March 21, 2011
Editorial (excerpts)
Amid the continuing efforts to cope with the Great East Japan Disaster and the worst-ever nuclear crisis in Japan, the simultaneous nationwide local elections will begin with the March 24 official announcement of gubernatorial races in 12 prefectures (the voting date is April 10).
Former House of Councilors member Koike Akira will run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election, supported by the Association for a Progressive Metropolitan Administration. With the catch phrase, “For a welfare-conscious and disaster-resistant Tokyo,” Koike will contest his rivals, including incumbent Ishihara Shintaro.
The Great East Japan Disaster has also caused damage and disruptions in Tokyo such as damage to buildings, cases of ground liquefaction, the disruption of transportation, and the continuing rolling blackouts by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
Along with disaster relief efforts for the survivors, the Tokyo government is urgently required to take measures to protect Tokyoites from the danger of radioactive contamination and from shortages of daily necessaries.
It is extremely important for Tokyo, as the nation’s capital, to play a leading role in providing assistance to the sufferers and protecting the public from the dangers caused by nuclear power plant accidents.
Koike proclaims that if he is elected, he will put to use all Tokyo capabilities to transport relief goods, dispatch aid teams to the disaster-hit areas, and accept the victims in accommodations in Tokyo. He also promises that he will increase the level of Tokyo’s disaster control ability, including increasing the budget for firefighting, requiring a complete quake-resistance renovation of school buildings as soon as possible, and having all public facilities and wooden homes reinforced against earthquakes.
The present Tokyo Governor Ishihara on March 14 made an egregious remark that the earthquake and resultant tsunami was “divine punishment”. Disregarding the value of people’s lives, Ishihara is not qualified to head the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Late in 1999, the Ishihara-led Tokyo administration adversely revised the Earthquake Disaster Prevention Ordinance. It deleted the precaution clause from the quake disaster countermeasures to avoid its responsibility for minimizing quake damage. The Japanese Communist Party opposed this move, but the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, the Democratic Party of Japan, and the Seikatsusha Net all supported the revision of the ordinance.
Living conditions of Tokyo residents have worsened during the 12-year tenure of Ishihara who argues that “welfare is a luxury”. The Tokyo gubernatorial election will be held in the chaotic situation in the aftermath of the quake and is an occasion for us to turn Tokyo into a welfare-conscious and disaster-resistant metropolis.
Amid the continuing efforts to cope with the Great East Japan Disaster and the worst-ever nuclear crisis in Japan, the simultaneous nationwide local elections will begin with the March 24 official announcement of gubernatorial races in 12 prefectures (the voting date is April 10).
Former House of Councilors member Koike Akira will run in the Tokyo gubernatorial election, supported by the Association for a Progressive Metropolitan Administration. With the catch phrase, “For a welfare-conscious and disaster-resistant Tokyo,” Koike will contest his rivals, including incumbent Ishihara Shintaro.
The Great East Japan Disaster has also caused damage and disruptions in Tokyo such as damage to buildings, cases of ground liquefaction, the disruption of transportation, and the continuing rolling blackouts by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
Along with disaster relief efforts for the survivors, the Tokyo government is urgently required to take measures to protect Tokyoites from the danger of radioactive contamination and from shortages of daily necessaries.
It is extremely important for Tokyo, as the nation’s capital, to play a leading role in providing assistance to the sufferers and protecting the public from the dangers caused by nuclear power plant accidents.
Koike proclaims that if he is elected, he will put to use all Tokyo capabilities to transport relief goods, dispatch aid teams to the disaster-hit areas, and accept the victims in accommodations in Tokyo. He also promises that he will increase the level of Tokyo’s disaster control ability, including increasing the budget for firefighting, requiring a complete quake-resistance renovation of school buildings as soon as possible, and having all public facilities and wooden homes reinforced against earthquakes.
The present Tokyo Governor Ishihara on March 14 made an egregious remark that the earthquake and resultant tsunami was “divine punishment”. Disregarding the value of people’s lives, Ishihara is not qualified to head the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Late in 1999, the Ishihara-led Tokyo administration adversely revised the Earthquake Disaster Prevention Ordinance. It deleted the precaution clause from the quake disaster countermeasures to avoid its responsibility for minimizing quake damage. The Japanese Communist Party opposed this move, but the Liberal Democratic Party, the Komei Party, the Democratic Party of Japan, and the Seikatsusha Net all supported the revision of the ordinance.
Living conditions of Tokyo residents have worsened during the 12-year tenure of Ishihara who argues that “welfare is a luxury”. The Tokyo gubernatorial election will be held in the chaotic situation in the aftermath of the quake and is an occasion for us to turn Tokyo into a welfare-conscious and disaster-resistant metropolis.
