人間優先：忘れられた被災者たち-犬猫ペット
Monday, March 28, 2011
Pets also suffering from disaster
FUKUSHIMA (AP) Their fur caked with mud, pet dogs trot forlornly in rubble-filled streets along the devastated coastline, foraging for scraps and searching for owners.
A dog's life: Luna, a beagle, is tied to a tree near her makeshift house at an evacuee center in Fukushima on Thursday. AP PHOTO
Luna, a 6-year-old beagle mix, is tied to a tree, barking for attention or sleeping in a cardboard box on a dirty cushion, two bowls of frozen water before her.
Still, she is one of the lucky ones. She has food. Passersby pet and comfort her. She gets walked twice a day. And her 55-year-old owner is alive — he just cannot take her into the shelter he is staying at because of a no-pets rule.
Many other dogs and cats have been forced to fend for themselves since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which obliterated homes and killed more than 10,000 people.
"This is a big calamity for pets, along with people," said Sugano Hoso of the Japan branch of the U.S.-based United Kennel Club. "Many are on their own, and many more are trapped in evacuated areas where people have left."
The biggest concerns are reuniting them with their owners and getting them food, medical treatment and shelter, she said. Her group is distributing food and other supplies where it can.
Also, thousands of pets have been left behind in the evacuation zones around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was wrecked by the quake and tsunami and remains a radioactive hazard. These abandoned animals are likely to face health issues.
Faced with life-or-death predicaments, many pet owners did not have the presence of mind, the ability or perhaps the desire to see to the safety of their pets.
"We have requested that the government allow us into those zones to rescue dogs, but the government isn't listening to us," Hoso said.
Luna came from an evacuated area, but her family had time to pack their things and hers before escaping.
"When we were told to evacuate, one of the first things we did was make sure we had Luna and enough food to keep her going for a few days," said Masami Endo, a 55-year-old grocer.
Endo lives in the town of Minamisoma, only 25 km from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Residents have been ordered either to voluntarily evacuate or remain indoors because of the radiation risk.
Endo decided to come to the main shelter in the city of Fukushima — a gymnasium where about 1,400 people have taken refuge — about a week ago.
Tamae Morino brought her Persian-mix cat, Lady, to the shelter, although the pet stays outside.
The earthquake and tsunami, along with the sudden change of environment, have left Lady scared and agitated.
"She got sick, and is still very nervous," Morino said. "She is an important part of our family. But they don't allow pets into the shelter, so she has to sleep alone in the car. She seems very lonely. We are happy to have her with us, though. So many cats just vanished."
Ryo Taira's pet shop and animal shelter in Arahama, near Sendai, is caring for 80 dogs and cats whose owners are unable to take them into tsunami shelters.
"Evacuees are under a stressful situation, working on reconstruction and searching for missing family members," Taira said. "I think they cannot really have much energy to pay attention to their pets. So we want to do what we can to help reduce their stress."
米軍による震災復興へ手助け 日米軍事関係良好なるか？
Monday, March 28, 2011
Disaster aid puts new face on U.S. military
SENDAI (AP) Just one year after tensions over U.S. military bases in Japan forced out Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, a relief mission mounted by American soldiers after the earthquake and devastating tsunami is showing a new and welcome face for troops the Japanese have hosted — sometimes grudgingly — for decades.
Helping hands: Marine Alex Lay (front) leads a team of U.S. servicemen unloading hardware to install hot showers at a makeshift shelter for evacuees in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday. AP PHOTO
Roughly 20,000 U.S. troops have been mobilized in "Operation Tomodachi," or "friend." It is the biggest bilateral humanitarian mission the U.S. has ever conducted in Japan, its most important ally in Asia, and it is ramping up fast.
As logistics gradually improve, U.S. troops have been moving farther into hard-hit zones and providing tons of relief supplies and badly needed manpower to help the hundreds of thousands of Japanese whose lives were shattered in the March 11 disaster.
In a part of Japan that hosts few U.S. bases, the Americans in uniform are a high-profile presence.
"To be honest, I didn't think much about the U.S. troops until now," said Arika Ota, 29, who works at an amusement center in the coastal city of Sendai. "But when I see them working at the airport every day, I'm really thankful. They are working really hard. I never imagined they could help us so much."
The Sendai Airport cleanup is one of the troops' most visible — and successful — operations so far.
Now, the runways are clear enough to handle large cargo planes, the tossed-about cars have been placed in rows and the second floor houses a command center.
Capt. Robert Gerbract, who is in charge of the U.S. Marines' cleanup operations, said that when he arrived last week he felt like he had stepped back in time.
"It looked like if you had left an airport alone for 1,000 years. It was like an archaeological site. It was hard to figure out where to begin," Gerbract, an Iraq veteran from Wantaugh, N.Y., said as he looked out at the runway from the marines' makeshift command center in the departure lounge.
For marines like Gerbract, it is a satisfying assignment.
"I'd much rather be carrying relief food packages than a rifle, to be honest," he said.
The marines are just one facet of the U.S. operation.
• Within days of the tsunami, the USS Ronald Reagan was stationed about 160 km off Japan's northeastern shore. It had to reposition itself due to radiation from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear facility but is now sending sorties to hard-hit towns. The U.S. Navy has 19 ships, 140 aircraft and 18,282 personnel assigned to assist in the operation. It is sending barges filled with fresh water to help cool the seawater-soaked reactor site.
• The air force has opened its bases for relief flights. Its transport planes have flown dozens of missions and its fighters have flown over the devastation in search of survivors. Two of its aircraft have helped Japanese officials monitor the nuclear plant.
• Nearly 500 soldiers with the U.S. Army in Japan, which has fewer troops in the country than the other branches, have delivered blankets and other supplies and are conducting support and refueling for military helicopter operations.
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The U.S. forces stress that they are not taking a lead role. That is being done by Japan itself, which has mobilized more of its troops than at anytime since World War II.
"What we're doing is coordination with the Japanese army (Ground Self-Defense Force)," said gunnery Sgt. Leo Salinas, of Dallas. "Every mission we do is a bilateral mission. They are all Japanese-led and under Japanese initiative. These guys are our allies and, more than that, they are our friends. Whatever they want us to do, we will do."
The Japanese public has usually been pro-America and generally sees the military presence as a benefit.
But the relationship is complicated by a strong pacifist undercurrent in public opinion borne from World War II. Japan's own military is strictly limited to national self-defense and many Japanese feel the U.S. presence could make their country a target or draw Japan into a conflict involving American troops over Taiwan or other flash points.
Even at the shelters where crucial U.S. help is arriving, some Japanese expressed mixed feelings about the troops.
"I feel thankful that they are helping us," Yoko Hiraoka, 40, said as a convoy of U.S. Marines arrived at her evacuation center in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday. The marines set up showers, which the evacuees had lacked for two weeks.
"But I still have reservations about having U.S. troops in Japan," Hiraoka said. "I'm happy today, and I appreciate their help, but it doesn't fundamentally change the way I feel."
About 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed throughout Japan under a mutual security treaty signed in the 1960s. Tokyo strongly supports the alliance, because it saves Japan money on defense and serves as a powerful deterrent in the region, particularly as China's military strength and economic clout rise.
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But opposition to the bases is high in Okinawa, a strategically important outpost that hosts more U.S. troops than any other part of Japan.
That concentration of forces — including the marines who make up the bulk of the on-the-ground assistance in the disaster-hit area — is an endemic source of friction with local residents, who complain of noise, overcrowding, the danger of accidents and base-related crime.
Tensions between the marines and Okinawans boiled over in 1995, when two marines and a sailor raped a local schoolgirl. The outrage from that attack led to an agreement that the U.S. military would reduce its presence in Okinawa.
Both sides agreed to close down Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, an airfield in the middle of a heavily populated area that has long symbolized the military burden for Okinawans.
But after more than a decade, the base remains open. Washington wants to replace Futenma with another facility on Okinawa before relocating 8,500 marines to the U.S. territory of Guam, as it has agreed to do by 2014. But year after year, the Okinawans strongly oppose the construction of any new facilities.
Unable to make any headway in the dispute, Hatoyama was forced to resign last year.
Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said he believes the disaster relief mission will help build good will, but does not expect it to have much impact in Okinawa.
"The good will of the Japanese to the Americans . . . even to the American presence in Okinawa, has not really been a problem of the mainland," he said.
"The problem remains Okinawa. The Okinawans will be saying, 'Of course it's good what the Americans did, but why do the bases have to be in Okinawa?' "
3-3End
東日本大震災救援のため
政府が認めた最初の外国人医療グループがイスラエルから到着。
Monday, March 28, 2011
First foreign doctors arrive to help victims
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer
For the first time since the deadly earthquake and tsunami hit northeast Japan, the government on Sunday permitted a foreign medical team to enter the country to treat victims.
Although it is technically illegal for holders of foreign medical licenses to treat patients in Japan, the health ministry issued a notice lifting that restriction, limited to the disaster areas, three days after the quake.
A team of 53 medical aid workers from Israel, including 14 doctors, seven nurses and the interpreters, arrived at Narita airport Sunday evening to go to Minamisanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, where they plan to set up a field clinic and assist local doctors in the initial examination of disaster victims.
According to a Foreign Ministry official, it's much harder to accept groups of doctors than search and rescue teams because the former require more coordination between governments and local municipalities. The doctors must be self-reliant, and qualified interpreters must be on hand to help the doctors and patients communicate with each other.
Although details were unavailable, the government is considering accepting more foreign medics.
"Locals will be very surprised if a foreign medical team arrived out of the blue," an official said. "It is the same when a Japanese medical team goes abroad — there needs to be thorough coordination with the government, matching the needs of the people and the offers from abroad."
Luckily, the Israeli medical team is a perfect match for Minamisanriku.
The Foreign Ministry's Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau said that Israel had offered medical services early on and Isamu Sato, the mayor of Kurihara, which is next to Minamisanriku, specifically asked for their help.
According to an official, the city has direct connections with Israel, including having received donations when the last relatively big earthquake struck the region in 2008.
"We had just received word from Kurihara around the same time Israel offered medical services and we succeeded in creating a match," the official said. "It wasn't like we had left the issue unattended. We had been working closely with Israeli and Kurihara authorities trying to find a way to (send the medical team) without burdening the local government."
The health ministry sent out a notice to local governments in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures March 14 saying that the "minimum necessary" medical procedures may be taken by foreign doctors given the emergency situation.
The last time such a notice was given was in 1995 after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which claimed over 6,000 lives.
