Japan Press Weekly

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2016 March 9 - 15 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Evacuees’ living conditions worsen 5 years after 3/11 disaster

Five years have passed since the March 2011 Great East Japan Disaster and the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but more than 170,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. Akahata recently conducted another survey of sufferers in the three hardest-hit prefectures in northeastern Japan which shows that their living conditions have been deteriorating.

The number of dead or missing due to the massive disaster totals 18,455 as of March 10 this year, according to the National Police Agency. Another recent survey released by the Reconstruction Agency indicates that 174,471 people are living as evacuees as of February 12. The number of those who died as a result of disaster-related disease or injury reached 3,352 in the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. Of them, 60% were residents of Fukushima.

From late February to early March, Akahata carried out the survey of 300 evacuees living in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima. In those stricken areas, nearly 60,000 victims are still forced to live in prefabricated temporary shelters. The number of completed public housing units for sufferers is about 14,000, only 47.5% of the planned number of units to be built.

According to the survey results, the percentage of respondents saying that their family budgets are “very tight” or “relatively tight” reached 69%, showing a tendency to increase over the last three years. The proportion of “very tight” responses sharply increased to 38% from 28% in 2015.

Among affected small business owners, 79% responded that they have no prospect of rebuilding and reopening their businesses. The unemployment rate among victims stands at 29%. These figures show that sufferers’ financial bases have not yet been restored.

Also, 49% of the surveyed dwellers in temporary housing said that they have no hope of moving to other places within a year.

These harsh living environments have adversely affected evacuees’ health. The percentage of respondents stating that they are “unhealthy” or “relatively unhealthy” totals 54%. In Fukushima, that reaches 66%.

A 78-year-old man running a grocery store in a temporary shopping district in Iwate’s Miyako City said, “Sales are down by 50% after the disaster. I cannot earn a living with only my meager pension benefits. Nevertheless, the government is planning to further raise the consumption tax rate in April next year and also raise the rent for public housing units for victims before too long. Everybody around me is worrying about their future.”

Past related article:
> JCP efforts contribute to lowering nursing-care costs of disaster victims [February 19, 2016]