ID :
175505
Thu, 04/14/2011 - 18:59
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https://oananews.org//node/175505
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Emperor, empress make 1st visit to disaster-hit area
TOKYO, April 14 Kyodo - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Thursday visited Asahi, Chiba Prefecture, in their first trip to an area badly hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, to console local people.
After arriving in the city, the royal couple was briefed by Asahi Mayor Tadanao Akechi on the damage suffered before leaving for two shelters to offer their moral support to people, many of whom lost their houses.
The royal couple knelt down and offered words such as, ''Are you all right?'' and ''How is your health?'' directly to the evacuees residing at the shelters.
Masakazu Ono, a 36-year-old evacuee with Down's syndrome, presented to the imperial couple a memo that said, ''I will continue to strive through.'' The couple smiled and replied, ''That's admirable of you.'' His 74-year-old mother, Yoshiko, said, ''I'm filled with unspeakable gratitude.''
Daisuke Onoue, 75, whose house was destroyed by the tsunami, told the emperor that he escaped the tsunami by car. The emperor said, ''That was a dangerous situation.''
Asahi, located in the prefecture's northeastern coastal area, suffered 13 fatalities and two people are still listed as missing. Some 900 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged, while nearly 3,000 more sustained less serious damage.
In between visits to the shelters, the emperor and the empress also went to a settlement along the coast from where one person died and another is still missing. Facing what was left of the deceased man's house, the couple closed their eyes and bowed deeply.
''I have been encouraged to move on to get back to normal life,'' Akechi told reporters of the visit after seeing off the royal couple.
Prior to the day's meeting with the victims of the quake and tsunami, the emperor and empress have paid their respects in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture to evacuees from areas near the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
They are scheduled to visit other disaster-hit areas between next week and May, including Ibaraki Prefecture and the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
The worst disaster in Japan's postwar history has left 13,498 people dead and 14,734 others unaccounted for, according to figures released Thursday night by the National Police Agency.
Earlier Thursday in Fukushima, local police and firefighters found 10 bodies in their first intensive search within the 10-kilometer radius of the radiation-leaking power station.
The police said about 3,000 people engaged in the search operations, mostly at a point around 7 km from the plant, in protective gear while measuring radiation levels. Seven of the bodies were recovered but tangled debris made it impossible for searchers to carry the remaining three.
Searches inside the core of the evacuation area will continue for the coming days, according to the prefectural police department.
After arriving in the city, the royal couple was briefed by Asahi Mayor Tadanao Akechi on the damage suffered before leaving for two shelters to offer their moral support to people, many of whom lost their houses.
The royal couple knelt down and offered words such as, ''Are you all right?'' and ''How is your health?'' directly to the evacuees residing at the shelters.
Masakazu Ono, a 36-year-old evacuee with Down's syndrome, presented to the imperial couple a memo that said, ''I will continue to strive through.'' The couple smiled and replied, ''That's admirable of you.'' His 74-year-old mother, Yoshiko, said, ''I'm filled with unspeakable gratitude.''
Daisuke Onoue, 75, whose house was destroyed by the tsunami, told the emperor that he escaped the tsunami by car. The emperor said, ''That was a dangerous situation.''
Asahi, located in the prefecture's northeastern coastal area, suffered 13 fatalities and two people are still listed as missing. Some 900 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged, while nearly 3,000 more sustained less serious damage.
In between visits to the shelters, the emperor and the empress also went to a settlement along the coast from where one person died and another is still missing. Facing what was left of the deceased man's house, the couple closed their eyes and bowed deeply.
''I have been encouraged to move on to get back to normal life,'' Akechi told reporters of the visit after seeing off the royal couple.
Prior to the day's meeting with the victims of the quake and tsunami, the emperor and empress have paid their respects in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture to evacuees from areas near the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
They are scheduled to visit other disaster-hit areas between next week and May, including Ibaraki Prefecture and the three hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
The worst disaster in Japan's postwar history has left 13,498 people dead and 14,734 others unaccounted for, according to figures released Thursday night by the National Police Agency.
Earlier Thursday in Fukushima, local police and firefighters found 10 bodies in their first intensive search within the 10-kilometer radius of the radiation-leaking power station.
The police said about 3,000 people engaged in the search operations, mostly at a point around 7 km from the plant, in protective gear while measuring radiation levels. Seven of the bodies were recovered but tangled debris made it impossible for searchers to carry the remaining three.
Searches inside the core of the evacuation area will continue for the coming days, according to the prefectural police department.
