Post-evacuation death toll higher than that of tsunami

December 17, 2013

Fukushima nuclear evacuation-related deaths surpass prefecture's quake, tsunami toll

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The number of Fukushima Prefecture residents who have died in connection with prolonged evacuation from areas hit by the prefecture's nuclear disaster stood at 1,605 as of Nov. 30, topping the 1,603 deaths in the prefecture caused directly by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, prefectural government data has shown.

The figure far exceeds the 919 indirect deaths from the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. As officials are still collating data, the number is expected to rise further, bringing the harsh circumstances faced by nuclear disaster evacuees into sharp focus.

In Miyagi Prefecture, 878 indirect deaths from the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami had been reported as of the end of November, compared with 428 in Iwate Prefecture. In Fukushima Prefecture, the corresponding figure stood at 761 as of March 2012, and topped 1,000 in August the same year, and 1,500 in August this year.

The deaths include people who were unable to receive appropriate medical care in the confusion after the disaster, causing their health to deteriorate or resulting in them developing new illnesses, as well as people who became mentally unwell and committed suicide.

There are no clear standards for defining disaster-related deaths, which are connected with evacuation -- unprecedented for Fukushima Prefecture residents in terms of distance from their homes, length of evacuation, and the sheer number of evacuated areas.

An official from the Tomioka town government in the prefecture indicated that defining such deaths was becoming harder the longer the situation continued.

"We're seeing more and more diversification, and it's getting more complicated," the official said.

Each case is traced closely from the time the person evacuated to the time of their death, and in some cases, it takes some time for their deaths to be recognized as disaster-related fatalities. Meanwhile, new applications for recognition continue to appear.

Kunihiro Fukutome, a researcher at Tohoku Institute of Technology, commented, "In Fukushima Prefecture, where evacuation is drawn out, damage from the disaster is on a different scale from what we've seen in the past. The causes of death are believed to be widespread, and it's not simply a case of being able to save people's lives by preventing specific illnesses or injuries. It's necessary to improve people's current living environment."

Fukushima resident laments mother's death as life as nuclear evacuee goes on

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MINAMISOMA, Fukushima -- In April last year Kimio Moroboshi, an evacuee from the Fukushima Prefecture city of Minamisoma who was forced from his home due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, lost his 86-year-old mother Kiyo.

Moroboshi had operated a textile factory together with his mother, and her death, which came after a lonely time caring for her, left him empty. In April this year he applied to local authorities to have her death recognized as being related to the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, and his claim was accepted in September.

The nuclear disaster took away everything that Moroboshi had. Each morning at 7:30 a.m., Moroboshi's mother would start up the machinery at the small factory facing their home. However, evacuation orders issued following the outbreak of the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant meant they had to abandon their home and factory. They stayed with relatives in the city of Soma, about 16 kilometers away, for roughly two weeks. Moroboshi then moved to other locations in Aomori and Fukushima prefectures, with his mother silently following him.

In November 2011, they moved into a temporary housing unit in Minamisoma, where Kiyo lost movement in her arms and legs. Her lips remained pursed, and she didn't respond when called. She couldn't even sit without Moroboshi holding her. In the turmoil after disasters, the municipal government was unable to spare any care workers, so Moroboshi continued to look after his mother himself.

At the end of March 2012, Kiyo collapsed. Moroboshi wanted her hospitalized, but medical workers turned her away, citing staff shortages. Later, she started coughing, and during the course of her visits to the hospital, it emerged that she had contracted pneumonia and it was too late to save her. She died on April 6 that year.

The last words Moroboshi can remember his mother saying are "Isn't the meal ready yet?" back at the end of 2011. He was tired at the time and the question irritated him, but now those words bring back memories.

"She should have asked me to do more, even if it was impossible. But I wasn't able to grant any of her wishes," Moroboshi laments.

After Moroboshi's mother died, the hypertension that he had developed while living as an evacuee got worse. He was kept busy seeking treatment and compensation from TEPCO, and it was not until April this year that he sought to have his mother's death recognized as being related to the disasters. The Minamisoma Municipal Government asked for follow-up information, including a detailed account of his mother's activities. Using memos, he dug up memories from the past year, and in September this year, he received the recognition he had been seeking.

He remains filled with regrets. If only his mother had been receiving care ... if only she could have been hospitalized ... Yet he doesn't harbor resentment against the city or the hospital.

"Everyone was hit by the disasters and desperate," he says. But he adds, "If only the nuclear disaster hadn't occurred, none of this would have happened."

December 17, 2013(Mainichi Japan)