A little more than 1½ years since the 3/11 disasters devastated the Pacific side of the Tohoku region, more than 340,000 people are still living away from their homes and reconstruction is not making progress as smoothly as disaster sufferers and the local governments concerned had hoped.
It is imperative that the central government listen carefully to the voices of local residents and governments so that sufferers' lives return to normal and local industries revive as soon as possible.
According to the National Police Agency, as of Sept. 11, 1½ years after 3/11, 15,870 people had died and 2,814 others were unaccounted for as a result of the disasters. If the 1,632 deaths that occurred during or after evacuation are added, the number of victims rises to more than 20,000.