Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with residents displaced by heavy rains at an elementary school designated as an evacuation center in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Oct. 5. (Pool)

WAJIMA, Ishikawa Prefecture--Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba promised his utmost to help victims of record rains after a visit to the Noto Peninsula, which is still reeling from a powerful earthquake on Jan. 1.

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition party, who separately visited the disaster area on Oct. 5, took the opportunity to criticize Ishiba for calling a Lower House election before providing the relief that is clearly needed.

Torrential rains on Sept. 21 left 14 people dead in the northern part of the Noto Peninsula, according to Ishikawa Prefecture and other sources.

A 31-year-old woman remains unaccounted for, and about 300 firefighters, police and Self-Defense Force members carried out a search on Oct. 5.

Prefectural authorities said 494 residents were still staying at 33 evacuation centers as of Oct. 5.

Ishiba visited the hard-hit cities of Wajima and Suzu in Ishikawa Prefecture on Oct. 5 for a firsthand look at the damage caused by the heavy rains and the earthquake.

He inspected a site where homes were washed away by rains, and another where flooding inundated temporary housing for earthquake victims, as well as the forlorn spot where the Wajima morning market, destroyed by a massive fire following the magnitude-7.6 temblor, once thrived.

Ishiba said the government plans to soon designate the rain damage as a “disaster of extreme severity.” This would make local government restoration projects eligible for a higher rate of central government subsidies.

“It is natural for the central government to provide maximum financial support,” he told reporters in Suzu.

In choosing the Noto Peninsula for his first visit after becoming prime minister on Oct. 1, Ishiba emphasized his commitment to disaster prevention.

“Two disasters occurred within a short period,” he said. “We want to provide the utmost support possible to those who are in the depths of despair.”

Ishiba also reiterated his hopes of creating a disaster management agency.

“As a Cabinet, we will make efforts to ensure that those truly in need receive the same support no matter where they are and whatever happens,” he said.

Noda, president of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, called on Ishiba to postpone the Lower House election expected on Oct. 27, saying local government officials in charge of election administration were scrambling to restore their municipalities from the rain damage.

“(Ishiba) should have understood whether (local governments) could make preparations for the election across the country if he had seen the situation on the ground,” he said.

Noda criticized the prime minister for postponing the compilation of a supplementary budget and pushing for early dissolution of the Lower House.

Ishiba has said the government plans to deal with the rain damage by tapping contingency funds, but Noda said a supplementary budget is indispensable.

“Many people are worried about what to do to get through the year,” he said. “It is important for victims whether they can have an outlook (for reconstruction).”

Noda said Ishiba should reconsider his plan to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election, saying, “It is never too late to mend.”

Sachiko Hashimoto, 50, moved into temporary housing in Wajima in May after her home was destroyed in the earthquake but it was flooded by the heavy rains.

Hashimoto, whose family runs a fishing business, told Ishiba about the current state of the fishing industry and her own life during his visit.

“My heart is broken,” said Hashimoto, whose parents’ home was also destroyed.

She later told The Asahi Shimbun: “I really do not have anywhere to rely on. I want a place where I can feel at peace as soon as possible.”

Chuji Maruyama, 69, in Suzu said: “A natural disaster cannot be helped. But in a country where technology has developed so much, roads are still not connected and water supply has not been restored.

“Are these the results of the maximum efforts that the government has put in? We feel miserable, wondering if Noto has been abandoned.”

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