ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Four months after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, sections of northern Japan remain a dystopian nightmare, defaced by mountains of debris.
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Four months after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, sections of northern Japan remain a dystopian nightmare, defaced by mountains of debris.
Only about 35 percent of an estimated 21.83 million tons of rubble in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures has been cleared and transported to makeshift dump sites to make space for rebuilding.
The debris removal and storage operations have also created new problems for already beleaguered survivors, forcing them to live side by side with towering heaps of often foul-smelling junk.
Ishinomaki Commercial High School in Ishinomkai, Miyagi Prefecture, is plagued by more than 100,000 tons of wreckage. Ranging from concrete fragments, lumber and tatami mats to home appliances and polluted mud, the debris has been dumped around the school since April.
The presence of massive amounts of rubble has caused health problems among students.
"It smells awful," said Toru Kazusa, an assistant principal at the school, adding that school officials were not given details about the dump site beforehand. "The dust and flies are awful."
Many students are complaining about itchy eyes and sore throats.
Students wear masks when they leave the school building for physical education classes and extracurricular activities.
In the two months after a parade of trucks began dumping rubble, one student was diagnosed with pneumonia and a teacher fell ill.
Two fans are placed in each classroom to help students keep cool with the windows closed.
But when the temperature rises, the teachers have to open the windows despite the revolting stench coming off the debris.
The school, together with residents in the neighborhood, pleaded with city officials to do something.
In response, the city raised the fences around the dump site to 9 meters in some sections from 1.8 meters.
In addition to insecticide, lime milk was sprayed at the site to prevent the dust from rising. Still, the flies and odor persist, school officials said.
On July 7, people who lost their homes began moving to temporary housing units built for about 110 households in two nearby locations.
Kazusa said the only solution is to move the rubble somewhere else.
"We cannot solve the problem any time soon without help from other prefectures," he said.
Local governments in the stricken prefectures plan to permanently dispose of the rubble in three years.
But with a shortage of incineration facilities, many are skeptical.
According to an Asahi Shimbun survey of 37 affected municipalities along the coast in the three prefectures, Iwate Prefecture had made the most progress, with 51.4 percent of a total of 4.46 million tons of wreckage cleared.
Miyagi Prefecture, burdened with the most debris, at 15.09 million tons, removed 31.3 percent, while 26.8 percent of 2.28 million tons in Fukushima Prefecture was dealt with.
Of the 37 municipalities, Ishinonmaki had the most wreckage at 6.16 million tons. The figure exceeds more than a century (106 years) of waste disposed of by the city and is more than the entire yearly disposal by Iwate Prefecture.
The city has already moved 890,000 tons, the most by the municipalities, but it is only 14 percent of the total.
With little level ground, Ishinomaki faces a serious shortage of rubble storage sites.
Workers sort and recycle wreckage at provisional dump sites. Wood debris is burned at incinerator plants. Nonflammable waste is buried.
Local governments in Fukushima Prefecture, home to the embattled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, have suspended cleanup out of concern that radioactive substances may spread if incinerated.
Work is unlikely to resume until a plan to dispose of the incinerated ash can be worked out.
Five towns in the "no-entry" zone, a radius of 20 kilometers from the plant, have not even started cleaning up.