Building more bridges between Korea and Japan

Oh Youg-hwan
The author is the Korean General Consul in Niigata, Japan.

April 9th was the 100th day since an earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula of Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day. The 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed 244 people and damaged more than 75,000 homes. Fire spread in Asaichi, Wajima, and about 240 shops were destroyed. Twenty-two inns, including the Wakura Hot Spring in Nanao City, a tourist hub of the peninsula, were also closed. When I looked around early last month, I found some buildings tilted with cracked walls.

The earthquake left deep scars. More than 8,000 people are still evacuated, and some 7,000 out of 110,000 households whose water was shut down are still suffering. The situation is quite different from the earthquake in the Kumamoto Prefecture, where water supply was cut off for 440,000 households but restored completely after three months.

The earthquake showed the destructive power of large-scale natural disasters in the small region with a dwindling population of mostly seniors. Among the 129 deaths of residents whose identity was confirmed as of Jan. 30, 97 percent were seniors over 65.

The deterioration of infrastructure in these areas is also serious. The damage per kilometer (0.62 miles) of water pipes in Noto and Wajima goes deeper than that seen during the Tohoku Earthquake. The rate of houses withstanding the earthquake was 51 percent in Suzu City and 45 percent in Wajima, only half of the national average of 87 percent. The discrepancy is related to the declining population and tax revenue as well as low numbers of new homes and renovations. The autonomous governments within these small localities are suffering. By 2050, the populations of 11 prefectures, including Akita and Aomori, will report a 30 percent decline from 2020 while more than 40 percent of the local governments will have fewer than 10,000 people.

Still, the earthquake-affected areas have hope. Twenty-nine shops in Asaichi, Wajima opened an “away market” at the Kanaiwa Port of Kanazawa on March 23. More than 13,000 people, including regulars, visited on the rainy day. It is only a matter of time before the big three morning markets is revived. And such markets are just the beginning, regardless of time and place. In Wakura Hot Spring, public baths reopened — a ray of light since inns are still closed. The Noto Railway, connecting Nanao City and Anamizu Town, resumed full service on April 6.

Ishikawa Prefecture, in the interim, announced the “Creative Revival Plan,” a nine-year proposal to redesign the region in line with population decline and increase the attractiveness of Noto, rather than simply restore it.

Right after the earthquake, President Yoon Suk Yeol sent a message of sympathy and provided $3 million humanitarian aid. In February, Korea’s Embassy in Japan partnered with the Korean Consulate General in Junigata and the Ishikawa Headquarters of the Korean Residents Union in Japan to provide food and necessities to the evacuated residents of Nanao City. This summer, high school students from Ishikawa Prefecture will be invited to Korea, and a cultural performance will take place there in November. Korea’s efforts to support the residents of the earthquake-stricken region will continue.

Next year is the 60th anniversary of the normalization of relations between Korea and Japan. I hope this will make regional exchanges and cooperation between the two countries blossom. Although there are differences in degree, both Korea and Japan are experiencing a decline in population and a crisis of regions. Expanding mutual visits through multilayered exchange and strengthening cooperation, as well as tourism and school trips will help rebuild small areas of both countries.

In the age of the globalization, small regions are the main players, and local alliances and grassroot exchanges promote national relations. The more bridges between Korea and Japan, the better.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.