Japan is seeking to “restore people’s hearts” a decade after the earthquake

Tomioka, Japan >> Ten years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, the lives of many survivors are still hanging.

On March 11, 2011, one of the largest earthquakes on record triggered a massive tsunami, killing more than 18,000 people and causing the catastrophic collapses at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Nearly half a million people have been displaced. Tens of thousands have not yet returned home.

More than 30 trillion yen ($ 280 billion) has been spent on reconstruction so far – but even Reconstruction Minister Katsui Hirasawa recently admitted that while the government started building new buildings, it has invested less in helping people rebuild their lives. For example. , By providing traumatic mental health services.

The Associated Press has spoken to people affected by disasters about how far they have come – and how much more needs to be done.

“The more my body moves.”

Yasuo Takamatsu, 64, lost his wife Yuko when the tsunami struck Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture.

He’s been looking for it ever since.

He even got his diving license to try to find her remains, and for seven years he went on a weekly dive – 470 and the number is still increasing.

“I always think it might be nearby,” he said.

Besides his single dive, he joins local authorities once a month while conducting underwater searches for around 2,500 people whose remains remain unknown across the region.

Takamatsu said the scars of the city have largely healed, “but healing people’s hearts … will take time.”

So far, he has found albums, clothes, and other artworks, but nothing of his wife has been found.

He said he would continue looking for his wife “as long as my body moved.”

“In the last text message she sent me, she said, ‘Are you all right?’ He said, ‘I’m sure she still wants to come home.’

“Start line again”

Just one month after a 17-meter (55-foot) tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Michiru Kono took over his family’s soy sauce business.

A miracle, he says, being able to continue the two-century work. The precious soy yeast was only preserved because he donated some of it to a university laboratory.

Over the past decade, Kono has worked to rebuild businesses in Iwate Prefecture, and later this year he will finish building a new factory, to replace the destroyed one, on the same land his family started making soy sauce in 1807. He even launched Soy sauce called “miracle” in honor of preserved yeast.

The ninth generation owner of Yagisawa Shoten Co. said: “This is a crucial moment to see if I can do something meaningful in the next 10 years. I was born here, and now I’m at the starting line again.”

But challenges remain: its client base has been destroyed. The city’s population has decreased by more than 20% to around 18,000, so it is trying to build business networks outside the city.

Kono often thinks about the people killed in the tsunami, as many of them are so accustomed to discussing plans to revive the city with them.

He said, “All these people wanted to create a great city, and I want to do things that get them to say, ‘Well done, I did,’ when I see them again in the next life.”

“Who would want to return?”

About 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the wrecked nuclear plant, rice farmer Naoto Matsumura defied the government evacuation order a decade ago and stayed on his farm to protect his land and livestock abandoned by neighbors.

Still there.

Most of Tomioka reopened in 2017. But dozens of neighboring homes around Matsumura remain empty, leaving the area dark at night.

The main train station in Fukushima City has undergone a facelift. A new shopping center has been built. But less than 10% of Tomioka’s former 16,000 residents have returned after massive amounts of radioactive material scattered from the plant were forced to evacuate the city and other nearby areas. Parts of the city are still off-limits; Abandoned homes and shops.

“It took hundreds of years of history and effort to build this city, and it was destroyed instantly,” he said. “I grew up here … but it’s not like home anymore.”

Because it took six years for the eviction order to be lifted, many townspeople already found jobs and homes elsewhere. Half of the former residents say they have decided not to return, according to a township survey.

This was true throughout the region.

In Tomioka, radioactive waste from the city’s decontamination efforts is still stored in a restricted area.

“Who would want to go back to a place like this?” Matsumura asked. “I don’t see much future for this city.”

For the company, Matsumura has many cows, foals and a family of hounds that help him hunt wild boars. These cows are descendants of those cows from neighboring farms that he kept, in protest, after the government ordered the destruction of thousands due to radiation concerns.

This spring, for the first time since the disaster, the 62-year-old plans to grow rice and expand his beekeeping efforts.

“I will stay here until the end of my life,” he said.

“Their house is still here.”

Yuya Hatakeyama was 14 when he was forced to evacuate from Tomioka after the disaster.

Now 24, the former third baseman of Fukushima Red Hobbs, a provincial professional league team, works in its first year at Tomioka City Hall – but has not yet returned to live in the city, joining the many who move in. From outside.

Hatakeyama has bittersweet memories of Tomioka. The area that is now a restricted area includes Yunomori Park, where people used to gather for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Decontamination work is intensifying in the area and the city plans to lift the rest of the restricted area in 2023.

“I want to reach the people, especially the younger generation, so that they know that their home is still here,” Hatakeyama said. One day, he said, he wanted to see young families playing fishing, as he used to do with his father.

‘A place of rest’

Hazuki Sato was 10 years old when she fled her elementary school in Futaba, home of the wrecked nuclear plant.

Now preparing for the usual coming of age party for 20-year-old Japanese, and hoping to reunite them in town so she can reconnect with her former classmates who have been distracted.

Despite the horrific memories of escaping her classroom, she still considers Futaba her home.

After studying outside the area for eight years, Sato now works in her hometown – although she works out of an office in Iwaki, another city in Fukushima Prefecture.

None of Futaba’s 5,700 residents will be able to return to live there until 2022, when the city is expected to partially reopen. An area outside a train station reopened last March only on a day trip to bring the Olympic torch.

Sato has fond memories of Futaba – a family barbeque, riding a unicycle after school and doing homework and snacking with friends at the babysitting center while her grandmother waits to pick her up.

“I want to see this town become a place of rest again,” she said.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos