The Yomiuri Shimbun
Drawing lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake, an increasing number of schools are considering keeping students at school instead of letting them go home to keep them safe in the event of a similar disaster.
All train services were halted for several hours in the Tokyo metropolitan area after the March 11 earthquake, preventing many parents from returning home and leaving them unable to confirm the safety or whereabouts of their children.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to have an expert panel, which was launched in July, make new guidelines covering when students should be returned to parents in such situations.
On Aug. 26, municipal Takashima Daiichi Primary School in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, conducted a disaster prevention drill on the premise that an earthquake measuring lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 had hit the area. Part of the drill involved parents coming to the school to pick up their children.
Mizuho Wakabayashi, 40, who came to pick up her 10-year-old daughter, Satsuki, said, "It's important to learn through drills like this so I won't panic when a real disaster strikes."
After the March 11 earthquake, the school's principal, Yoshiaki Yazaki, decided to let students go home in groups because no buildings had collapsed and there was no serious damage nearby.
However, many parents later complained about Yazaki's decision.
"Why didn't the school keep students there?" asked one. Another said, "When I got home, my child was crying."
More parents had great difficulty getting home from work than Yazaki had predicted.
"We failed to make preparations from the perspective of our students and their parents," he said.
In July, the school notified parents it will take care of students until parents come to pick them up if an earthquake of lower 5 or stronger on the Japanese scale occurs.
Even after an earthquake measuring 4 or less disrupts public transport systems in the Tokyo metropolitan area, the school will look after students whose parents have registered in advance.
Parents of about 160 students at the school have registered.
According to a survey by the Tokyo metropolitan board of education, 52.7 percent of primary schools and 12.3 percent of middle schools of Tokyo's 1,900 primary and middle schools kept an eye on students after the March 11 quake.
In July, the metropolitan board of education instructed the schools to, in principle, care for students after a disaster until parents come to pick them up.
The Yokohama municipal board of education also revised the city's disaster-management plan for schools.
The new plan stipulates that if public transportation systems shut down, schools should keep students until parents pick them up.
But some parents may be unable to come to school and some children could have to stay at school overnight. This raises the question of what food and other supplies schools should keep on hand.
Tokyo metropolitan high schools stock enough water, food, blankets and other emergency goods to last three days. However, what supplies primary and middle schools should stockpile is left to individual ward, city, town and village governments. Some principals have suggested their schools do not have enough emergency supplies.
According to a survey by Tokyo Shiritsu Shoto-gakko Kyokai, an association of 54 private primary schools in Tokyo, a total of 1,123 students at 28 member schools spent the night at school after the March 11 quake because they could not get home.
At Keio Yochisha Primary School in Shibuya Ward, 23 of the 852 students took shelter at the school overnight after the March quake.
"We realized anew that it's safer to keep the kids at school rather than force them to go home," an official of the school said.
The school is reviewing what emergency supplies it will store.
(Sep. 3, 2011)
Showing posts with label 6 month later. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 6 month later. Show all posts
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
29/09 VOX POPULI: If time travel is possible, I want to return to the morning of March 11
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.
2011/09/29
"And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment."
"My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong."
The above lines are from "The Time Machine," a short story by H.G. Wells (1866-1946). The novel, released in 1895, is regarded as a masterpiece that dealt with time travel not with mysticism but as a science.
Ten years later, real science showed that no substances can travel faster than light and it is impossible to go back in time. It is the theory of relativity established by young Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Thus, the time machine was confined to the realms of imagination.
But an international team of scientists recently came up with a finding that could overturn this long-accepted theory. They reported that subatomic particles called neutrinos travel faster than light. When they repeatedly shot them from an accelerator in Switzerland and measured the time it took them to reach detectors in Italy, they found that the particles had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than light would have done. In terms of speed, it is 0.0025 percent faster than the speed of light.
It is potentially a major discovery that could shake the foundation of modern physics developed by Einstein and proved in every area of science. That is why many people are skeptical of the finding, saying there must have been an error of measurement. The research team also plans to reconfirm the finding with a different set of scientists.
"If possible, would you go to the future or the past?" "If I can start over again, I want to be such-and-such an age again." "I want to deliver a message to myself as I was 10 years ago."
We can enjoy such harmless and lighthearted banter because time travel is a dream. I don't know if I want the idea to remain a dream or to travel faster than light to see how stupid I look from the future.
There were nights when I thought about the beginning and the end of the universe and questioned my own existence. If I could go back, I want to be that age again. If I could go back to sometime this year, without hesitation, I would fly back to the morning of March 11 carrying a microphone.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 28
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
2011/09/29
"And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment."
"My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong."
The above lines are from "The Time Machine," a short story by H.G. Wells (1866-1946). The novel, released in 1895, is regarded as a masterpiece that dealt with time travel not with mysticism but as a science.
Ten years later, real science showed that no substances can travel faster than light and it is impossible to go back in time. It is the theory of relativity established by young Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Thus, the time machine was confined to the realms of imagination.
But an international team of scientists recently came up with a finding that could overturn this long-accepted theory. They reported that subatomic particles called neutrinos travel faster than light. When they repeatedly shot them from an accelerator in Switzerland and measured the time it took them to reach detectors in Italy, they found that the particles had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than light would have done. In terms of speed, it is 0.0025 percent faster than the speed of light.
It is potentially a major discovery that could shake the foundation of modern physics developed by Einstein and proved in every area of science. That is why many people are skeptical of the finding, saying there must have been an error of measurement. The research team also plans to reconfirm the finding with a different set of scientists.
"If possible, would you go to the future or the past?" "If I can start over again, I want to be such-and-such an age again." "I want to deliver a message to myself as I was 10 years ago."
We can enjoy such harmless and lighthearted banter because time travel is a dream. I don't know if I want the idea to remain a dream or to travel faster than light to see how stupid I look from the future.
There were nights when I thought about the beginning and the end of the universe and questioned my own existence. If I could go back, I want to be that age again. If I could go back to sometime this year, without hesitation, I would fly back to the morning of March 11 carrying a microphone.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 28
* * *
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
13/09 Remembering, 6 months later
People launch paper balloons into the sky to console the souls of disaster victims in Otsuchicho, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday evening.
Silent prayers were offered for lost relatives and friends Sunday at 2:46 p.m.--the exact time the Great East Japan Earthquake struck the Tohoku region six months ago.
Events to commemorate the disaster were held throughout badly hit areas, with about 2,200 people participating in a memorial ceremony in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, whose coastal areas suffered tremendous tsunami damage.
Representing bereaved families, Mayu Kikuta, a 16-year-old second-year student at Kesennuma High School, made a farewell speech at the ceremony. Kikuta, who lost her grandparents in the disaster, said, "I owe my grandparents a lot and I hope that my help with the restoration will pay them back."
At the Jichi Kaikan hall in Fukushima, where the prefecture's disaster control headquarters are located, Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato and prefectural government officials offered silent prayers in the direction of the Hama-dori area along the Pacific, where 98 percent of the prefecture's victims were killed in the disaster.
"We have to grant the wishes of the victims in heaven, who hope their hometown will be rebuilt," Sato said.
On Sunday evening, the Shokonsai festival was held in Otsuchicho, Iwate Prefecture, where a total of more than 1,300 people were killed or went missing. Paper balloons were launched into the sky to console the souls of victims.
The paper balloons, with thin bamboo frames, were made by volunteers in the town in response to calls from the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry's Tohoku District Transport Bureau.
Volunteers and townspeople launched about 50 balloons into the sky by heating the insides with candles. Resident Miyuki Nagaoka, 42, lost her father in the tsunami. Watching the balloons, she recalled tearfully, "Even six months after the disaster, I remember my father whenever I smell the sea."
As of Sunday, the number of people killed in the disaster totaled 15,782, while 4,086 were still missing.
(Sep. 13, 2011)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
11/09 6 MONTHS ON FROM MARCH 11 DISASTER / Onagawacho fighting for existence / After losing most buildings, hundreds of lives, town quickly maps out reconstruction
ONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--Hard hit by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, Onagawacho, Miyagi Prefecture, is fighting for its existence.
The disaster destroyed 80 percent of the town's buildings and left 829 of its residents dead or missing.
The fisheries industry of the town, which had been one of the nation's largest saury landing sites in terms of volume, was devastated by the disaster.
Onagawacho has lost little time in mapping out a recovery plan--it launched a reconstruction planning committee only 1-1/2 months after the disaster.
The municipal government submitted a reconstruction plan to the town assembly on Sept. 5, less than six months after the earthquake and tsunami and before most disaster-hit municipalities had completed their plans.
The town's busiest area faced Onagawa Bay. In areas where debris has been removed, buildings with only their walls remaining dot the landscape.
The Onagawa police box, a two-story ferroconcrete building, remains on its side after being ripped from its foundation.
The tsunami reached about 1.5 kilometers inland, and 5,374 or 82 percent, of the buildings in the town were destroyed or badly damaged.
After the disaster, 5,720 people--more than half the town's residents--moved to 23 evacuation shelters set up in the town. And about 2,600 residents temporarily evacuated to areas outside the town.
"Unless we present a plan for the future quickly, town residents will begin wondering whether they want to continue living here," said Onagawa Mayor Nobutaka Azumi, 66.
This sense of urgency led the mayor to establish the town's reconstruction promotion office on April 15.
In the town government office set up in borrowed space of the Onagawa No. 2 Primary School, Azumi encouraged officials, saying, "We'll send out a message on [restoration] to town residents by the Bon holiday period."
Since March 11, many of the officials have been extremely busy distributing goods to the shelters.
Residents, too, are taking an active role in their town's reconstruction.
One resident said: "The administrative authorities were short of staff. The private sector should also work to rebuild our town."
People in commercial, industrial, fisheries and tourism sectors living in the shelters held a meeting in late March. On April 19, they established the Onagawacho Fukko Renraku Kyogikai (the Onagawacho reconstruction liaison council).
Like other disaster-hit municipalities, Onagawacho has been worried about depopulation for some time.
Even before the disaster, the town's population had been declining sharply, from 14,018 in 1990 to 10,059 last year. After the earthquake, it stood at 8,686.
Masanori Takahashi, 61, the head of the town chamber of commerce and industry and also head of the reconstruction council, said, "I thought our town would never be able to revive unless we acted quickly."
Takahashi's home was destroyed by the tsunami, and the production lines of a fish-processing company he ran were damaged.
But he shared with the town government officials the view a continued outflow of town residents could threaten the town's existence.
The town's committee for reconstruction planning comprises three members of the reconstruction council and 14 local representatives, academics and others.
The committee has held five meetings since May 1 and compiled the final draft of the reconstruction plan on Aug. 10.
Under the plan, the town will be divided into eight zones depending on use--including residential areas and facilities for processing marine products.
The time line of the plan calls for repair and redevelopment of residential areas through fiscal 2012, improvement of infrastructure such as fishing ports from fiscal 2013 through fiscal 2015 and full-fledged reconstruction of fish-processing plants and commercial facilities from fiscal 2016 through fiscal 2018.
(Sep. 11, 2011)
11/09 6 MONTHS ON FROM MARCH 11 DISASTER / Consideration given to how to preserve bldgs
A two-story police box in Onagawacho, made of reinforced concrete, that was knocked over by the tsunami.
Onagawacho's reconstruction plan calls for the preservation of four tsunami-hit buildings, including a toppled police box and an office building owned by dietary supplement maker Onagawa Supplement. Surrounding areas will be turned into a memorial park.
"We want there to be two major aspects to the preservation: passing on a record of the damage caused by the disaster to future generations and promoting tourism," Takuro Kimura, 62, managing director of the Glocal Empowerment, Support and Aid Institute, said at the third meeting of the reconstruction committee.
Yet a committee member chosen from among local residents said, "I couldn't object when a scholar talked about the 'academic value' [of preserving damaged structures]."
Some building owners have turned down proposals to preserve the structures and some residents at a public hearing on the subject said it was painful to see them.
"We'll think carefully about how to preserve them," Kimura said.
"I hope the plan doesn't end up as a pipe dream," Takanobu Takahashi, 67, head of a buyers' cooperative association at the Onagawa fish market, said at his prefab office late last month.
Despite the many blueprints for post-disaster reconstruction, Onagawacho currently has no prospects of securing the necessary funds.
Regarding the procurement and development of plots of land for communities to relocate their houses en masse, there is a plan whereby the central government bears 94 percent of the cost through subsidies and other means.
However, there is a upper limit on subsidies, making it highly likely local municipalities will bear a heavy financial burden.
The Miyagi prefectural government did a tentative calculation in June of a post-disaster reconstruction project, including the relocation of residents' homes. It envisioned a municipality on essentially the same scale as Onagawacho, with about 10,000 people and an initial budget of about 6 billion yen in fiscal 2010.
The prefecture estimated such a project would cost 210.7 billion yen to implement, of which the local government would have to shoulder 116.5 billion yen.
According to these figures, Onagawacho would have to pay about 20 times its actual annual budget for the reconstruction project.
Many local municipalities are drawing up their post-disaster plans based on the steps to be taken by the central government, but Onagawacho drafted its plan fairly quickly.
"I wanted to show the will of our residents early, rather than taking a wait-and-see approach," Mayor Nobutaka Azumi said.
"With the existing framework, the town's finances will collapse. We want the central government to respond to our wishes through such measures as creating a new system whereby local municipalities have a small [financial] burden," he said.
(Sep. 11, 2011)
Friday, September 9, 2011
09/09 Library gift a tribute to U.S. teacher lost in tsunami
The Yomiuri Shimbun
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi--The family of an American woman who died in the March 11 tsunami has presented students at a primary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, with a collection of 40 of her favorite books.
"I hope you'll read these books, find your dreams and live with courage, like my daughter did," Andy Anderson, 54, said Tuesday to a group of about 60 students during a presentation ceremony at Mangokuura Primary School.
Taylor Anderson, 24, was from the U.S. state of Virginia. She came to Japan in 2008 and worked as an assistant English teacher at several primary and middle schools in Ishinomaki.
On the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake, she made sure her students at Mangokuura were safely evacuated. On her way home, she was killed by the tsunami.
A school Taylor attended in the United States helped establish a fund to buy the book collection, which has been dubbed the "Taylor Library."
"When she was young, once she started reading a book, there was no stopping her. She would read and let her imagination take over," her father said at the ceremony.
Taylor's dream was to become a conduit between Japan and the United States and reading books led to the realization of her dream.
On behalf of all the students, Kaito Hikichi, 12, thanked Taylor's family in English.
"Miss Taylor talked about Harry Potter, and I felt close to her. I'll think of this book as a symbol of her, and take good care of it," Hikichi said.
Taylor's family plans to also present books to the other six schools where Taylor worked.
(Sep. 9, 2011)
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi--The family of an American woman who died in the March 11 tsunami has presented students at a primary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, with a collection of 40 of her favorite books.
"I hope you'll read these books, find your dreams and live with courage, like my daughter did," Andy Anderson, 54, said Tuesday to a group of about 60 students during a presentation ceremony at Mangokuura Primary School.
Taylor Anderson, 24, was from the U.S. state of Virginia. She came to Japan in 2008 and worked as an assistant English teacher at several primary and middle schools in Ishinomaki.
On the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake, she made sure her students at Mangokuura were safely evacuated. On her way home, she was killed by the tsunami.
A school Taylor attended in the United States helped establish a fund to buy the book collection, which has been dubbed the "Taylor Library."
"When she was young, once she started reading a book, there was no stopping her. She would read and let her imagination take over," her father said at the ceremony.
Taylor's dream was to become a conduit between Japan and the United States and reading books led to the realization of her dream.
On behalf of all the students, Kaito Hikichi, 12, thanked Taylor's family in English.
"Miss Taylor talked about Harry Potter, and I felt close to her. I'll think of this book as a symbol of her, and take good care of it," Hikichi said.
Taylor's family plans to also present books to the other six schools where Taylor worked.
(Sep. 9, 2011)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
08/09 Displaced students want a school to call their own
Sachiko Asakuno and Mariko Sakai / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
Nearly six months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, many students in Miyagi Prefecture who attended schools that were severely damaged in the disaster still have to take lessons in school facilities that are not their own.
"We are grateful for being able to use another school building. But having our own facilities is essential to providing adequate education," said the principal of a middle school that has been holding classes at another school in the prefecture. "I hope a makeshift school building for us will be built as soon as possible."
Many educational experts say that learning and teaching at other schools entail many inconveniences.
For instance, displaced students and teachers have fewer opportunities to use school facilities than regular students and teachers.
According to sources, students at a middle school they are temporarily attending are given limited use of the science room, the music room and the gym. This is because the curriculum of the host school is given priority over that of the displaced school.
The displaced students have been told not to enter areas other than those the school allows them to use to prevent trouble.
"I feel sorry for my students, because they must be feeling uncomfortable," the principal of the displaced school said.
Students of some schools have to use facilities of several different schools, forcing teachers and students to travel between them to attend events, such as club activities, student council meetings and teachers' meetings.
Miyagi Prefectural Agriculture High School, which was badly damaged by the tsunami, had used facilities of three high schools in the prefecture before its classes began at its own makeshift school building last Thursday.
Prior to this, about 240 students of the farm machinery course gathered at a meeting spot every morning and took buses to school. Because it took 90 minutes to reach their destination, the first class of the day was given en route. As the bus rides were bumpy, students had to hold their sheets and notebooks against the windows to write.
Eiya Kosai, 16, a second-year student at the school, said: "I had a hard time writing. Every time the bus went over a bump, my handwriting became crooked."
Some students on the buses also experienced motion sickness.
Attending classes at school buildings that are not their own has also negatively affected the students' academic performance.
A third-year student at the school said, "I lacked sleep and couldn't concentrate on classes well."
Before the disaster, teachers at the school had spare time to make handout materials for students and prepare for classes to make them efficient and understandable.
However, after they were displaced by the disaster, the teachers had much less prep time, as they had to travel between the school's three temporary locations.
"I wonder whether our students understood the classes enough," one of the teachers said.
Meanwhile, Watanoha Middle School in Ishinomaki in the prefecture is getting back to some semblance of normalcy after it started the second trimester at its newly built temporary school building last Thursday. Students at the school had been learning at three separate locations, one for each school year. They were finally reunited at the new building built in the playground of a primary school in the city.
Sana Takagi, 12, a first-year student whose house was destroyed in the tsunami and who has since been living at her grandfather's place, said: "I was driven to the temporary school by my grandfather every day. Now, I can go to school by bicycle."
Although the new building has thin walls and less space than the original, the school's principal, Hiroshi Abe, 57, was happy the students once again had a school to call their own.
"We were forced to learn in what was like a training camp before. Now we can finally get back to a real school life," he said.
(Sep. 8, 2011)
Nearly six months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, many students in Miyagi Prefecture who attended schools that were severely damaged in the disaster still have to take lessons in school facilities that are not their own.
"We are grateful for being able to use another school building. But having our own facilities is essential to providing adequate education," said the principal of a middle school that has been holding classes at another school in the prefecture. "I hope a makeshift school building for us will be built as soon as possible."
Many educational experts say that learning and teaching at other schools entail many inconveniences.
For instance, displaced students and teachers have fewer opportunities to use school facilities than regular students and teachers.
According to sources, students at a middle school they are temporarily attending are given limited use of the science room, the music room and the gym. This is because the curriculum of the host school is given priority over that of the displaced school.
The displaced students have been told not to enter areas other than those the school allows them to use to prevent trouble.
"I feel sorry for my students, because they must be feeling uncomfortable," the principal of the displaced school said.
Students of some schools have to use facilities of several different schools, forcing teachers and students to travel between them to attend events, such as club activities, student council meetings and teachers' meetings.
Miyagi Prefectural Agriculture High School, which was badly damaged by the tsunami, had used facilities of three high schools in the prefecture before its classes began at its own makeshift school building last Thursday.
Prior to this, about 240 students of the farm machinery course gathered at a meeting spot every morning and took buses to school. Because it took 90 minutes to reach their destination, the first class of the day was given en route. As the bus rides were bumpy, students had to hold their sheets and notebooks against the windows to write.
Eiya Kosai, 16, a second-year student at the school, said: "I had a hard time writing. Every time the bus went over a bump, my handwriting became crooked."
Some students on the buses also experienced motion sickness.
Attending classes at school buildings that are not their own has also negatively affected the students' academic performance.
A third-year student at the school said, "I lacked sleep and couldn't concentrate on classes well."
Before the disaster, teachers at the school had spare time to make handout materials for students and prepare for classes to make them efficient and understandable.
However, after they were displaced by the disaster, the teachers had much less prep time, as they had to travel between the school's three temporary locations.
"I wonder whether our students understood the classes enough," one of the teachers said.
Meanwhile, Watanoha Middle School in Ishinomaki in the prefecture is getting back to some semblance of normalcy after it started the second trimester at its newly built temporary school building last Thursday. Students at the school had been learning at three separate locations, one for each school year. They were finally reunited at the new building built in the playground of a primary school in the city.
Sana Takagi, 12, a first-year student whose house was destroyed in the tsunami and who has since been living at her grandfather's place, said: "I was driven to the temporary school by my grandfather every day. Now, I can go to school by bicycle."
Although the new building has thin walls and less space than the original, the school's principal, Hiroshi Abe, 57, was happy the students once again had a school to call their own.
"We were forced to learn in what was like a training camp before. Now we can finally get back to a real school life," he said.
(Sep. 8, 2011)
08/09 47 schools unable to rebuild after disaster
Forty-seven schools that have been using other schools' facilities since the March 11 disaster still are undecided on where and how to rebuild their own facilities, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.
The survey was conducted on 82 public primary, middle and high schools in 24 cities and towns in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures that are using buildings of nearby schools after theirs were severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
According to the survey results, 47 schools in 16 municipalities, or about 60 percent of the schools surveyed, had no plans to build temporary facilities or take other steps as of Tuesday. About 4,800 school children attend the 47 schools.
Municipalities that were struck by the March 11 tsunami are, in principle, required to relocate schools to higher ground. But they are not eligible to receive state subsidies for the cost of purchasing and preparing land for schools under the current law. Because of this, they are facing difficulty in securing relocation sites.
Education ministry officials say it is difficult to provide these schools with state subsidies for disaster restoration projects under existing law.
Calls for the prompt establishment of new legislation to address the issue may grow, observers said.
The survey found that only five of the 82 schools have committed to repair their original school facilities or relocate to new facilities as planned since before the disaster.
Another 30 schools said they had started or were planning to build temporary prefabricated facilities on other schools' grounds or athletic parks.
Under the law on government financial contribution to public schools on facility restoration from disaster damage, the government bears two-thirds of restoration costs when school facilities have been destroyed or severely damaged. But the law stipulates this applies to cases in which school facilities would be rebuilt at their original locations. The law provides no stipulation for cases in which school facilities need to be relocated.
Students using other schools' facilities have been facing various inconveniences, but municipal governments are in a quandary as there is very little public land that was not affected by the tsunami in the disaster-hit areas.
"We're giving priority to the construction of temporary housing units," said an Ishinomaki city government official in Miyagi Prefecture.
Some municipalities may consider obtaining privately owned land. But some lots not damaged by the disaster have inflated prices.
"Unless we receive state subsidies, we face enormous financial burdens," a town official of Yamadamachi, Iwate Prefecture, said, adding that the municipality has no chance to obtain private land.
An official of Minami-Sanrikucho, Miyagi Prefecture, stressed the town's dire financial situation, saying, "We absolutely lack the budget [resources] as we must restore facilities other than schools as well."
There is also a government subsidy to assist the relocation of local residents in groups from areas affected by natural disasters. However, this covers the rebuilding of housing facilities and does not cover the expenses of purchasing land or preparing it for the construction for school relocations.
An official of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, which has received requests for state aid from municipal governments, said the ministry has asked the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry to include school relocations in the subsidy program for group relocations under its jurisdiction.
(Sep. 8, 2011)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
06/09 IN THE NEWS / Soprano to sing at 9/11 peace recital
Maki Mori
Waiting for her turn during a May concert to help support areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, opera singer Maki Mori was circumspect.
"It isn't always positive living in this world. But I feel very strongly [about] and cherish music's role in reaching out to people during difficult times," she said.
Mori experienced the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on United States soil firsthand while she was rehearsing for an opera scheduled to be performed in Washington.
Immediately after the catastrophe, Mori was evacuated to a suburban area of the capital. Ultimately she had to perform in the opera three days later without proper rehearsals.
"I was worried whether it would really be okay to perform under such circumstances," she recalled.
Despite her concern, Mori's performance at the well-attended concert received rapturous applause.
Mori said this experience helped her realize music can help people to recover from distress.
The singer, 41, believes even when faced with a serious disaster, musicians will never be powerless. "Because we can pray for victims and convey the greatness of being alive through our music," she explained.
Mori will sing Mozart's Requiem and other works at her recital to be held at the Tokyo Opera City in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on Sunday.
Sept. 11 will also mark the six-month anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Mori says she will put her soul into the pieces she will sing at the concert.
"I'll be happy if I'm able to convey my thoughts [about the disaster] to the audience, and hope the performance transcends being enjoyable and beautiful," she said.
(Sep. 6, 2011)
Sunday, September 4, 2011
04/09 Sharing the grief of losing a child / Women find comfort by talking to others with similar experiences
Akihiko Kano / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
In an effort to help provide psychological care to women who have lost their unborn or newborn child, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center in Yokohama offers a place where they can talk about and share the experience of losing a child.
"My mood varies from day to day, but I'm slowly getting over it," a 32-year-old woman from Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, told 17 other women who gathered at Kanagawa Kenmin Center, also in Yokohama, in June. Speaking slowly to the group, Wataboshi-no-kai (group of women who have lost children), she explained she gave birth to her first son in April 2010 at the medical center, but the boy had lung problems. The baby, who could not breathe on his own, died the following day.
The woman said she began to stay at home as much as possible as it was hard to see families with babies outside. If she happened to hear the voice of an infant at a restaurant, she quickly left. "I wondered why I was the only one suffering such sadness," she said.
In October last year, six months after her son's death, the woman joined a meeting of Wataboshi-no-kai. After introducing herself, she told about 20 women and their family members her true feelings.
She also listened to the stories of the other women who had lost children, including one who could not talk but speak for crying. "I realized I'm not the only one to suffer this terrible experience," she said. Since she was able to hold her son in her arms and spend some time with him, even for such a short period, she gradually developed a sense of gratitude. "He came into the world despite his illness. He was there, he had his life," she said.
"Talking about my feelings made me feel better than holding them in. I'll continue to live with my sorrow without trying to defeat it," she said.
According to statistics published by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, a fetus death after the 12th week of pregnancy is considered a stillbirth. The death of a baby in the first week after birth is called early neonatal mortality.
In 2010, more than 1 million babies were born in Japan. In the same year, about 27,000 stillbirths were reported and about 880 babies died in the first week after birth.
Fifteen percent of all pregnant women are believed to experience miscarriages, including stillbirth.
Wataboshi-no-kai was set up in 1997 by volunteers, including a nurse at the center's health and welfare counseling center, to help mothers who have lost a child. Last year, the workshop, held three times a year, was added as an official program of the medical center.
One unique aspect of the group is that no doctors take part in the sessions.
According to an official at the counseling center, this is to allow women to talk freely without having to worry about the feelings of the doctors.
A 35-year-old woman from Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, is one of the participants. In May last year, she was told by her doctor that her 16-week-old baby's heart could not be heard by ultrasound. She had a stillbirth the following month.
She said every day since then has been hard, and she could not bear the sound of a baby crying. The turning point came when she joined the group in October last year.
"I usually can't talk about losing the baby. But here I can freely express myself. By listening to others with similar experiences, I feel better," she said.
Michiko Yamanaka, a doctor at St. Luke's International Hospital, is the editor of the book Akachan o Nakushita Josei e no Kango (Nursing for women who have lost their child), said being able to talk openly about their feelings with others who have had similar experiences helps women with their psychological recovery.
But such groups are only available in a few places.
Hiroshi Wada, the director of the Yodogawa Christian Hospital's center for perinatal mothers and children in Osaka, conducted a survey of 203 facilities, including those with comprehensive perinatal programs, last year. The survey, with a response rate of 63 percent, found 24 facilities, or 19 percent, introduced women who had lost a child to local self-help groups, while five facilities, or 4 percent, had their own support groups.
"The programs are effective [in supporting women], but the numbers are limited partly because the programs can place a great burden on medical institutions in terms of human resources, time or financial resources. Government-level assistance is required to lessen the burden on hospitals," Wada said.
(Sep. 4, 2011)
In an effort to help provide psychological care to women who have lost their unborn or newborn child, Kanagawa Children's Medical Center in Yokohama offers a place where they can talk about and share the experience of losing a child.
"My mood varies from day to day, but I'm slowly getting over it," a 32-year-old woman from Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, told 17 other women who gathered at Kanagawa Kenmin Center, also in Yokohama, in June. Speaking slowly to the group, Wataboshi-no-kai (group of women who have lost children), she explained she gave birth to her first son in April 2010 at the medical center, but the boy had lung problems. The baby, who could not breathe on his own, died the following day.
The woman said she began to stay at home as much as possible as it was hard to see families with babies outside. If she happened to hear the voice of an infant at a restaurant, she quickly left. "I wondered why I was the only one suffering such sadness," she said.
In October last year, six months after her son's death, the woman joined a meeting of Wataboshi-no-kai. After introducing herself, she told about 20 women and their family members her true feelings.
She also listened to the stories of the other women who had lost children, including one who could not talk but speak for crying. "I realized I'm not the only one to suffer this terrible experience," she said. Since she was able to hold her son in her arms and spend some time with him, even for such a short period, she gradually developed a sense of gratitude. "He came into the world despite his illness. He was there, he had his life," she said.
"Talking about my feelings made me feel better than holding them in. I'll continue to live with my sorrow without trying to defeat it," she said.
According to statistics published by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, a fetus death after the 12th week of pregnancy is considered a stillbirth. The death of a baby in the first week after birth is called early neonatal mortality.
In 2010, more than 1 million babies were born in Japan. In the same year, about 27,000 stillbirths were reported and about 880 babies died in the first week after birth.
Fifteen percent of all pregnant women are believed to experience miscarriages, including stillbirth.
Wataboshi-no-kai was set up in 1997 by volunteers, including a nurse at the center's health and welfare counseling center, to help mothers who have lost a child. Last year, the workshop, held three times a year, was added as an official program of the medical center.
One unique aspect of the group is that no doctors take part in the sessions.
According to an official at the counseling center, this is to allow women to talk freely without having to worry about the feelings of the doctors.
A 35-year-old woman from Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, is one of the participants. In May last year, she was told by her doctor that her 16-week-old baby's heart could not be heard by ultrasound. She had a stillbirth the following month.
She said every day since then has been hard, and she could not bear the sound of a baby crying. The turning point came when she joined the group in October last year.
"I usually can't talk about losing the baby. But here I can freely express myself. By listening to others with similar experiences, I feel better," she said.
Michiko Yamanaka, a doctor at St. Luke's International Hospital, is the editor of the book Akachan o Nakushita Josei e no Kango (Nursing for women who have lost their child), said being able to talk openly about their feelings with others who have had similar experiences helps women with their psychological recovery.
But such groups are only available in a few places.
Hiroshi Wada, the director of the Yodogawa Christian Hospital's center for perinatal mothers and children in Osaka, conducted a survey of 203 facilities, including those with comprehensive perinatal programs, last year. The survey, with a response rate of 63 percent, found 24 facilities, or 19 percent, introduced women who had lost a child to local self-help groups, while five facilities, or 4 percent, had their own support groups.
"The programs are effective [in supporting women], but the numbers are limited partly because the programs can place a great burden on medical institutions in terms of human resources, time or financial resources. Government-level assistance is required to lessen the burden on hospitals," Wada said.
(Sep. 4, 2011)
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