Iitate mayor : "We must have the long-term support of the Japanese people"

March 6, 2013

Local mayor seeks long-term support to recover from Fukushima fallout

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130306p2a00m0na010000c.html

Norio Kanno, mayor of Iitate in Fukushima Prefecture, says his village is struggling to recover from the radioactive fallout caused by the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

The nuclear disaster triggered by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami was "a decisive blow to our agriculture industry," Kanno told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo on March 6.

But the mayor said he and residents are hopeful that decontamination work will accelerate to allow the village, about 40 kilometers northwest of the stricken nuclear plant, to pursue options such as building greenhouses to produce farm products safely and boosting its production of flowers.

"We are facing a very tough battle," Kanno said. "But we are determined to continue this battle because we cannot sit by and allow our wonderful hometown and our homeland to be contaminated and destroyed." He also said, "We must have the support of the government and we must have the long-term support of the Japanese people" in order to succeed in the struggle.

Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno meets the press during a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo on March 6. (Mainichi)

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All of the village's 6,000 residents were ordered to evacuate more than one month after the meltdowns at the nuclear power plant. They have not been allowed to stay overnight in the village to this day. About 500 people work indoors during the daytime and 300 people are involved in crime-prevention patrol duties, the mayor says.

Kanno is an advocate of a "Madei" (genuine hands) lifestyle in which people use both hands to engage in activities with great care. He derides Japan, the United States, Europe and China for placing too much emphasis on economic growth.

"Things are not quite right" in these countries which, in Kanno's view, are pursuing growth at all costs. "Perhaps the nuclear power plant accident can serve as a catalyst to get people thinking more about important issues," he said.

The mayor criticized Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, for refusing to realistically deal with compensation claims by Iitate landowners who have inherited land from their parents and grandparents without written records of ownership.

There is no crisis management policy in place at TEPCO, Kanno says, adding that the giant utility has "a very high-handed arrogant attitude" because it has this pride as a company and believes it is "basically supporting the very foundation of all economic activities in the greater Kanto region." (By Shiro Yoneyama, Staff Writer)