Half of evacuees have no means to support themselves

[AsahinaKimi]

About half of those who are staying at evacuation shelters after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami have been left with no means to support themselves, a Mainichi survey has revealed.

Around two-thirds of respondents said they have no place to stay if they leave makeshift shelters while it is difficult for nearly 60 percent of them to rebuild and repair their damaged homes.



The survey was conducted between April 5 and 9 on a total of 100 individuals sheltering at evacuation centers in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and other prefectures. Those polled had lost their homes in last month's Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami or left their hometowns in the wake of radiation leaks from the disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture.



The respondents included 40 evacuees in Iwate Prefecture, 30 in Miyagi Prefecture, 20 in Fukushima Prefecture and 10 others who have evacuated from areas near the damaged nuclear facility to refugee shelters outside the prefecture.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110414p2a00m0na016000c.html

[dkf]

1. Does this NYT article accurately describe things?

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/10/world/welfare-as-japan-knows-it-a-family-affair.html

Japan has a welfare system that in some ways makes even the new, dismantled American system seem a model of generosity. Applicants in Japan are obliged to get help first from their families, and a poor person physically able to work is not eligible for help -- whether or not the person actually has a job.

[Norrin Radd]

2. kr

[angstlessk]

3. Well DUH!..not only EVERYTHING THEY OWNED was destroyed...so were the companies they worked for

the town they lived in, and everything ON EARTH that a person depends upon to live....