Nearly one-third of people who evacuated after the Tohoku disaster struck a year ago have seen their families torn apart, while about 40 percent lost their jobs, businesses or income, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey.
Nearly one-third of people who evacuated after the Tohoku disaster struck a year ago have seen their families torn apart, while about 40 percent lost their jobs, businesses or income, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey.Most of the families that have split up say they have no prospects for reuniting.Between late January and early March, The Asahi Shimbun interviewed 1,033 disaster victims or their guardians who were living in temporary housing in the three hard-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. Those surveyed were only a small sample of the 340,000 people who continue to live as evacuees in temporary housing and other living conditions.The quake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, left about 19,000 people dead or missing.The Asahi survey found that 32 percent of respondents had at least one family member who was now living apart from them. About 40 percent of respondents lost their jobs or businesses.Of those who said family members were now living apart, only 14 percent said there was the possibility of living together again.About 63,000 people who lived in Fukushima Prefecture, the site of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, remain outside the prefecture.Half of the respondents from Fukushima Prefecture said they were living apart from family members--and only 7 percent said they had plans to live together again.An 88-year-old man from Fukushima Prefecture used to live with his children and grandchildren before the nuclear accident. He now lives with his wife in temporary housing. His son and daughter-in-law now live and work in a different part of the prefecture, while his grandchild has found work in Tokyo."The farmland in my hometown is not being tended to and there is no place to work,” the man said. “With the local residents going their separate ways, I can no longer return there."His plight is shared by many others in the other prefectures.“My grandchild who moved to Tokyo paid a visit over the summer,” a 61-year-old man from Iwate Prefecture said. “While we thought briefly of living together again, fears of a tsunami led my grandchild back to Tokyo."The disasters directly affected the employment situation of about half of the evacuees.Twenty-eight percent said they lost their jobs or closed their businesses, while 12 percent said they were temporarily not working nor operating a business. Nine percent of the respondents said they found a different job.Only 42 percent of the respondents said they had the same job as before the disaster.A 60-year-old man in Miyagi Prefecture who ran a seafood processing company lost his factory and home in the disaster, forcing him out of business."The only thing I have left is about 30 million yen ($364,000) in loans," the man said. "While I have to find work, it is difficult for someone of my age to find something new."Of those who had paying jobs, 47 percent said their incomes decreased after the March 11 quake, while 13 percent said they lost all their income.Close to 60 percent of the respondents lost at least 100,000 yen in monthly income, while 37 percent said they lost more than 200,000 yen a month.
There were major differences among respondents in the three prefectures on why the families were now living separately.Half of the respondents in Fukushima Prefecture were living apart from their family members. Many mothers and their children moved outside the prefecture, while the father remained for work reasons.In Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, the cramped temporary housing made it difficult for families with more than two generations to live together as in the past. In addition, senior citizens whose health worsened after the disaster were placed in hospitals or other facilities away from their family members.Twenty-three percent of those in Iwate and 20 percent in Miyagi said there was a possibility that their families could live together again, but that figure dropped to just 7 percent in Fukushima.A 64-year-old man who evacuated from Hirono to Iwaki, also in Fukushima Prefecture, said, "My wife and I plan to return, but my sons will likely not return in the future."Evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear accident were asked if they would move back to their old homes in the future. Thirty-four percent said they had no plans to return.Close to 80 percent of respondents who do not plan to return said the reason was "because I do not think decontamination of radiation will end."Other common responses were "there will be no jobs even if I returned" (22 percent), "people will not likely return to the former communities" (22 percent) and "there are no facilities necessary for daily life" (16 percent).Of the 39 percent of respondents who said they planned to return to their former communities, half were in their 60s or older.
The effects on jobs and income were also gravest in Fukushima Prefecture, where many people had to evacuate due to the nuclear accident.The ratios of respondents who had the same jobs as before the disasters were 47 percent in Iwate Prefecture, 31 percent in Miyagi Prefecture and 16 percent in Fukushima Prefecture.Conversely, the ratios of respondents who lost their jobs or closed their businesses were 13 percent in Iwate, 20 percent in Miyagi and 27 percent in Fukushima. The percentages of those who were temporarily not working nor operating a business were 2 percent in Iwate, 6 percent in Miyagi and 18 percent in Fukushima.About half of those who lost their jobs, closed their businesses or were temporarily out of work or not operating a business were in their 50s or older. About 60 percent of those who found new jobs were in their 30s and 40s.Sixty-seven percent of households in Fukushima Prefecture saw their income either decrease or disappear, while the figures were 59 percent in Miyagi and 56 percent in Iwate.The percentages of those that lost all income were 9 percent in Iwate, 10 percent in Miyagi and 21 percent in Fukushima.
The delays in compiling rebuilding plans in the three prefectures are also affecting people's future plans.Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, calls arose for moving entire communities to higher ground. But following continued delays, only 25 percent of respondents say they want to take part in such moves. Fourteen percent said they plan to rebuild or repair their homes, even in areas leveled by the tsunami.Thirty percent of respondents said they had still not decided what to do, while 6 percent said they would sell their land.The percentages of respondents who were satisfied or dissatisfied with living conditions in temporary housing facilities were similar.
The respondents in the survey were asked to list up to three measures they wanted the central or local governments to work on.The most popular response, given by 42 percent, was "buying or renting land owned prior to the disasters." Thirty-seven percent said "financial support to rebuild homes."Of the 24 percent who said "construction of public housing for disaster victims," about half were in their 60s or older, underscoring the concerns of senior citizens about where they would live after leaving the temporary housing facilities.Other responses in which about half of the respondents were in their 60s or older were "subsidies for monthly living expenses" and "medical expense subsidies."In Fukushima Prefecture, many of the requests of the government were related to measures concerning the nuclear accident. Fifty-six percent of respondents cited "compensation for the nuclear accident," 39 percent said "radiation decontamination" and 31 percent sought "checks on health damage caused by radiation."