Yamaguchi: Restoring hope remains priority for quake victims

March 11 , 2014

New Komeito Chief Representative Natsuo YamaguchiNew Komeito Chief Representative Natsuo Yamaguchi

March 11, 2014: Natsuo Yamaguchi, chief representative of New Komeito, issued a statement regarding the Great East Japan Earthquake and his party’s commitment to fully restore the devastated communities in the Tohoku region. The calamity, which occurred on March 11, 2011, claimed the lives of more than 16,000 people, with thousands still missing, and destroyed an estimated $235 billion worth of property and possessions.

Yamaguchi said some parliamentarians see the process of recovery and restoration as being well underway, with the government having poured money and manpower into the rebuilding of homes and infrastructure of stricken towns and cities. He, however, did not share this view.

The goal of New Komeito, Yamaguchi declared, was nothing short of the full restoration of hope for the people of not only Tohoku but for all Japanese in this national tragedy. “Three years after the disaster, I will always remember [its victims],” he wrote. “I continue to embrace their suffering as my own and pledge to dedicate my entire being to expedite the reconstruction effort.”