At their annual conference held in Takamatsu on July 19 and 20, the governors of Japan's 47 prefectures adopted an interim report on their Japan Resuscitation Plan, which presents their view on Japan's overall direction in future economic development and ways to cope with expected massive disasters.
Gov. Keiji Yamada of Kyoto, head of the National Governors' Association, said that the governors play an important role in creating a hope for the nation and made clear their determination to face up squarely to a crisis and push Japan's resuscitation following the 3/11 disasters. His statement is encouraging. It is hoped that the governors will flesh out the report so that it will contain projects and proposals that are concrete and convincing enough to get support from the central government and the public.
The governors expressed a sense of crisis over the effects of the 3/11 disasters as well as the decline and graying of the Japanese population, and stressed the importance of developing a new vision for Japan and making Japan resilient to massive earthquakes expected to occur in the Nankai trough — a 900-km subduction zone located off the Pacific coast from the Tokai region to Shikoku — and close to Tokyo.