Survey: 29% See Little Or No Tohoku Rebuilding
An opinion survey conducted in Japan by an NHK institute shows that nearly 30 percent of the respondents feel little or no progress in efforts to rebuild areas hit by tsunami 10 years ago.
A major earthquake generated tsunami on March 11, 2011, causing extensive damage to Pacific coastal areas of eastern and northeastern Japan.
NHK's Broadcasting Culture Research Institute conducted a nationwide survey between November 11 and December 18 last year to ask people about rebuilding efforts for tsunami-hit areas.
It covered 3,600 people aged 16 or older and received responses from 2,311, or 64.2 percent of them.
The survey asked how much progress they felt has been made in the reconstruction efforts. Twenty-seven percent of the respondents said little, while 2 percent said none.
The survey also asked how much progress they felt has been made in programs to decontaminate areas affected by the fallout from the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Fifty-three percent of the respondents said little, while 12 percent said none.
University of Hyogo Professor Kimura Reo said the survey results show rebuilding efforts are still halfway down the road. He said what led people to say reconstruction efforts have made little or no progress should be studied.
Kimura also underlined the importance of long-term support for disaster survivors to rebuild their lives in new environments.