Ever since the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, Japan's top priority has been the acceleration of its “revitalization process”.
The Road so Far
Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami, 470,000 people were evacuated. Public or temporary housing has been made available to all of the 320,000 people displaced. Political initiatives for building disaster-resilient towns are also in progress, including the collective relocation of residential areas to safe places such as higher ground, in 276 districts in 26 municipalities, and the readjustment and leveling of land for residential areas in 58 districts in 19 municipalities.
Vital infrastructures such as major roads and rail networks were quickly restored. Essential public services were also quickly re-established. This includes 165 of 184 (90%) hospitals affected and 1,801 of 2,325 (77%) schools.
The gap in industrial production between the affected areas and the rest of Japan has been narrowing. Businesses, including automobile companies, are now back on their feet and are set to return to their previous globally competitive status. A number of international companies have already made new investments in the affected areas in sectors such as renewable energy, ICT and logistics. Tourist numbers have also bounced back. Tourist visits increased from 6.22 million in 2011 to 8.37 million in 2012. Visits from Filipino tourists also increased from 52,019 in 2011 (Jan-Oct) to 70,956 in 2012 (Jan-Oct). Japan welcomes visiting tourists from different countries all over the world.
Japan expresses its heartfelt gratitude for the continued support and friendship of its international partners. Japan is committed to sharing knowledge and lessons learned from the earthquake and the recovery process with the international community. To this end, in 2012, Japan organized three conferences: “World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku” (July), “Sendai Dialogue” (October), and “Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety” (December). A delegation from the Philippines was present at the “World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku” and “Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety”.
The Road Ahead
The government policies focus on three main pillars for enacting meaningful change.
Three Pillars
- Economic Revival: For Japan, the most urgent issue is revitalizing the nation's economy to ensure stability and future prosperity.
More than 10 trillion yen (USD $106 billion approximately) will be set aside to stimulate the economy through job creation, enhanc ing innovation, reconstruction efforts, strengthening domestic demand and creating global opportunities.
- Reconstruction: Japan will accelerate the reconstruction of disaster-affected areas and make concerted efforts to create a newly revitalized Tohoku Region.
The budgetary framework for reconstruction has been expanded from 19 trillion yen to 25 trillion for FY2011-2015 (USD $202 billion to approx. USD $266 billion). As a result, further funding for the reconstruction has been secured in the FY2012 supplementary budget and the FY2013 budget.
- Crisis Management: In an effort to ensure readiness for any future cris e s or disaster s , Japan plan s to prioritize strengthening infrastructure and public facilities throughout the country.
Japan is making a major investment of 2.2 trillion yen (USD $23.4 billion dollars approx.) to restore and fortify social infrastructures such as schools, highways and bridges.
Restoring damaged houses, supporting those affected by the nuclear incident, and industrial restructuring in Fukushima will be accelerated significantly. New methods and advanced technologies will be incorporated in the reconstruction initiatives. This will ensure the sustainability and energy efficiency that will greatly benefit the community and future generations. Japan seeks to leverage the reconstruction process to reaffirm the economic potential of the Tohoku region as part of Japan's wider revitalization. Reconstruction in the disaster areas will spur economic revitalization throughout Japan. We will continue to expedite the progress in reconstruction while co-operating with international partners. We welcome foreign investment into Japan, in particular disaster-affected areas.
Also, Japan will continue to contribute actively to addressing global challenges and hopes to return the favor through its ongoing commitment to development aid programs, human rights and human security. In June 2013, Japan will hold the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), a summit meeting held every 5 years, which Japan launched with African partner countries 20 years ago. In 2015, Japan will also host the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and make efforts to deliver an effective post-Hyogo Framework for Action.
Japan faces a number of challenges and is proactively addressing immediate issues such as post-earthquake reconstruction, economic revitalization, and disaster prevention, as well as long term challenges such as demographic change, the transition to a ‘green' economy, and promotion of high-level economic partnerships with countries of strategic importance to Japan. It seeks to be a leading country in meeting these global challenges.
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