ID :
177476
Sat, 04/23/2011 - 18:24
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Australian PM is 1st foreign leader to visit tsunami-hit area

TOKYO (Kyodo) - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday visited a Japanese coastal town devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, becoming the first foreign leader to travel to the disaster-hit area.
Her visit to Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, accompanied by Japan's Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, followed the deployment there from March 16 to 19 of 75 rescue workers and two search dogs from Australia.
Gillard was briefed by Minamisanirku Mayor Jin Sato on how he survived the disaster at the town's disaster prevention office building, which was reduced to its frame by the tsunami. A local photographer took a picture of Sato and other officials clinging to the top of the structure while the tsunami engulfed the three-story building.
Gillard also visited a gymnasium being used as a makeshift shelter accommodating about 340 survivors and gave stuffed toy koalas and kangaroos to children, who in return handed her folded paper cranes -- symbols of peace.
Recalling her impressions when she saw her first images of the disaster on television, Gillard said she found the scale of the destruction amazing. But she added that nothing compared with seeing the disaster zone at first hand. ''It is miraculous that anyone survived such devastation,'' she said.
''It's been amazing to see the spirit of the people...even in such difficult, difficult circumstances,'' Gillard said, referring to the cheerful atmosphere in the shelter where both children and adults greeted her in English. She added they had shown the ''resilience and braveness of the Japanese people.''
China Fujimori and Yuuka Miura, 11-year-olds who are elementary school classmates, said they were surprised to see the Australian leader appearing in their hometown and happy to receive the ''cute toys.''
Shizuko Kobayashi, a 53-year-old Minamisanriku resident, gave Gillard a handmade basket with designs of cherry blossoms that she stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish. The prime minister thanked her and said she was touched by the gift.
Around 17,600 people lived in the town as of the end of February, of whom more than 1,100 are confirmed dead or remain listed as missing, according to the latest data from the prefectural government.
After arriving in Japan on Wednesday, Gillard held talks with Prime Minister Naoto Kan and has also met Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
On the final day of her four-day trip to Japan, Gillard flew to Sendai from Tokyo's Haneda airport on her way to Minamisanriku by road. Rain forced a change to her earlier plan to take a helicopter between the disaster-hit areas in Japan's northeast.

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