Mami Mizutori, Managing Director of AAR Japan (Association for Aid and Relief, Japan), who served as a Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Head of UNDRR, visited the areas affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake. In addition to hearing directly from people living in the affected areas more than a year after the earthquake, she paid a courtesy call on the Mayor of Nanao City and the Mayor of Shika Town in Ishikawa Prefecture, and also exchanged opinions with organizations that are working with AAR in support activities.

“Last September, we had heavy rain damage, and bad things have been happening,” explained Mr. Yamafuji, a visually impaired person and a massage therapist, to Director Mizutori. Mr. Yamafuji used to work as a masseuse at a long-established inn in the Wakura hot spring resort area of Nanao City, but the inn was severely damaged by the earthquake and closed, and he lost his place of work.

He continues to work as a massage therapist at the request of guests of other inns operating in the hot spring resort area, and at the “Yawa Yawa Cafe”, a salon that AAR holds to promote interaction in the temporary housing complex.

Director Mizutori interviewed Mr. Yamafuji about the situation when the earthquake occurred, how he evacuated, and his subsequent evacuation life. Ms. Mizutori informed the participants that AAR is focusing on providing support to people with disabilities who are difficult to reach and will continue to do so in the future.

We also visited the Mayor of Nanao City and the Mayor of Shika Town and exchanged opinions on the local government’s reconstruction plan and the role of the government in disaster prevention. Director Mizutori told Mayor of Nanao that “If we can promote disaster prevention efforts that will make the so-called vulnerable groups, such as the persons with disabilities, foreigners, and the elderly, feel safe, it will be a safe environment for everyone,” and the Mayor said that he would like to try to pick up the voices of those who have difficulty in showing up in the open.

Ms. Mizutori mentioned her experience of seeing the lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami spread from Japan to the rest of the world when she served as a Head of UNDRR.

In addition, we also visited Yu no Oka, a welfare service center for the persons with disabilities that receives support from AAR, the Nanao International Association, which is working with AAR to support foreign disaster victims, and the Council of Social Welfare, which is collaborating with AAR to provide support at temporary housing complexes. We listened carefully to what they had to say from their respective standpoints and told them that we would take their requests and opinions and apply them to our future support.

AAR Executive Director Chiaki Furukawa and staff members of the domestic disaster team accompanied Director Mizutori on this inspection tour. We will continue to support the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake by taking into account the advice given by Ms. Mizutori, and we would like to ask for your continued support for AAR’s relief efforts.