Japan Press Weekly

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2012 January 18 - 24 TOP3 [WELFARE]

After 17 years, Hanshin-Awaji quake victims still suffering

It has been 17 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (January 17, 1995) that caused 6,434 deaths and the partial or complete destruction of 470 thousand houses. As the 17-year long struggle of quake victims suggests, restoring livelihoods and jobs must come first in any post-reconstruction process.

“It took me 15 years to create a connection with my new neighbors. If I have to move from here, I don’t think I will even bother to go out anymore,” said Tanaka Hisa, 72, a resident of a housing complex for quake victims in Nada Ward of Kobe City.

After the 1995 earthquake, Hyogo Prefecture and Kobe City rented about 5,800 private housing units for disaster victims. The local governments are now telling the residents that the lease period is for 20 years so they have to move soon.

Tanaka went on to say, “We were told at first that we can stay here as long as we want. Why are they telling us to move out now?” Amid mounting criticism against the local governments’ unexpected notification, residents like her established a local association in December to get the lease period extended.

In such housing complexes for quake victims, 36 people died in solitude last year. For the last 17 years, the total number of solitary deaths there reached 717.

“We hardly have any exchanges among residents here. I’m really worried that I might also die in solitude,” said Shimizu Koichi, 79, living alone in a public housing unit in Tarumi Ward, Kobe City. 44% of public housing complexes for quake victims are rented by the elderly living by themselves.

Many victims are also struggling to pay back debts. About 13,000 out of 56,000 recipients of public loans set for quake victims have not been able to fully repay the loans although final payments were initially scheduled to be made by 2006.

Tsuchizaki Yoshio, a 71-year-old interior construction business owner, lost both his store and house in the 1995 earthquake. He gave up rebuilding his store and bought a house in Kobe’s neighboring city of Akashi. He said, “Wondering how I could pay off my debts with less work available, I suffered from depression.” Tsuchizaki borrowed a total of 30 million yen in public and private loans. He will finish paying off his housing loan when he is 90 years old.

Under a “creative reconstruction” scheme, the national and local governments have prioritized the promotion of large public works projects in the area devastated by the 1995 earthquake over reconstruction of victims’ livelihoods. Due to the national government’s failure to swiftly provide financial assistance to individual victims, they had to rely on loans to regain their lives.

Thanks to the tenacious efforts jointly made by quake victims and the Japanese Communist Party, the Natural Disaster Victims Relief Law was established that requires the national government to provide disaster sufferers up to 3 million yen in relief money. Their efforts have also pushed local governments to rent more housing units to quake victims with lowered rates of rent.

Hanshin-Awaji quake victims are now calling for the extension of the lease period of the public housing units, establishment of a grant program for loan recipients, and drastic improvement of other public support for disaster victims.