Our partners and friends in UK and European local government continue to send messages of condolence and goodwill to staff following the tragic events which took place during the Great North East Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11. JLGC remains grateful and moved by the sentiments and sympathies of its counterparts in Europe and would like to reflect on the scale of the task now facing local government in Japan, which not only has to contend with rebuilding local communities from a standpoint of devastation but also deal with almost unimaginable losses which impact on all sections of society.
No more is this brought home than in the case of the Iwate town of Otsuchi, where the UK Guardian reports this week on the death of its mayor and the task facing residents in rebuilding a town having lost a substantial cadre of its local officials, those who would normally be central to these efforts. The valour of the town’s firefighters is also praised in the Mainichi, on account of their self-less efforts to ensure as many local residents as possible were out of reach from the tsunami waves. The Asahi Shimbun, meanwhile, profiles the resolve of its people and the feelings of communal solidarity which have emerged since the disaster hit.
The Asahi also poignantly reports on Yamada, again in Iwate, where the town hall has become a shrine to the recovered artifacts of local people, including many damaged family photo albums. The Mainichi meanwhile details the complexity of continuity of local service provision to Japan’s ageing population in the affected areas, with the need for cooperation between disaster-hit municipalities and willing local authorities capable of stepping in to assist. The Yomiuri also reports on how local governments in the disaster zones have turned to social networking sites such as Twitter in their efforts to communicate timely information to residents, especially as their main website servers crashed amid the quake.
In Miyagi Prefecture, local authorities are facing up to the necessary task of arranging burials, as the number of deceased prevents traditional cremation ceremonies. Detailing the less humanitarian but nonetheless essential practical tasks faced by local authorities in the affected areas, the Yomiuri covers the efforts by central government to direct municipalities regarding the scrapping of vehicles caught up in the effects of the tsunami which have amassed in some areas. In Fukishima, city employees are involved in arranging essential supplies for decimated communities, especially as commercial companies are refusing to enter the area for fear of radiation.
Finally, reminding us of the indomitable spirit of those affected by the quake so widely admired in the UK, the Asahi mentions the Miyagi town of Ishinomaki and its efforts to preserve local cultural assets to safeguard the revitalisation of the local economy following the recovery process.
