"Snoozing on Bare Floors, Men and Women Alike"... Japan's Earthquake Evacuation Shelters Highlight Disparities

In Japan, where a strong earthquake on June 28 left many displaced, the poor protection of privacy and disparities in support at evacuation shelters have come under fire.

According to the Fuji News Network (FNN) on August 7, the suffering of evacuees is compounding as shelter life becomes prolonged amid scorching heat and approaching typhoons.

Shelters in areas such as Uki, Kumamoto Prefecture, lack even partitions, leaving evacuees in a situation where they must sleep uncomfortably on bare floors or sofas.

While shelters set up at a junior high school in Hikawa featured cardboard beds and partitions, complaints continue to pour in that men and women live in the same classrooms and the low partitions make it difficult even to change clothes.

This contrasts with the prompt relief systems of major overseas countries.

Following the Hualien earthquake in April 2024, Taiwan equipped private tents and shower facilities within four hours of the disaster, and Italy has legislated that essential facilities must be established through national and local government coordination within 48 hours of a disaster.

Experts point out that Japan's Basic Act on Disaster Countermeasures, which delegates relief to local governments, causes disparities in support.

Yoshihiro Mizutani, head of the Japan Academic Society for Evacuation Shelters and Living, urged legislative reform, stating, "Because evacuation shelter environments are not standardized, the level of relief varies wildly, resulting in a 'luck of the draw' situation for shelters."

Meanwhile, the Japanese government designated the Kumamoto earthquake as a "severe disaster" (special disaster) not limited to specific regions during a cabinet meeting by written resolution on this day.

Accordingly, the government plans to raise the national subsidy rate for restoration projects on rivers, roads, and agricultural land by about 10% to ease the financial burden on local governments.

Because the designation of a severe disaster requires damage surveys and calculation work, it took about ten days from the earthquake on June 28 until the designation.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.