Japan’s Kishida vows more funds to quake-hit zone as worry over diseases in evacuation centers rises

TOKYO — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he was “speechless” by the severity and immense destruction of the disaster zone he saw during the helicopter ride on his first visit to the country’s north-central region of Noto since the deadly Jan. 1 earthquakes, amid worries about spreading diseases in evacuation centers. Many have criticized Kishida’s government over what they called a slow disaster response although the cabinet has approved 4.7 billion yen for relief efforts and is backing the call for a secondary evacuation, including to facilities in the capital region. The prime minister, in his disaster-response uniform, also visited a junior high school that has turned into an evacuation center in Wajima where officials showed him the evacuees’ severe living conditions. Hase urged residents on Friday to temporarily relocate to the recommended facilities to rest better and “protect your lives.” Mototaka Inaba, a medical doctor who heads an international relief organization Peace Winds Japan, told an NHK talk show on Sunday that a secondary evacuation of elderly residents was critical from a medical perspective but should be done in a way that didn’t isolate them.