Key Points
- Journalist Jun Hori returns to Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, to document the slow pace of recovery one month after the Noto Peninsula earthquake.
- Local residents express deep emotional distress over national media outlets labeling their community a “dead town” or “ghost town.”
- The report highlights a critical lack of basic infrastructure, with many households still without running water and debris removal efforts stalled.
- The footage emphasizes the disconnect between official government reports of progress and the lived reality of survivors in isolated areas.
- 8bitNews calls for a shift in perspective, focusing on the resilience and dignity of those remaining in the disaster zone.
Full Transcript (English)
Host (Jun Hori): It has been one month since the Noto Peninsula earthquake. I have returned to Suzu City in Ishikawa Prefecture. Looking around, the scenery remains almost exactly as it was immediately after the disaster. The rubble is still piled high, and many homes remain collapsed, blocking the narrow side streets. The recovery process feels as though it has come to a standstill.
Host: I’ve been walking through the neighborhoods today, and I’ve noticed a growing sense of frustration among the people here. It’s not just about the physical destruction, but about how they are being perceived by the rest of the country.
Resident (Elderly Man): The water is the biggest problem. We still don’t have it. Every day, we have to carry heavy containers from the water trucks. It’s exhausting. They keep saying on the news that things are improving, but in this corner of Suzu, nothing has changed. We feel forgotten.
Resident (Woman): What really hurts is seeing the television reports calling this a ‘dead town’ or a ‘ghost town.’ I want to tell them: we are still here. We are eating, we are sleeping, and we are working hard to clean up our lives. We are alive. Please don’t talk about our home as if it’s already a graveyard.
Host: Her words are powerful. To call this a ‘dead town’ is a blow to the dignity of those who are fighting every day to survive and rebuild. While the infrastructure is severely damaged, the community spirit is very much alive. However, the ‘public assistance’—the government support—seems to have reached its limit. The scale of this disaster is clearly beyond what the local municipality can handle.
Host: As we look at these streets, we must ask: where is the robust national response? We need to move beyond just ‘observing’ the disaster and start providing the specific, localized help these people need to reclaim their lives. This is Jun Hori for 8bitNews, reporting from Suzu City.
