By TAKAOKI YAMAMOTO/ Staff Writer
March 11, 2022 at 13:45 JST
People gather at the Arahama district of Sendai early on March 11 to offer prayers for those who perished 11 years ago in the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. (Ryo Ikeda)
More than a decade after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the government is shifting the focus of reconstruction spending and drastically reducing the amount spent.
From the fiscal year to begin on April 1, the emphasis will shift to supporting the areas affected by the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as well as providing psychological care to disaster victims.
As a result, the amount allocated in the fiscal 2022 budget for the Reconstruction Agency is about 579 billion yen ($4.97 billion), less than 20 percent of the amount that was set aside in fiscal 2013 when reconstruction began in earnest.
The government had defined the first 10 years after the March 11, 2011, disaster as a period of public works projects to rebuild the regions hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami.
By fiscal 2021, about 31.1 trillion yen had been spent on building roads and coastal embankments as well as reviving farmland and setting up new residential areas.
But from fiscal 2022, about 80 percent of the budget will deal with the aftereffects of the nuclear disaster, including the negative publicity and rumors that have hurt fishermen and farmers particularly in Fukushima Prefecture.
The need for psychological care is demonstrated by people still being certified as having died indirectly from the natural disasters 11 years ago.
Along with the completion of reconstruction projects, the central government will also for the first time not hold a memorial ceremony on March 11 to remember those who perished in the natural disasters.
Instead, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to attend a ceremony in Fukushima Prefecture on March 11.
A total of 22,207 people died either directly or indirectly as a result of the disasters or are still considered missing. There are also about 30,000 evacuees around Japan who still cannot return to their homes.
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