One month on, Japan quake survivors, businesses struggle to rebuild

Time to move on. The Government should help these people move to somewhere that isn't going to be depopulated in 15 years. Not rebuild in a dying town.

The Government should help these people move to somewhere that isn't going to be depopulated in 15 years.

Wouhou! Deport them, relocate them because he say so!

Wouhou! Deport them, relocate them because he say so!

Or spend millions rebuilding an izakaiya with no customers? Then what?

Give them the option, move to a place with a future with government support or stay in your dying town?

Time to move on. The Government should help these people move to somewhere that isn't going to be depopulated in 15 years. Not rebuild in a dying town.

Top comments.

There are many earthquake scientists in Japan wasting tax money. They are of no help predicting earthquakes. In old Japan, people paid attention to the move of "namazu" cat fish. They believed the fish makes strange move prior to earthquakes.

@vanityof vanities,

Totally agree with you.

"The Government should help these people move to somewhere that isn't going to be depopulated in 15 years. Not rebuild in a dying town."

Sometimes the truth is difficult to admit...

Rensho, I am not sure what country you are from, however, after living in Japan for 30 years the one big point I learned for Japanese people change is not an easy one. Many of those people are elderly, their ancestors were from there or surrounding areas most likely, and so, moving the elderly from there could lead them to an early death from not just the loss of their belongings but a life they have always known. Empathy and thought are an absolute importance in this situation.

One point I agree with you, is the government needs to get off their duffs and come up with a plan. One thought I had, build a mansion with a community center for the elderly and families whose homes don't make sense to repair and or rebuild and who wish to remain.

Solutions with empathy is what needed and not throwing people into more turmoil and ripping their lives further up.

Seems the izakaya owner used to love serving Okinawa style food.

He's lost his livelihood, his wife and his daughter in the area he's lived all his life but some people seem to think he just " show some stiff upper lip" and move on.

Nice empathy.

Very sad and tragic stories with deep pain.

A certain amount of social housing will be built here. Its happened after other earthquakes.

The headline and main thrust of the story are rather silly in expecting much "rebuilding" to happen in a month. The important thing at the moment is to make people as comfortable as possible (its midwinter remember), repair vital infrastructure, especially road links, and start fully surveying the damage. The news is still lumping all damaged houses into one number, meaning they have not been fully assessed into the zenkai, hankai, and ichibu sonkai classifications. Without such classifications, insurance payouts and sympathy payments from the government cannot happen. In Shindo 6+ or 7, every house will get some level of damage (ichibu sonkai), even just a tiny crack in some tile grout. Insurers will pay out a certain fixed amount for such trivial damage, even the house is still completely livable. The scale of the problem is not how many houses are "damaged", all of them will be, but how many are livable and how many new ones are needed. This could be a high number, but will definitely be far lower than the "damaged" number currently being reported.

It's an earthquake..

It takes time for recovery..

And Japan will do it again..

Very sad!

One thing we know for sure, Kishida has definitely moved on if he ever gave two tosses in the first place!

Given the notion of furusato i so firmly embedded in Japanese culture, It's ridiculous to even suggest these folks should just move on. it's long passed time for the national government in Tokyo to accept people live normal lives outside the Yamanote Loop, that they pay taxes, too, and might often require qdditional support.

The photo looks like the outskirts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bomb.

A lot of the area will have to be cleared with many damaged houses being demolished before much rebuilding can be done. There is a lot of stuff to skip up and remove, and underground infrastructure to fix. The government could offer relocation packages for those that want them, so they can plan an appropriate rebuilding strategy for those who wish to stay. Given the number of quakes Japan gets, you would assume that they have teams on standby who are now planning this. Perhaps they need to communicate more clearly with everyone.

For those dumped into limbo for what may be a year or more, a government allowance might be paid and accommodation provided so they can get on with their lives and their education, plan their future, get a temporary job or take some courses. Those working on the clean up and any rebuilding should stay in contact with them. Some may wish to help with the clean up and reconstruction.

Everyone deals with grief in their own way. There are no short cuts. You just keep going.

I wonder how may other places in Japan are prepared for a big quake or tsunami. Now would be a good time to start preparing in other towns near the ocean at least.

justsomeguy8008

I wonder how may other places in Japan are prepared for a big quake or tsunami. Now would be a good time to start preparing in other towns near the ocean at least.

What you suggest is impossible. The amount of money needed would be astronomical. All ocean locations have defenses and drills in place. Sea barriers, evacuation centers.