More than seven months have already passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster. Industrial production in the affected areas has bounced back to pre-disaster levels, but the recovery of agriculture and fishery is lagging and nearly 70,000 people remain in evacuation facilities. On top of that, it will take more time to place the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant's reactors into a state of "cold shutdown," the processing of compensation payments for nuclear-related damages is proceeding at a slow pace, and it will be some time before the investigation into the cause of the nuclear crisis is concluded.
The government's response to the 3/11 disasters is slow perhaps because of the politically complicated time-consuming talks taking place between the ruling and opposition parties.
The 3/11 disasters have highlighted the vital importance of well-prepared policy measures to ensure sound crisis management. Questions have risen as to whether the experiences of dealing with large disasters in the past have been well utilized, whether the government took appropriate and adequate steps in the wake of the disasters and whether sufficient information has been provided to all concerned parties.