Japan Update: As of 18:00, 28/March, TOKYO

News Updates shared by Seki Satoko, Tokyo, Japan

Relief goods still not reaching isolated evacuees

OTSUCHI, Iwate — While relief goods have started pouring into major evacuation shelters in northeastern Japan battered by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, local residents taking shelter at their homes or small evacuation facilities are having a hard time securing basic necessities.

Shoji Ueno, 49, who used to work in the construction industry, has survived on some rice and dried plums left at home here in Otsuchi-cho, where gas stations and shops have been shut since the disaster. On March 20, he went to the neighboring city of Kamaishi and managed to get some preserved food — enough to eat for only three days. He now lives with his wife and three relatives including his brother, who lost his house in the tsunami. He has no income now because he lost his job. “I wish relief goods could be delivered not only to evacuation centers but also to those victims who are taking shelter at their homes,” he said.

Local governments have not been able to function normally to help out all evacuees as they have yet to come to grips fully with the real situation surrounding the survivors.

In the Hirata district of Kamaishi city, a 43-year-old woman who lives in a public apartment was receiving rice balls daily at an evacuation shelter nearby, but when electric power came back on, a local government official told her: “There will be no rice balls for you from tomorrow.” The local government’s argument was that she could use an electric rice cooker as electric power was restored. “There are elderly people who moved out of their apartments because there was nothing to eat. I wonder how long this situation will last,” she lamented.

Prefectural governments have been delivering relief goods pouring in from around the county to evacuation centers through municipal governments. The Iwate prefectural government says: “It is not that goods are in short supply. We have been distributing them catering to the needs of cities, towns and villages.” The Kamaishi city government says it has instructed its staff members and local leaders to distribute relief goods to all residents around the city. But city authorities are not sure if relief goods are being delivered the way they have instructed.

News Source: Daily Mainichi

Boat captain who saved man washed away by tsunami refused to give name

OFUNATO, Iwate — A man here was saved by the captain of a small boat after he was washed away by a tsunami triggered by the massive earthquake earlier this month, but the skipper left without giving his name.