Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso, who leads one of the prefectures hardest hit by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, has expressed his eagerness to take advantage of new infrastructure and human bonds created after the disaster.
In an interview ahead of the 13th anniversary of the disaster, Tasso said that most of the planned "hard" reconstruction projects, including road construction, have been completed in his prefecture, and that the prefecture will continue to work on "soft" projects, such as giving support for people whose livelihoods were affected by the disaster and community reconstruction.
The governor called on the central government to continue necessary reconstruction projects while listening to people in the affected areas.
Currently, the region's economy is being hit by rising prices of oil and other materials and poor catches of fish such as salmon and saury, according to Tasso.
To address the fishery problem, the governor said the prefectural government will work with fishery operators and related organizations to restore resources, make effective use of fish whose stocks are increasing and introduce new fishery and aquaculture methods.
Tasso noted that the prefecture is working to build a new business model to increase the added value of Spanish mackerel, whose catches are increasing, and farmed sea urchins.
He added that the prefecture will also work to stimulate demand for abalone, whose prices are falling due to reputational damage from the release into the sea of tritium-containing treated water from the disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Meanwhile, the governor said that the prefecture will step up efforts to pass on the lessons of the March 2011 disaster through the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum in the tsunami-ravaged city of Rikuzentakata.