Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida offers a floral tribute to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami at a memorial park in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 12, the day after the 11th anniversary of the disaster. (Pool)

RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--This disaster-hit city is offering to lay down the red carpet for Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion of their homeland to return the kindness shown by the world when it was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Mayor Futoshi Toba proposed the gesture during a March 12 meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was visiting as part of a tour of the three prefectures hardest hit by tsunami generated by the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake.

“When we were flattened by the disaster, people around the world extended their assistance to us and we remain eternally grateful,” Toba told Kishida. “We are very keen to take in Ukrainian refugees.”

Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso, who also attended the meeting, said the prefectural government felt the same way.

Kishida responded that he will consider the proposal in a positive manner.

Kishida told reporters after the meeting that Ishinomaki, a city in neighboring Miyagi Prefecture that was also devastated in the disaster, had expressed a similar desire.

“The central government will think about the best ways to accommodate Ukrainian people after heeding what they will need and by working in conjunction with local municipalities,” Kishida said.

On March 2, the prime minister said Japan will accept Ukrainian refuges to show solidarity with them after phone talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Related News