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Monday, May 16, 2011
Before It Can Rebuild, Japanese Town Must Survive
hopefully this post doesn't post with extremely huge font like the last one for some reason hahah sorry. this post is on the topic that a lot of japanese coastal towns are fearing or currently facing. i had never even given this topic a thought before reading this article. clearly, the removal of debris and rubble from japan's devastated towns will take quite a lengthy period of time, but otsuchi, japan, faces a problem so tragic, but not unique in japan's coastal areas. otsuchi is in the clean-up phase, but they have encountered a problem. not only do former residents not want to continue to live there and build new houses simply because of the travesty that has scarred their memories there, but also, otsuchi will soon enough no longer any younger to middle-aged citizens. i never even realized this, but in the affected Japanese towns, there are currently no jobs, obviously..that leads to the clear lack of opportunities for younger citizens, and soon towns will have no middle aged people, because they simply cannot afford to continue life where there is no money..this may lead to the disappearance of literally whole towns. how tragic. not only that, but the elderly that stick behind are not capable of a hard, long restoration, especially while still fearing aftershocks and more tsunamis. although plans to save the city of otsuchi are flowing in from Tokyo, nothing has stuck yet. while talk of creating huge platforms to move otsuchi may have been practical talk in the past, japan may no longer be able to engage in construction endeavors like that. otsuchi's mayor was killed by the tsunami, as were 30 other officials, and the town hall they work at was crippled as well. although the city's vice mayor was one of few survivors, and has stepped up to lead the remaining citizens, the small port city was so close to the epicenter of the destruction that all forms of economy were washed away, and the city cannot survive on it's main staple, fishing. in otsuchi, a dozen or so bodies are still pulled from the wreckage every day. what do you suggest the town do? how would you react in this situation? share you thoughts.
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The obvious, but not necessarily best, solution to this problem would be relocation. However, relocating to a relatively unharmed area of Japan may not be advisable since Japan can't expand its borders (since it's an island) and overcrowding may be a big issue. Rebuilding the many demolished towns and cities will take a lot of time and effort, so staying around might not be the most logical thing to do. Sadly, many Japanese citizens may have to move inland in other countries or immigrate far away from their home country.
I as well have not thought about this aspect of the tsunami, but I still wish all of the Japan a swift and constructive recovery.
I believe that companies should be the first ones to establish themselves in the towns that were destroyed and being rebuilt. This would set a foundation of opportunities for people to go into these towns. The Japanese government could give incentives, such as money, for companies to build shops and factories in these towns. This would encourage citizens to go back to these towns. As for the fear of future tsunamis, better levies could be built, but there isn't really a solution that can completely prevent tsunamis from occurring. Perhaps better evacuations procedures or methods to get the citizens in these towns out faster could be developed. I believe it's just going to take time, but people will eventually return to these towns.
This is quite stark... It's hard to imagine that this is happening to one of the world's most powerful and economically influential countries.
Japan is well educated as a nation, and hopefully this will allow some victims to turn human capital into monetary capital. Even so, I think that this event will be a scar in the minds of many, if not all Japanese people for centuries to come. It may make the most sense for the town to be relocated, but I certainly hope that the Japanese government is preventing people from flooding other cities that were not affected.
The earthquake, tsunami, and ensuing calamities in Japan are terrible and catastrophic tragedies in the truest sense. Because the magnitude of the problem is so great, it will require a number of very complex and concerted initiatives to properly address. Although relocation seems like the fastest and simplest solution, an initiative like that can't really be applied at a large scale. As such, the only real way to rebuild these communities is to encourage the members of these communities to stay behind and help rebuild them with governmental subsidies and funds from charities. Running away from the problem is never the solution, and it certainly isn't the solution to a problem as grave as this one.
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