Ishinomaki, Japan (dpa) – On a freezing morning, farmer Hironori Saito volunteered to deliver a bag of rice to elderly residents of temporary housing in Ishinomaki, one of the areas in north-eastern Japan hardest hit by a devastating tsunami two years ago.
“Thank you very much. I’ve been sick in bed these three days. But I’m getting a little better today,” said one woman with a pale face as she took the bag.
“An increasing number of people in temporary housing are prone to illness,” said Seiji Yoshimura, co-founder of non-profit organization Open Japan in Ishinomaki.
“Many residents have changed eating habits and have not had a good diet” because their housing is away from the centre of the city, Yoshimura said.
The city had long thrived with the fishing industry, and its residents are not used to being squeezed into prefabricated housing or an apartment room.
“Some residents say their life is difficult just because they have nothing to do there. Some people are getting addicted to alcohol,” Yoshimura said.
Nearly 40 per cent of Ishinomaki’s population of 74,000 still lives in temporary housing, after many houses, factories and office buildings were destroyed or swept away by the tsunami generated by the magnitude-9 earthquake on March 11, 2011.
According to the National Police Agency, 18,574 people died or went missing in the disaster, which also triggered the nation’s worst nuclear accident at a power plant in nearby Fukushima.
“There are still some people who are not able to talk about what took place two years ago,” Yoshimura said.
Many people lost relatives and friends, and have also been separated from neighbours and co-workers.
“There are very few people who can care for emotional and spiritual needs,” Yoshimura said. “(Japan) has not learned its lesson from Kobe.”
He recalled the serious issue of solitary deaths in temporary housing units after the western Japan city of Kobe was devastated by a magnitude-7.3 quake in 1995.
Such issues are often overlooked in Japan, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the major media trumpeted how much money would be poured into the disaster-struck regions.
Ishinomaki official Koichi Awano said the city has been working with nurses and social workers to take care of the elderly and ailing people, among others.
However, like many other cities and towns in the disaster-hit regions, Ishinomaki has suffered from a manpower shortage, he said.
“We have had a lot of support from other municipalities outside the prefecture [of Miyagi]. But we still experience the shortfall, especially among technical staff.”
Residents say more young people have left Ishinomaki to seek work job in big cities, while many shops on the city’s major streets remain shuttered.
“It’s a sad sight,” said noodle shop owner Toshio Mori.
Mori’s shop was one of the first restaurants to resume business after the disaster.
He and his family were safe when they took refuge on the second floor, but they were appalled to see the devastation of the shop.
“We thought we could never resume our business here,” he recalled.
But Mori’s son found used caldrons for noodles and a used refrigerator for sale on the internet. An army of volunteers also pitched in. It still took three weeks to scoop out the mud and debris from the shop and the kitchen, he said.
The shop reopened in mid-June 2011, three months after the disaster, and has kept going mostly due to loyal long-time clientele.
“Thankfully, that helped,” the eighth-generation owner said.
The city is trying to regain its footing thanks to volunteers like Saito, president of a farming association in Nagano.
He has so far donated 1,350 kilograms of rice to the city’s residents.
“My friend’s house was demolished by the tsunami and their family have been separated.” Saito said. “I did not think this was someone else’s matter.
“I also think good food gives you a smile,” the farmer added.
Takehiko Kambayashi 