Japan yesterday marked the ninth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear meltdown, but the coronavirus outbreak forced public commemorations to be scaled back.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe canceled the annual public ceremony at the National Theater, attended by members of the royal family and people from the northeastern region hardest-hit by the 2011 tsunami, earthquake and nuclear accident.
The cancelation was extremely regrettable, but “it’s time to take every possible measure to prevent the spread of infections in our country,” said Abe at a small wreath-laying ceremony at his office in Tokyo.
Photo: Reuters / Kyoto
He offered condolences to those who lost loved ones and renewed his pledge to rebuild the disaster-hit region.
“We should not allow precious lessons from the disaster to fade away,” Abe added.
The country fell silent for a minute at 2:46pm, the exact time a magnitude 9 earthquake struck the seabed off Miyagi Prefecture on March 11, 2011.
Photo: AFP
Under light drizzle in Tokyo’s Hibiya Park, mourners gathered to pray silently in front of an altar strewn with cherry blossom — most wearing protective masks.
Naoya Matsuoka, a 32-year-old staff member at a financial company, said it was important to defy the coronavirus to pay respect to the 18,500 killed or missing.
“We are now facing all different issues [like the virus] and hear lots of noise about holding events, but the disaster is something we must not forget. So I am here,” he said.
The government has urged the public to cancel or postpone major gatherings or unnecessary outings to help contain the spread of the virus, which has infected 568 people and been linked to 12 deaths.
The call has resulted in the shutdown of schools and the cancelation or rescheduling of everything from music concerts to soccer matches, while graduation ceremonies, fashion shows and a sumo tournament have taken place behind closed doors.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga yesterday lauded the recovery efforts under way in the northeast of the nation, but acknowledged the challenges that remained in providing psychological care and other services to evacuees.
Despite the many signs of recovery in the region, some residents are still unable to live in the areas closest to the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. Radiation levels in such areas remain high, despite repeated decontamination efforts.
The final decommissioning of the crippled plant is expected to take four decades, but Abe’s government hopes to showcase reconstruction so far in the region at this year’s Olympics, with the torch relay starting from Fukushima and travelling across affected areas.
“I think the memory [of the disaster] is fading away,” said Masahiko Sano, a 47-year-old company owner, who joined the event at the park in Tokyo.
Additional reporting Reuters
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