Japan 1 Year After the Tsunami

8/2/2019 Japan 1 Year After the Tsunami

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11th

March 2011: earthquake and tsunami: Japan one year after

Mdecins du monde Japan:

Doctors of the world first came to Japan for an intervention following the big Kobe earthquake in

1995. MdM Japan was created in 1995, shortly thereafter.

Because an advance emergency relief plan is indispensible, MdM Japan drafted a Disaster Action

Plan. The result of this work was that Japans official disaster prevention plan provided for a close

network between administration, fire departments, transport systems and medical care, therefore

eliminating the need for an NGO to provide additional relief activities. However, the seriousness of

the disaster in March 2011 forced us to change our plan.

Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear danger

On 11 March 2011 the Pacific coast of Japan was hit by the most powerful earthquake in Japans

history: a magnitude 9.0 (Mw) undersea mega thrust earthquake. From a global perspective it was

one of the five greatest earthquakes ever since record keeping began in 1900.

In the wake of the earthquake, tsunami waves up to 40.5 meters (133 ft) hit the coast in Iwate

prefecture causing many deaths, casualties and other victims. The Japanese National Police Agency

confirmed over 15,000 deaths with several thousand people injured or missing. The earthquake and

tsunami also caused vast structural damage: 125,000 buildings damaged or destroyed, 4.4 million

households affected by electricity blackouts and 1.5 million without water supply.

The earthquake was felt as far away as Tokyo and many people were unable to return to their homes

that day. Some of our team members lost their homes because the buildings they lived in had been

damaged or partly collapsed.

Pictures of streets, congested with people trying to get home by car at night were broadcast on TV.

Pictures of the northern towns being attacked by the tsunami were shown over and over. You saw

industrial complexes on fire; even after the tsunami a blazing fire in the darkness could now and then

be seen. The number of dead or missing people steadily mounted.

Immediately after the earthquake we received many, many emails, phone calls and letters of

encouragement from all over the world. Friends whom we were working with at relief projects and

partners who always supported our work sent words like DaijyoubuAre you ok?AnbareDont give

up!

It was the first time we had ever experienced such heart-warming sympathy and encouragement andwe were moved to tears. We now know how important it is to know that we were not alone. Thanks

to the people who supported us, we found the strength to do our best to help the people who are

now struggling in Northern Japan, as well as in the streets of Tokyo, and to create a new Japan, based

on solidarity.

The aftershock continued, and control of the reactor in the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was lost;

the stress level in Japan was at its peak. We felt strongly compelled to do something. Being Japanese,

we had to act. We needed to make the most of our mobility capacities, expertise and experience

(know-how). That's exactly how all of our team members and volunteers felt. So, we started to work

in coordination with other stakeholders to find out for which projects and where our help was

needed most.


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MdM Japan in action

One of the towns severely damaged was Otsuchi in Iwate. With an estimated population of 16,727 in

2003, about 10% of the towns total population was wiped out in the disaster. The higher-lying areas

of the town were also affected by the earthquake and the aftershocks but the harbour and lower

areas were literally razed to the ground. Nearly 9,000 people lost their homes and were seeking

shelter in the homes of family members and friends and 40 to 50 refuge centres.

This is where we started working, on 3 April.

The O on the house means that corpses were found. When they were removed an X was written.


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Looking at Otsuchis destroyed downtown

Temporary shelter


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Working with the people in Otsuchi

Psychiatrist in action


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Description of post-tsunami action

Tokyo Project, working with the homeless since 2010: after the earthquake, we immediately opened

the doors of our Tokyo Projectoffice to give the homeless someplace to go. As all shops were

immediately cleared of all easy-to-prepare food, MdM welcomed the homeless who were able to

cook and eat together. As usual, in such moments, the homeless are widely forgotten, even though

they too had lost members of their families. One of the homeless people in the Tokyo Project came

from a village near Otsuchi, where not a single house was left standing after the tsunami. The Tokyo

Project team made a point of keeping all activities going with the homeless, trying to offer some

comfort.

Shop in Tokyo a few days after the earthquake

3rd

April to July 2011

The team of eight members of the Doctors of the World, made up of two psychiatrists, two nurses, a

relaxation therapy expert specialising in emotional and psychological care, a project manager, a

logistician, and a medical coordinator had been visiting temporary shelters and private homes

beginning on 3

rd

April. An acupuncture team also added to handle a wide range of constantlychanging medical needs. Furthermore, from May to the end of July, MdM teams worked in secondary

schools with adolescents and the staff taking care of them. Three months after the disaster, all the

rubble was totally removed and it was possible to see the sea from downtown again. Temporary

prefab housing sprung up and some families left the evacuation centers to move into these new

houses. The hospital moved to another makeshift site on the mountainside. Everyone, going from

children to the elderly, those living in small and cramped shelters, as well as those in large and

anonymous ones or in the new prefab houses, all of them had endured immense emotional strain

and showed signs of instability as we could tell from their faltering voices.


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In July most stakeholders who had come to support the people in Otsuchi after the tsunami, stopped

their programmes. We at MdM Japan decided we could not simply stop our help and leave the

people alone.

Team meeting


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Outside the temporary shelter


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Collective relaxation exercises in a shelter. Photo Eric Rechsteiner- July 2011

August to December 2011

Beginning of July, Doctors of the World set up a Stress consultation room for medical treatments. Apsychiatrist, and a nurse kept regular consulting hours. Affected residents could visit the room when

they needed to meet mental care experts. Most volunteers (including police and self defense forces)

had left by the middle of August.

The MdM team also aimed at reaching the affected people who were unable to come to the room, so

they made home visits. Dr Suimei Morikawa, a volunteer psychiatrist at MdM, said that after moving

from shelter to temporary housing, people experienced heightened loneliness and their faces

became clouded with anxiety about their future since familiar surroundings, their relations and

friends simply weren't there anymore. We met many people wanting to commit suicide, filled as they

were with hopelessness about their future.


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Acupressure

December 2011 to today

In response to requests from residents who participated in an exercise programme during the first

three months, Doctors of the World launched its regular exercise programme on 23rd

December.

Today, this programme takes place twice a month for three days, and is conducted by three relaxation

experts. One psychiatrist and a one coordinator of MDM Japan said, We are not only aiming at the

physical and mental health of the individual residents, but we are also aiming at recovering a

community. KIZUNA means a bond of friendship between residents in the area. We will extend the

programme jointly with local collaborators.

Talking with the psychiatrist (February 2012)


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After the shelters, temporary housing (February 2012)


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Otsuchis centre in February 2012: wipedout, nothing left

IN FIGURES

Activities (03 April to 31 December 2011)

Days of Activity: 192 days

MdM Japan members involved: 188 people including 151 volunteers

959 consultations, including by phone; 253 prescriptions filled

Funds collected:

In 2011 (including pledged donations to be received in 2012) = 113 million yens (ca. 1 million euros)

Expenditures:

In 2011 = 26 million yens (ca. 244,000 euros)

Funds already committed for 2012 = 78 million yens (ca. 732,000 euros)

Acting today for the future

MdM Japan faces several challenges:


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- The Iwate Prefecture Mental Health and Welfare Centre, and the Kamaishi Health Centre,

which has been providing mental health care along with other prefectural and municipal

bodies, began to scale back their on-site activities. Doctors of the World has become

responsible for all the continuing outreach work.

- All the evacuation centres in Iwate Prefecture closed at the end of August. Even here in

Otsuchi, everyone has moved into temporary accommodations. Because of this, thedisastrous effects of the earthquake and tsunami are much less obvious, and as the victims

move into their new homes it has become increasingly difficult to reach them.

- We have a new challenge in Tohoku: the reconstruction of the local mental care system based

on the local community. We will continue to support activities in the affected areas. We want

keep up our work in properly assessing residents needs in order to be more effective.

Collective training session to overcome insomnia (February 2012)

- The hospital moved to another provisional site. Many medical professionals have left.

Doctors of the World opens two new programmes in January 2012.

The Fukushima So-So project:

Doctors of the World is supporting the new clinic focusing on psychiatric outreach in the Soma and

Minami-soma area (hence the So-So area) in Fukushima prefecture. Supporting a local NGO, we

help organise psychological care support, providing medical equipment and helping the

reconstruction of the local medical system. There hasn't been any psychiatric service and support

after the effects of the earthquake and nuclear accident after 11 March in the So-So area. Most of the

psychiatric clinics have been closed. The clinic will become a regional hub of psychiatric support. This


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project has been developed in cooperation with the Non Profit Organisations Committee to create a

totally new mental health care system. The anticipated annual number of beneficiaries of this

program is 1,200.

Medical system recovery project in Iwate

By the request from the Medical Department of Iwate Prefecture, Doctors of the World is supportingthe construction of a building for scanners rooms in the temporary hospital in Otsuchi and Yamada in

Iwate Prefecture from February 2012. The anticipated annual number of beneficiaries of this program

is 2,000.

ConclusionWe have decided to continue our support to Tohoku at least until the end of 2012 despite the fact thatother non-profit organisations have reduced their support. We will not abandon this area as long as somany people need our support, We will go on providing mental healthcare, medical equipment, and wewill keep on helping reconstruct the health system in the region.

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TohokuNortheastern region of HonshuNicocoroname of the MdM Japan program in Tohoku areaOtsuchi a city in Iwate prefecture, in Tohoku region

Documents

Japan 1 Year After the Tsunami