Japan Press Weekly

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2013 October 16 - 22 [TOKYO]

JCP investigates typhoon-hit Izu-Oshima

Members of the Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Committee, led by metropolitan assembly member Sone Hajime, on October 17 investigated Izu-Oshima Island, which was severely damaged by the strongest typhoon to hit the Kanto region in a decade on the previous day.

Typhoon Wipha caused a major mudslide on Izu-Oshima Island, which lies 120 km south of Tokyo. As of October 17, the deaths of 21 people were confirmed.

The JCP members met with Oshima Town Mayor Kawashima Masafumi who told them that the town needs support from both the national and metropolitan governments to reconstruct victims’ lives. “Learning lessons from the major disaster, we have to take all possible means to prevent future disasters,” said Kawashima.

The area hit by the mudslide is yet to be designated by the Tokyo government as an area where landslides could occur although the authority has recognized such a risk there.

In Tokyo, at least 3,700 locations have been recognized as having landslide risks. Due to the Tokyo government’s delay in carrying out investigations on locations awaiting official designation, Izu-Oshima Island was on a waiting list for the investigative procedure.

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JCP Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members on October 18 demanded that Governor Inose Naoki take all possible measures to provide relief to typhoon victims in Izu-Oshima Island.

They called on the metropolitan government to do its utmost to rescue missing people, establish medical systems and shelters, and secure food, water, and daily necessities for residents.

On the next day, the JCP sent its Dietmembers Kasai Akira (Lower House) and Kira Yoshiko (Upper House) with two metropolitan assembly members to the island, where they talked with evacuees and local town assembly members of the party to find out what kind of support the national and Tokyo governments need to provide.