Worsening sanitary conditions and rising temperatures are now the most urgent problems facing thousands of Tohoku evacuees still living in shelters, reconstruction minister Tatsuo Hirano said Thursday.
"I want to seek cooperation between the central and local governments to support survivors by asking them to provide electric fans, insecticides and screen doors," said Hirano, who replaced his predecessor, Ryu Matsumoto, on July 6.
Hirano also said that in the long term, "The revival of fisheries, active use of forestry resources, tourism promotion and planning cities with good welfare services for the aging society" are crucial to restoring Tohoku's economy.