Hayao Miyazaki Gives 300 Million Yen to Build Kids’ Area in Park

Retired Ghibli feature director also drew art for center for families after 2011 quake

Anime director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki donated 300 million yen (around US$2.4 million) to the town of Kumejima, Okinawa for the construction of an “Interaction Center for Children” in the town’s Zenda Forest Park. The project’s supervisor and Miyazaki’s friend Tomohiro Horino expects the project to take around two years to complete.

The facility will include a two-story, 1,000-square-meter building. The town has allotted 10,000 square meters of the Zenda Forest Park for the project. The project will solicit opinions and suggestions for the project from the town’s citizens on a regular basis.

The project was revealed last year. Miyazaki drew the concept illustration above for the facility.

Miyazaki was also asked by a friend last year to draw a logo for the new facility on Kumejima. The facility is intended for families and children, who were displaced from Fukushima, to be outdoors; due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station leak after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, there are areas in Fukushima that are no longer safe for children to play.

Miyazaki has retired from making feature films, but continues to work on short films for the Ghibli Museum, as well as pet projects, including a samurai manga for Model Graphix magazine.

Source: Okinawa Times

June 26, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Student volunteers move in with elderly 3/11 refugees in Fukushima

FUKUSHIMA – University students in Fukushima Prefecture have begun providing elderly refugees from the nuclear disaster with a unique form of assistance just by living in the same temporary housing complex where they now live.
By staying close to the seniors and associating with them across generational lines, the young volunteers hope to revitalize their communities.
The aid project was proposed by the Fukushima University Disaster Volunteer Center, which has promoted volunteer visits to temporary housing in the radiation-tainted prefecture. It was adopted by the Reconstruction Agency as a state-subsidized “mental reconstruction” project.
The project involves a temporary housing complex in the Iizaka district in the city of Fukushima where 269 people from the town of Namie, in the exclusion zone near the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 power plant, have taken shelter. About 60 percent of the residents are 60 or older.
Two students will live in the complex for three months, followed by another pair each new quarter, for an entire year. The students will meet the residents and gauge how they are getting by, shop on their behalf and support the activities of the residents’ association.
Last Sunday, about 10 students helped the first two move in, cleaning their dwelling and carrying in furniture.
“Instead of working too hard to fulfill the role of a volunteer, I aim to be accepted as a resident,” Shunichi Sato, a 22-year-old Fukushima University student who volunteered. “I’m looking forward to talking with people who I’ve had few chances to get to know.”
Source : Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/25/national/student-volunteers-move-elderly-311-refugees-fukushima/#.VYvRf0b1CM9

June 25, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

LDP Pushes Evacuees to Return to Fukushima

In 2013, two years after the disaster, Japan’s permanent radiation-exclusion zones were unveiled in the Japanese media.

The Japanese government identified areas measuring between 20 and 50 millisieverts a year as suitable for restricted living (visitation but not yet permanent inhabitations).

Areas measuring fewer than 20 millisieverts a year of annual exposure were designated as habitable zones and preparations were made for lifting evacuation orders in these areas (“About 60 Percent,” 2013.)
In effect, Japan increased its national exposure level from one, to up to 20 millisieverts a year, while allowing partial habitation in areas with up to 50 millisieverts. In comparison, the Soviets set the Chernobyl exclusion zone at five millisieverts a year “Japan Groups Alarmed,” 2011. This elevated level applied for children as well as adults.
In November 2013, Japan announced it was changing its method of atmospheric monitoring to an individualized badge system. According to a November 9, 2013 report from The Asahi Shimbun, the badges underestimated exposure levels by seven times when compared to the atmospheric monitoring technique that had previously been deployed by aircraft “Lower Radiation Readings,” 2013. This change essentially increases permissible exposure levels.
Source : Majia’s Blog
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/ldp-pushes-evacuees-to-return-to.html?m=1

June 24, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Goverment proposes lifting evacuation order for town of Naraha by mid-August

FUKUSHIMA – The government on Wednesday proposed lifting by around mid-August the evacuation order for one of the towns in Fukushima Prefecture that has stood empty since the nuclear crisis began in 2011.
Most of the town of Naraha sits within 20 km of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but radiation cleanup efforts have been under way in a bid to return around 7,500 residents to their homes.
Naraha is one of 10 remaining municipalities still subject to evacuation orders. The government estimated as of last October that about 79,000 people were unable to return to their homes.
The proposal for Nahara came after the government decided recently to lift all evacuation orders by March 2017 except for areas radiation levels are expected to remain high.
The government told the Naraha Municipal Assembly on Wednesday that it hopes to lift the evacuation order by the mid-August Bon holidays. Yosuke Takagi, senior vice industry minister who is dealing with nuclear disaster issues added that the government does not intend to “force” residents to return home.
“Whether to return is up to each person. . . . Even if we lift the order, we want to continue working substantially on measures to rebuild Nahara,” he said.
A local assembly member said the plan to lift the order by Bon was “abrupt,” while another member pointed out that the town has not recovered to a point where people can return without worrying about food safety or their homes.
As part of preparations, residents have already been allowed to enter the town and stay there for short periods, officials said.
Source : Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/17/national/goverment-proposes-lifting-evacuation-order-town-naraha-mid-august/#.VYMI_UbJrIV

June 18, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Fukushima to end housing aid for voluntary evacuees

FUKUSHIMA – The Fukushima Prefectural Government said Monday it will stop providing free housing at the end of March 2017 to nuclear evacuees whose homes are in official evacuation zones.

Housing assistance to the voluntary evacuees, currently set to expire in March 2016, will be terminated after a one-year extension.

The program was instituted after the 2011 catastrophe at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant forced thousands to flee.

The prefectural government is considering offering financial assistance for home moves, as well as rent subsidies for low-income households, after the end of the free housing program.

Gov. Masao Uchibori said that emergency assistance under the disaster relief law is getting harder to justify after progress in the restoration of infrastructure, contamination work and the construction of public housing.

The prefectural government estimates there are about 25,000 voluntary evacuees, 20,000 of whom are residing outside Fukushima.

The free housing program for voluntary evacuees was originally a two-year measure, but it has been extended annually for a further 12 months.

Housing assistance for those who have evacuated from designated zones will also remain in place through fiscal 2016. The prefecture will consider on an individual basis whether to continue help when evacuation orders are lifted.

For people who lost their houses in the tsunami, Fukushima will discuss an extension for each household after fiscal 2016, depending on the progress of public housing construction.

Source: Japan Times

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/15/national/fukushima-to-end-housing-aid-for-voluntary-evacuees/#.VX7xtUZZNBQ

June 15, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Plan to end rent subsidies for some Fukushima evacuees under fresh fire

One expert knowledgeable about the evacuees says, “The reason that a plan to end these subsidies has arisen even though the financial burden is not large may be that government officials want to try and force voluntary evacuees to return to their homes, without respecting the evacuees’ own judgments on the matter.”

A plan to end rent subsidies for some evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear disaster has come under fresh fire, as it emerged that those subsidies are costing at most 8.09 billion yen this fiscal year.

The evacuees under consideration for having their subsidies cut — at the end of fiscal 2016 — are voluntary evacuees living in homes other than temporary housing structures built for evacuees. The total Fukushima Prefecture relief budget for disaster evacuees this fiscal year, including non-voluntary evacuees, is over 28.8 billion yen, so the subsidies being considered for being cut account for less than 30 percent of the relief budget.

One expert knowledgeable about evacuees says, “The reason that a plan to end these subsidies has arisen even though the financial burden is not large may be that government officials want to try and force voluntary evacuees to return to their homes, without respecting evacuees’ own judgments on the matter.”

Voluntary evacuees are people who evacuated from areas outside of those where the government ordered evacuations. Until November 2012, Fukushima Prefecture did not allow them to use emergency temporary housing set up for evacuees in the prefecture, and many voluntary evacuees moved outside of the prefecture.

According to the Fukushima Prefectural Government, for this fiscal year it allocated about 20.73 billion yen for the temporary homes of non-voluntary evacuees within the prefecture, and 8.09 billion yen for those of evacuees outside the prefecture. The evacuees outside the prefecture include non-voluntary evacuees, but the exact numbers are not known. A Fukushima Prefectural Government official says, “Non-voluntary evacuees have been using compensation for their lost real-estate to buy homes, and most of the people getting rent subsidies outside of Fukushima Prefecture are probably voluntary evacuees.”

Within the prefecture, voluntary evacuees live in around 300 homes, which are not temporary housing structures, but subsidies for their rent are included in the “out-of-prefecture” budget, so the 8.09 billion yen covers all voluntary evacuees from the prefecture.

According to the Cabinet Office, as of April 1 this year, there were evacuees living in 18,742 homes in Fukushima Prefecture other than temporary housing structures, and according to the Fukushima Prefectural Government, evacuees were living in around 10,000 such homes outside of the prefecture. Both numbers include voluntary and non-voluntary evacuees. Neither the Fukushima Prefectural Government nor the central government has yet released exact figures on the number of homes for voluntary evacuees other than temporary housing built after the disaster, nor have they released exact numbers for the total rent paid for them.

Currently, evacuee homes are set to be subsidized until the end of March 2016, with a decision on whether to extend this to be made soon after discussions between the Fukushima Prefectural Government and the Cabinet Office. A plan to end subsidies for voluntary evacuees would extend the deadline for one more year, to the end of March 2017, after which voluntary evacuees would no longer receive them. Although Fukushima Prefecture has money budgeted for subsidizing voluntary evacuees, this money is in effect all paid for by the central government. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has expressed reluctance to pay for voluntary evacuees’ rent, and so far the central government has not billed them for such.

Meanwhile, this fiscal year’s Fukushima Prefecture budget for radiation decontamination measures is 64.39 billion yen, up 13.35 billion yen from the previous fiscal year. The Ministry of the Environment released an estimate in December 2013 that the total costs for decontamination and mid-term storage for radioactive waste would be 3.6 trillion yen.

Source: Mainichi

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150609p2a00m0na006000c.html

June 10, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Fukushima youths ready to desert irradiated hometowns, survey finds

FUKUSHIMA – In 30 to 40 years from now, a majority of the young people living in 12 radiation-contaminated municipalities in Fukushima do not plan to be living in the same place where they experienced the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, it has been learned.
A survey by a panel from the Reconstruction Agency found that more than 50 percent of those respondents between the ages of 10 and 29 stopped short of choosing their prefectural hometowns as the place where they want to be living three or four decades from now.
The 12 municipalities were tainted by fallout from the triple core meltdown that crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s poorly protected Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station in March 2011 — a man-made disaster triggered by the quake and tsunami.
Many of the locales are partially or entirely within the evacuation zone designated around the power plant.
Based on the survey results, the panel plans to draw up proposals on the future of the 12 municipalities as early as this summer, informed sources said.
The survey, conducted in February and March, covered members of some 13,000 households randomly selected from the 77,600 still remaining in the 12 municipalities. Valid answers were only obtained from about 5,100 of the households.
The survey said the proportion of respondents willing to stay in the municipalities where they were residing at the time of the disaster topped 60 percent among those in their 30s or above. For those between 10 and 29, including elementary and junior high school students, the share dropped below 50 percent.
While a majority of those between their 30s and 60s expressed hope of working in their hometowns in the future, the ratio was less than 40 percent for younger people.
“The results are very shocking,” said Satoshi Endo, mayor of the town of Hirono, adding that the town, one of the 12 municipalities listed, needs to create a future vision that appeals to children.
About 60 percent of those who evacuated Hirono have not yet returned.
The Fukushima Prefectural Government will present a clear vision so young people can have hope about their hometowns, a senior official said.
The Reconstruction Agency established the panel last December to discuss the future of the 12 evacuated municipalities.
The proposals will be reflected in the agency’s budget request for fiscal 2016.
The remaining 11 municipalities were the cities of Tamura and Minamisoma, the towns of Kawamata, Naraha, Tomioka, Okuma, Futaba and Namie, and the villages of Kawauchi, Katsurao and Iitate.
Source : Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/05/national/fukushima-youths-ready-desert-irradiated-hometowns-survey-finds/#.VXHhGkZZNBS

June 6, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

“WE NEED HELP FROM THE WORLD COMMUNITY” Akiko Morimatsu’s speech at the UN Disaster Prevention Convention in Sendai City, Japan, March 15, 2015

Akiko Morimatsu with her children

“WE NEED HELP FROM THE WORLD COMMUNITY”
Akiko Morimatsu’s speech at the UN Disaster Prevention Convention in Sendai City, Japan, March 15, 2015

translated by Yoko Chase, Ph.D.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express my personal gratitude for the worldwide support given to us on this occasion.

1. East Japan suffered catastrophic damage by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the consequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant owned by Tokyo Electric Company on March 11, 2011. Immediately after the disasters occurred, people all over the world sent kind messages as well as necessary commodities for survival, thus helping us both mentally and materially. I thank you all sincerely for the kindness.

2. However, the Japanese government has never been able to put the nuclear power plants under control since the 3 11 accident. The plants have contaminated the ocean, the air, and lands which are, without boundaries, connected throughout the world. The TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident has never been put under control and I personally think we must apologize for this fact to the people of the world. The contaminated water has kept leaking and polluting the ocean for four years and no Japanese citizens think Fukushima is under control. It is a shame that we have not apologized to the world for the fact. I, therefore, would like to apologize personally now to all the people in the world on this occasion. I am very sorry that Japan has kept contaminating the beautiful earth.

3. Now in Japan, many people have evacuated the contaminated areas to avoid radiation exposure. The number of registered evacuees in June 2012 reached 347,000 according to the government’s Reconstruction Agency. Moreover, many people have stayed in the contaminated areas due to the lack of the government’s financial support. Most evacuees are families with little children who are vulnerable to radiation. My own case is one of them.

Our two children were a three-year-old infant and a five-month-old baby at the time of the disaster. Since the nuclear accident, my husband who is the father of the children, has stayed in Fukushima but our children and I fled to Osaka. We are dislocated and forced to live in 2 separate locations. Such dislocation to protect children is called, boshi hinan, or “mother and child(ren) evacuees” and there are still many of us.

4. We need to protect ourselves from the radiation contamination which has leaked from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Evacuation is a natural human act to flee from radiation and to enjoy healthy living. I regard the nuclear evacuees like ourselves as people of “Internal Displacement” referred to in the Guiding Principle on Internal Displacement in the 1998 UN Human Right Commission Report.
　　The second article of the above principle states: “Certain internally displaced persons, such as children, especially unaccompanied minors, expectant mothers, mothers with young children, female heads of household, persons with disabilities and elderly persons, shall be entitled to protection and assistance required by their condition and to treatment which takes into account their special needs.”　The Japanese government, however, has not put this principle into action its policies for the internally displaced people due to the nuclear accidents. The Japanese government has not learned lessons of the social protection of victims from Chernobyl nuclear accident.

5 Moreover, the Japanese government has objected and rejected the UN Special Rapporteur Anand Grover’s advice given in 2013.

6. In other words, rights pertaining to human life and health have been continuously violated by the Japanese government since 3.11. Human beings have had the historical experience of the nuclear accident in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union and have had many witnesses from Chernobyl mothers. The Japanese government, however, has not learned the lessons from “the social protection of victims” in the Chernobyl nuclear accident. By the government ignoring the lessons, many people in Fukushima and other contaminated areas in Japan are still forced to have unnecessary radiation exposure today.

7. I would like to protect life, health, and the future of the children living in Japan. Without evacuating from nuclear contaminated areas or ensured regular recuperation opportunities, we cannot follow the 24th article of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which Japan has ratified, “the right to enjoy the highest level of health reachable.” We need help from the world community.

8. The Preamble of the Japanese Constitution declares “the right to live free form fear and deprivation and to live in peace” (right to peaceful life).

9 The right to live free from the fear of radiation exposure and to live in peace should be given equally to all people. We cannot make any more “hibakushas” if we have learned the lessons from Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima.

10. To be free from radiation exposure and to enjoy health is a basic human reaction to protect life. It is a human right directly concerning to human life and health. It is the most important and universal human right. Can you think of anything else which is more precious than human life?

11. We need help from the world community to help all the victims and evacuees of nuclear accident disasters. Please take action and tell the Japanese government to act in compliance with international laws, and respect the guiding principles and recommendations of the United Nations.
Please help us protect the people, especially the children, in Fukushima and East Japan from radiation exposure.

Thank you very much.

Akiko Morimatsu
Thanks & Dream, The Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster Evacuees Association http://sandori2014.blog.fc2.com/
Email: sandori2014@gmail.com
東日本大震災避難者の会 Thanks ＆ Dream　（サンドリと呼ばれてます）
避難者が避難者のために主体的に活動し、 お支え下さる方々へ感謝することを忘れず、 避難者の「今」を真摯にお伝えすることによって 社会貢献につながる活動を自発的に行う 避難当事者団体です。 参加メンバー随時募集中(^^) sandori2014@gmail.com
sandori2014.blog.fc2.com

June 3, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | 1 Comment

A Letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori from Akiko Morimatsu, a Fukushima Evacuated Mother

A Letter to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori from Akiko Morimatsu, a mother who voluntarily evacuated from Fukushima so she could raise her two small children in an area free from radioactive contamination.
(Translated by Yoko Chase, Ph.D.)
To: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori
Dear sirs,
My name is Akiko Morimatsu. I have been living a life of “boshi hinan,” or “mother-child evacuation” with my two children in Osaka ever since we evacuated Fukushima four years ago.
I believe that the right to enjoy a healthy life in a radiation-free area is one of the most important human rights concerning human life and health. The right should be respected equally among all people.
It is only natural for human beings to wish to avoid radiation exposure as much as possible. This wish should be granted equally to all people.
It is also natural for parental psychology to want their children with future to grow up with as little health risk as possible. All parents want their children’s healthy growth. There should be absolutely no shadow of radiation fear nor heath risks.
Would it be reasonable if only some lucky people could flee from radioactive areas because they happened to have relatives or supporters in other areas? Would it be appropriate for a civilized society if only wealthy or lucky people could leave the radiation-contaminated areas?
It seems you announce one appalling new policy after another. Take, for example, the new policy of cutting housing support for Fukushima evacuees, while giving generous support exclusively to Fukushima returnees. Were you aware of the extreme suffering of those parents whose only choice was now to unwillingly return to the contaminated areas even though they strongly hope to stay away for the sake of their little children? Would you call this a truly fair policy? Would you be able to call this right?
I wonder, to begin with, if both the central government and Fukushima government have made policies for the last four years with the proper understanding that many households simply have not been able to evacuate the contaminated areas even when they wanted because there were no appropriate, supportive public policies for them to choose evacuation to continue their life in a safe environment.
If you have not been aware of such people’s struggles, I must question your ability as political leaders to hear the silent voices of the common people living their common lives. I don’t mean to sound impudent, but I cannot help wondering if this failure is as grave as the incompetence of our past political leadership.
Please reflect upon the fact that the “Nuclear Accident Child Victim Support Law” was made in 2014 but has been shopworn. The law has not been activated nor have the victimized children been helped by it at all. What do you think of this fact?
I have never thought harshly of those people who have been obliged to remain in Fukushima or those who have chosen to live with radiation contamination. I deeply care about them and feel strongly empathic with them for their difficult situation as parents raising young children.
However, we evacuees are also the same Fukushima people. Even though we have evacuated to far away places with children, we sincerely wish to be able to return to Fukushima if only Fukushima returns to the uncontaminated state as before 3.11 without any health risks or anxieties of losing health. If only Fukushima could get rid of all the radiation contamination as before 3.11, we would be very happy to return with all of our family members. We have wished this for four years now.
I sent a letter to the former Fukushima Governor, Yuhei Sato and also a copy of my book entitled Evacuating Fukushima with my Children: Mental Locus to Reach the Family Decision to File a Law Suit to plead evacuee support. I, however, wonder if he heard the silent voices of Fukushima evacuees. I also would like to plead to the current Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori also not to abandon those who chose to evacuate Fukushima; they are Fukushima people after all. Please, respect the basic human rights of the people regarding to their life and health protection. Also, please give generous support and keep practicing concrete, compassionate support policies for evacuees.
I am afraid, more than anything else, of the possible easing the way for infringing numerous human rights in the future if the governmental responses so far after the nuclear accident have become established as common devious methods to do away with problems.
Can there be anything more precious than human life and good health? Japanese people and Fukushima people as well, have, all equally, the right to protect their own lives and enjoy good health.
I implore you, hereby, to give the minimum legally guaranteed protection to the people who have chosen to take the fundamentally human action to protect precious lives and health.
Unfortunately, we have had nuclear accidents. I would like to, therefore, take action which we can hand on for posterity with pride in the future as citizens working together with the Fukushima Prefecture government. The same position and hope can be referred to our national government, as well.
Therefore, please listen not only to those partial groups of people interested merely in economic gain, but also to this sincere mother, a hard-working life supporter, a loving prefectural citizen, and a true Japanese citizen.
Thank you for reading my humble letter written as a Fukushima citizen, wishing the recovery of Fukushima and as a Japanese citizen also wishing for the true reconstruction of the entire East Japan from the earthquake and tsunami disasters.
May 26, 2015
Akiko Morimatsu Author of: ‘Evacuating Fukushima with my Children: Mental Locus to Reach the Family Decision to File a Law Suit’
(translated into English by Yoko Chase, Ph.D.)
Source: http://www.kamogawa.co.jp/kensaku/syoseki/ha/0676.html

June 3, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

LDP wants to let evacuees move back to areas tainted with 50 millisieverts or less by March 2017

LDP wants to let evacuees to move back to areas tainted with 50 millisieverts or less by March 2017

A team from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is requesting that Fukushima’s nuclear evacuees be allowed to return to parts of the prefecture where the annual radiation dose is 50 millisieverts or less by March 2017.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/22/national/ldp-team-calls-lifting-evacuation-orders-less-radiation-polluted-areas-march-2017/#.VV-cpUZZNBS

Nuclear disaster evacuees voice doubts about LDP recovery plan

Evacuees of the Fukushima nuclear disaster have voiced skepticism over a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) plan to lift evacuation recommendations for all but the most heavily contaminated areas by March 2017, questioning whether decontamination will have advanced sufficiently by then.

The plan would lift evacuation recommendations for all areas except those with the most severe designation by March 2017. Compensation for emotional stress of 100,000 yen per month per resident would continue to be paid across the board until one year after that.

Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, could have its evacuation recommendation lifted as early as this summer. Under the current system, compensation to its residents would end next summer, but if the LDP plan is adopted, compensation would be extended for as long as a year and a half.

Miyoko Matsumoto, 84, who evacuated from Naraha to adjacent Iwaki, lives alone in temporary housing.

“I am glad that the compensation will be extended, but money is not the only reason that I cannot go back,” she says.

While she wants to return to her hometown, her home there was badly damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake and needs to be rebuilt. However, with construction workers busy rebuilding the area, she doesn’t know when her turn will come. She adds, “If the neighbors don’t come back with me, I won’t be able to live there, as my legs and back are weak.”

Another evacuee, Fumitaka Kanazawa, 58, fled with his family from the town of Namie to the city of Fukushima.

“Will the evacuation recommendation really be lifted by March 2017?” he asked doubtfully.

Under the decontamination plan for Namie, removal of radioactive materials is scheduled to be completed by March 2017, but that is three years behind the initial schedule.

“They probably timed the lifting of evacuation recommendations and the end of compensation payments to lessen the financial burden on Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO),” he says.

The LDP plan states that “for the two years through the end of next fiscal year, the national government will guide TEPCO into providing proper compensation” for businesses and industries affected by the nuclear disaster. For the period after that, however, it only states, “We will react appropriately according to individual circumstances.”

Mikiko Matsumoto, 64, used to run a craft store with her family in the village of Katsurao, which is also subject to an evacuation recommendation. The business had continued for over 100 years.

“Now I am getting by on compensation payments, but what will I do if they end?” she asks. Although she wants to reopen her store in the old location, there will likely only be a limited number of residents who return to the village.

“I can’t receive compensation forever, but it is obvious that sales will be lower than before the disaster,” she says.

Katsurao Mayor Masahide Matsumoto comments, “Not everyone will come back, so many people will see fewer sales than before if they resume business here. Support will be needed for some time even after residents return.”

Source : Mainichi

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150522p2a00m0na019000c.html

May 22, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Ministry plans to end TEPCO compensation to 55,000 Fukushima evacuees in 2018

The government will instruct Tokyo Electric Power Co. to terminate compensation payments to 54,800 evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2018, regardless of radiation levels in their hometowns, sources said.

The new compensation plan of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is based on the assumption that decontamination work will lower radiation levels and enable the government to lift evacuation orders in those areas, the sources said May 18.

Currently, the homes of about 80,000 evacuees are located in three zones designated by the government in terms of severity of radiation contamination.

Around 31,800 evacuees’ homes are in “zones being prepared for the lifting of evacuation order,” while 23,000 people have fled their homes in what are now “no-residence zones.”

TEPCO currently pays each of these 54,800 evacuees 100,000 yen(about $834) in compensation a month.

The new plan will affect evacuees from these two zones.

The remaining 24,400 people have homes located in“difficult-to-return zones,” where there are no prospects of lifting the evacuation orders. TEPCO has paid a total of 14.5 million yen to each of these evacuees.

The government’s current guidelines on compensation stipulate that payments should end one year after evacuation orders are lifted.

Under the new plan, the government and ruling parties assume that the evacuation period for people in the first two zones will end “six years after the March 2011 nuclear accident.” That assumption is based on another assumption that decontamination work will be completed by March 2017 and evacuation orders can be called off by that time.

As a result, compensation payments for people from the two zones will end in March 2018. Each of the evacuees will have received atotal of 8.4 million yen during the seven years since the accident started at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The current compensation system allows evacuees to receive additional compensation payments if their evacuation periods are extended. Some critics say evacuees are hoping for a continuation of evacuation orders so that they can receive more money.

But the new plan will terminate compensation payments for the two zones in 2018 without exception. If the evacuation order is lifted five years after the nuclear accident, the evacuees from the area can still receive compensation for two more years, even though they are qualified for only one additional year under the current system.

Adoption of the new plan will make it easier for the government to work out support measures for people who return to their hometowns in the two zones, the sources said.

“The lifting of evacuation orders will proceed,” a government official said. “We will be able to construct houses and attract plants and firms (to the areas) more positively.”

However, it is not clear whether radiation levels will drop as expected by March 2018.

Even if evacuation orders remain in place because of delays in decontamination work, the compensation payments will still end in 2018 for the two zones, the sources said.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201505190055

May 19, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Survey:Large majority of Fukushima evacuees have family members with healthproblems

Nearly 70 percent of evacuees from areas around the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have family members complaining of physical or mental problems, a recent survey showed.

Released by the Fukushima prefectural government, the survey covering fiscal 2014 revealed that 66.3 percent of households that fled the disaster area–after the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami–have at least one member suffering health problems. The figure was 67.5 percent in the previous survey covering fiscal 2013.

In February, the prefecture sent questionnaires to all 59,746 households that evacuated for the latest study–the second of its kind–and received responses from 18,767 households, or 33.6 percent.

Of the respondents, 13,703 households, or 73 percent, said they were forced to evacuate, while 5,054, or 27 percent, said they voluntarily evacuated.

The survey covered about 20 categories, such as the state of the lives of the evacuees, their health conditions and their intent to return to their homes.

Asked about what bothers them, 57.9 percent said they cannot sleep well. While 56.6 percent said they are unable to enjoy their daily lives as they did before the disaster, 49.3 percent said they tire more easily.

Households that are still in temporary housing or rented apartments for evacuees accounted for 62.1 percent, a 10-percentage-point decrease from the previous survey. Meanwhile,19.7 percent–10 points higher than the first study–said they live in their own homes.

Although in the fiscal 2013 survey, 40.4 percent hoped they would be allowed to continue living in temporary housing longer than originally planned, 48.7 percent hope so in the latest findings.

In the latest study, 55.8 percent said they hope to continue living in temporary housing because the evacuation order has yet to be lifted for their hometowns. While 42.1 percent said they are currently unable to rebuild their homes on their own, 40.0 percent said they do not have sufficient funds to leave temporary housing.

In March, the central government released results of its survey of nine municipalities ordered to evacuate since the onset of the Fukushima crisis. The prefectural survey asked evacuees from areas other than the nine municipalities where they hoped to reside in the future. The latest findings show 37.3 percent of households that are evacuees living within Fukushima Prefecture said they hope eventually to return to their homes. Those who want to settle where they currently reside accounted for 16.5 percent, and 11.7 percent said they have yet to decide where to live in the future.

In contrast, 31.6 percent of households that evacuated outside the prefecture said they have not determined where to live in the future, whereas respondents who want to settle where they now live or return to their hometowns accounted for 24.2 percent and 19.8 percent, respectively.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201505190054

May 19, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Fukushima may end free housing for voluntary nuclear evacuees in 2017

FUKUSHIMA – The Fukushima Prefectural Government may stop providing free accommodations at the end of March 2017 for people who voluntarily left areas in the prefecture not subject to nuclear evacuation advisories, sources said.
Officials hope to encourage people who evacuated on their own to return home, but the proposed end to the assistance will certainty draw objections from them.
There have been calls in some Fukushima municipalities that are worried about the lack of progress in the return home of evacuees for an end to the support program.
The prefecture will decide after listening to the opinions of local officials later this month, the sources said.
Of about 115,000 people who have taken refuge in and outside the prefecture, some 36,000 are believed to be from areas that are not covered by the central government’s evacuation advisories for radiation from the nuclear crisis that started in 2011.
Many voluntary evacuees are people with children as well as former residents of such areas as the town of Hirono, the village of Kawauchi and the city of Minamisoma, all geographically close to the government-designated evacuation zones.
They sought refuge outside their hometowns mainly due to concerns over exposure to radiation from the reactor meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant.
Under the Disaster Relief Act, the prefectural government provides prefabricated temporary housing for nuclear evacuees for free and fully finances their rent for private apartments.
The aid program was originally supposed to run two years, but it was extended by a year twice, with the current version set to expire at the end of next March. For voluntary evacuees, the prefecture hopes to terminate the assistance after another one-year extension, the sources said.
It is looking at continuing the free accommodations for people who fled the designated evacuation areas, the sources said.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/18/national/fukushima-may-end-free-accommodations-voluntary-nuclear-evacuees-2017/#.VVoO40ZZNBR

May 18, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | 1 Comment

LDP wants Fukushima evac orders lifted early in some areas by end of fiscal 2016

A task force in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to ask the government to lift evacuation orders for areas with “relatively low” radiation around the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant by the end of fiscal 2016.
The politicians want to speed up residents’ return to radiation-tainted areas and discussed measures, including lifting the evacuation orders, at a general meeting Thursday.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant was heavily damaged by a triple meltdown after losing all power following submersion by tsunami spawned by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The resulting radiation contamination tainted wide swaths of Fukushima and other parts of east Japan.
The group now hopes the government will give evacuated residents the option of returning to risk doses as high as 50 millisieverts a year, by the end of March 2017.
Lifting the orders would give about 55,000 residents the option of recovering their homes.
According to the outline, the orders would be lifted no later than six years after the nuclear crisis began.
By setting a deadline, the LDP wants raise evacuees’ hopes of returning.
The LDP plans to discuss the idea with its coalition ally, Komeito, and submit it to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a joint proposal by the end of this month.
The outline also calls for accelerating infrastructure recovery and decontamination in the areas. It says the government should instruct Tepco to duly consider providing financial compensation for psychological pain even if the evacuation orders are lifted earlier than the March 2017 deadline.
Source: Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/15/national/fukushima-evacuation-orders-lifted-low-radiation-areas-end-fiscal-2016-ldp/#.VVZNgZNZNBQ

May 15, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment