10:30. Originally I was scheduled to arrive in Ishinomaki at noon, but due to the congestion at service area gasoline stands, my journey took much longer than expected, and I did not arrive in the city until 13:21. Water-supply vehicles and vehicles carrying disaster-relief supplies were going to and from with great frequency. The waste caused by the disaster had been moved to the roadside, and the roads had been almost completely restored.

At 13:33 I entered Onagawa-cho. I gasped in amazement at the dreadful damage caused by the tsunami. At 13:45 I arrived at the Onagawa-cho General Sports Ground, which was being used as an evacuation center. I visited the Onagawa-cho Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters and had a discussion with Onagawa-cho Mayor Nobutaka Azumi. Onagawa-cho is a natural harbor on a scenic rias coastline that is designated as the Minamisanriku-Kinkazan Quasi-National Park, and its main industry was fishery. When the earthquake occurred, Mayor Azumi, who had been working at the city government office, evacuated with other employees onto the roof of the building. The tsunami reached as high as the roof, however, so they had to climb onto an attached platform, which saved the mayor and the other employees. Since the March 11 disaster, the mayor and other employees of the city government office have been busy and not getting much sleep or rest. Although disaster victims themselves, they have been putting their responsibilities as local government officials first, and the tiredness shows.

Many of the buildings in Onagawa-cho are made of ferroconcrete, but the tsunami was ferocious. Some buildings collapsed when their foundations were swept away; others had their walls ripped off, exposing their steel frames. A diesel locomotive that had been stopped at Onagawa Station was carried halfway up a hillside. The town was completely destroyed. I had a wide-ranging talk with the mayor about such matters as measures to protect the safety and security of citizens, their many anxieties, and requests relating to the evacuation center and community building from now on. The gist of our discussion was as follows:

1 The evacuation center, centered on neighborhood associations, has been managed in an orderly manner so far, but stress is emerging as evacuation center life drags on.

2 Because there are many elderly people, the improvement of medical support is an urgent issue. Every day around 100 citizens are visiting the tents set up by the Self-Defense Force relief teams and getting help there. But there are elderly people who need care, so the form of medical and care support is an issue.

3 Onagawa-cho had a population of about 10,000. At present, it is estimated that temporary housing is required for 3,500 households. In the first phase of construction work for temporary housing in the disaster area, it has been decided to build temporary housing for 35,000 households, but the figure for Onagawa-cho is just 1,000 households.

4 Regarding urban planning in the town from now on, the mayor said he wanted the state to take full responsibility for flood control. The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan has announced that it has measured land subsidence of about 75 cm in the Minamisanriku and that the level of the sea has risen relatively. The mayor urged the central government as soon as possible to consider designating the area as a district in need of reinforcement in accordance with Article 3 of the Large-Scale Earthquake Countermeasures Act.

At 14:10, with the cooperation of town government office employees, SDF personnel, and volunteers, I unloaded 352 boxes of supplies from my truck and carried them into the gymnasium, which is serving as a storehouse for relief supplies. The gymnasium was full of relief supplies sent from all around the country. At the Onagawa-cho evacuation center, the evacuees were pleased to receive my supplies, as there is a shortage of such things as nail clippers and notebooks.

At 15:05 I left the Onagawa-cho General Sports Ground and made my way to see the disaster area in the town. I was unable to hold back the tears as I walked. All around me I could see the harsh reality that the citizens of Onagawa-cho had lost their livelihoods in an instant. It was a terrible sight.

At 17:00 I arrived at Hiyoriyama Park, which offers a panorama of Ishinomaki Port. The difference in tsunami damage was quite clear. The photo on the left below shows the view from Hiyoriyama Park to the left side of Ishinomaki Port. This area was protected by a seawall, so it did not suffer any damage at all. The photo on the right, however, shows the right side of Ishinomaki Port, including the district of Kadowaki-cho, which suffered devastating damage. Entering the Kadowaki-cho district, one could see that fires had broken out over quite a large area.

At 17:35 I left Kadowaki-cho and headed back to Tokyo. The cost of the damage from the disaster has been estimated at \25 trillion (excluding damage from the nuclear power plant accidents, planned power cuts, etc.). Arrangements must be put in place quickly to promote budget compilation and reconstruction measures toward full-scale restoration and reconstruction work so that the people who have suffered damage can be given hope again as soon as possible. A speedy response is required toward the enactment of disaster reconstruction support legislation and the compilation of reconstruction plans so as to swiftly promote measures over three stages, namely, emergency relief measures for those who have suffered damage, restoration measures, and reconstruction measures. In doing so, what I felt especially keenly through my inspection of the disaster area this time is that, when carefully drawing up a basic policy for reconstruction, it is important to take the needs of local governments in the disaster area fully into account. The establishment of a setup pooling the overall strength of the government, bureaucracy, and private sector is most urgent.

The cost of the damage from the disaster has been estimated at \25 trillion which doesn’t include damage from the nuclear power plant accidents, planned power cuts, etc.

The situation of disaster-affected area is frequently reported in detail on the TV and in the newspapers. However, what I have seen directly here on the ground was completely different. The moment I stepped onto the devastated area, tears filled my eyes before I knew it. Turning my grief and sorrow into strength, I will devote myself to helping bring back the beautiful towns where some day the people can hear in peace the sound of waves. I solemnly vow to tackle the rehabilitation of the affected areas so that one day I can stand on this ground again with a smile on my face.