Some municipalities devastated by the March 11 earthquake are turning away volunteers wanting to help with the clear-up because they do not have the infrastructure to cope with the visitors.
Some municipalities devastated by the March 11 earthquake are turning away volunteers wanting to help with the clear-up because they do not have the infrastructure to cope with the visitors.
An influx of volunteers from outside the quake-zone was expected over the Golden Week holidays from April 29 to May 5. While some areas are desperate for labor, others are already overloaded.
Traffic jams are becoming a serious problem in some districts. It took more than two hours to drive a 50-kilometer stretch of road between Sendai and Ishinomaki on April 29, the first day of Golden Week, about twice as long as on a normal day.
A staff member at a volunteer center set up by the social welfare council of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, to organize the visitors and assign them work said: "In this situation, the time they can work as volunteers becomes shorter and shorter."
Volunteer centers in Kesennuma and several other municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture decided before April 29 to suspend registration of new volunteers during Golden Week. A further eight municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture solicited volunteers on the morning of April 29, but filled their quotas by noon.
According to the Japan National Council of Social Welfare, 130,000 people had done volunteer work in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures by April 20. About 73,000 worked in Miyagi Prefecture.
One factor behind the prefecture's popularity is its location. It is nearer than Iwate Prefecture to the Tokyo metropolitan area or western Japan.
In total, 1,200 people registered at the Ishinomaki volunteer center April 29, 50 percent more than the previous day. Forty-five staff members at the center organized the visitors.
Kiyo Suenaga, 26, a ground survey consultant from Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, was one of a group of eight volunteers who arrived at the center at 6 a.m., two hours before the start of registration. She said it was the first time she had been able to take a series of days off in a row since the March 11 earthquake.
A 26-year-old man from Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, said he had got to Ishinomaki on the Shinkansen and a rental motorbike.
"At the time of the Great Hanshin Earthquake (in 1995), many people from all over the country helped us. I want to work (to return the favor)," he said.
Even in the most popular areas, the reason for turning away volunteers tends to be a lack of infrastructure to deal with the visitors, rather than a lack of work for people to do.
In Kesennuma, a day after the city's volunteer center suspended volunteer registration, more than 10 people were working at Hiromi Sugawara's home carrying out mud-covered furniture and blankets. She had waited more than two weeks for the volunteers to arrive.
"As (the things) have been removed, I can finally think about my future," Sugawara said.
Other prefectures are still desperate for help.
An official helping to organize Fukushima Prefecture's volunteer effort said: "The number of volunteers is still insufficient. We want them to come here not only during the Golden Week holidays but also after that period."
Municipalities in Iwate Prefecture are also accepting new volunteers, although some are only registering groups.
Meanwhile, Hyogo Council of Social Welfare and other organizations have set up an information center for the volunteers in a borrowed expressway company office next to the Tohoku Expressway's Izumi Parking Area in Sendai.
Without leaving the expressway, volunteers can obtain information on which municipalities are accepting volunteers and on how many hours it takes to get there.
"The information on the acceptance of volunteers is fluid. We want volunteers to gather detailed information here so we can maximize their efforts," said a member of staff at the center.
(This story was written by Takeshi Suzuki, Mari Fujisaki and Takuya Asakura.)