7 Years On, Japan Renews Resolve for Disaster Reconstruction

Tokyo, March 11 (Jiji Press)--With silent prayers and a renewed determination to speed up disaster reconstruction, Japan marked the seventh anniversary on Sunday of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which left about 18,000 people dead or missing and set off the nation's worst-ever nuclear crisis. The Japanese government held a memorial ceremony at the National Theatre in Tokyo, which was attended by about 820 people, including Prince Akishino and his wife, Princess Kiko, the heads of the three branches of government and representatives of the families of disaster victims in the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. At 2:46 p.m. (5:46 a.m. GMT), when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast seven year ago, participants offered a minute of silence in honor of the victims. "Seven years have passed and reconstruction has made steady headway in disaster areas," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an address, noting progress in the recovery of infrastructure and housing construction. Calling attention to more than 70,000 people who are still evacuated, Abe highlighted his government's policy of doing all it can to accelerate disaster reconstruction. "We'll provide seamless support in line with the stages of livelihood reconstruction," he said. Prince Akishino said his heart aches when he thinks that many disaster-affected people are still being forced to live away from their homes as evacuees. "We all care about people who are making daily efforts for reconstruction despite hardships and pray that peaceful days return to them as soon as possible," said the prince, the second son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Representatives of the families of disaster victims in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima also made remarks at the ceremony. Kazumoto Isozaki, 73, from Iwate, lost his mother, then 90, who was listing alone in the coastal city of Kamaishi. Looking back on the day when he visited the city to see whether he was all right, Isozaki said, "I felt weak at the knees when I saw a mountain of debris, and I shouted, "Mom. Mom.'" Since his parents died in the disaster, Hidetoshi Onodera, 69, from Miyagi has served as a senior member of a neighborhood association and a volunteer tourist guide. Onodera pledged to "step forward treasuring each day and maintaining coexistence with the nature of Miyagi, with gratitude in my heart." Hideko Igarashi, 70, from Fukushima plays a role of storyteller. "I want to communicate the importance of protecting our lives by ourselves and running away (from dangers), in order to prevent the disaster from being forgotten and hand down lessons to younger generations," she said. Fukushima is home to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the site of the triple meltdown accident. The number of participants at the government-sponsored memorial ceremony fell short of 1,000 for the second straight year. After the ceremony ended, about 680 people visited the theater to pay floral tribute. As of Friday, the number of deaths from the March 2011 calamity totaled 15,895 while 2,539 people were listed as missing, according to the National Police Agency. END