Summary of Activities by the Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area One Year Later and Proposed Disaster Prevention Measures

Kiyoharu Shiraishi
Representative, JDF Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area

1. Report on Activities by the Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area

(1) March 11, 2011 - on the third floor of the Koriyama City General Welfare Center when the earthquake hit

I was doing qigong with some friends on the third floor of the Koriyama City General Welfare Center when the Great East Japan Earthquake hit. As soon as my mobile phone's alarm went off, the ground started shaking violently. The shaking grew gradually stronger and probably lasted about five minutes. Following the earthquake, aftershocks frequently hit. Since the elevator was not working, my helper and people having a meeting in the room next door helped me down to the first floor. They also brought down my electric wheelchair. Several building had collapsed, and the street was littered with roof tiles and blocks from walls.

The secretary general of the IL-no-kai (IL Association), which operates the independent living center and daily life care services office, rode his bicycle over to the homes of members who lived near the office to check on them. The next day, staff of IL-no-kai (a disability organization that I serve as director of and that undertakes various activities including providing services to persons with disabilities) divided up the areas and went around to the homes of all the members in Koriyama-shi and checked that they were all right.

(2) Request that Koriyama-shi establish an emergency shelter for persons with disabilities

After going around to the homes of the various members, it became clear that many of them would find it difficult to live where they were since the house was partially destroyed or their belongings were scattered around. After negotiating with Koriyama-shi, it was decided that the Koriyama City Welfare Center for Persons with Disabilities, which was designated a general emergency shelter, would be used as an emergency shelter for people with disabilities. IL-no-kai staff and other people worked in three shifts to take care of the people taking refuge at the center. At the peak time, the center housed thirty people with disabilities. These people stayed up to one month at the center.

(3) Establishing the Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area

On March 18, supplies arrived from a disability support office in Shiga. Along with the supplies, members of the Yumekaze Fund from Osaka came by and suggested that we establish the Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area (referred to below simply as the Support Center) in Fukushima. The next day, following discussions among related parties, it was decided to launch the Support Center's activities. At first the Support Center's office was located in the IL-no-kai, but since it looked like a lot of people would be involved in the center, the Support Center rented its own office. It was possible to get twenty-two organizations of persons with disabilities in Fukushima to become member organizations of the Center. On April 6, with its new office, the JDF (Japan Disability Forum) Support Center Fukushima for Persons with Disabilities in Devastated Area was launched, and an opening ceremony was held.

(4) Starting to deliver supplies to the disaster area

Supplies started to flow in from throughout Japan, and supply bases were established at the disability support offices in the various areas of Hamadori (Iwaki-shi, Soma-shi, and Minamisoma-shi), which sustained substantial damage from the earthquake and tsunami.

(5) Launch of efforts to reinforce and expand counseling support for persons with disabilities in Fukushima

Before June 2011, we provided counseling services to persons with disabilities in Fukushima in collaboration with the Koriyama counseling support office, and we will submit numerous requests to the prefecture since developing a counseling system requires dedicated work. Since June 2011, it has been possible to staff the Support Center with counselors by commissioning the IL-no-kai to handle the work. It has also been possible to employ staff with disabilities. Efforts started in FY2012 to reinforce and expand counseling support have been continued by increasing the number of counseling staff in the Fukushima area. It was also decided to assign support staff to the Iwaki, Soso, Kenhoku, and Aizu areas.

Mr. M who worked on reinforcing and expanding counseling support is taking time off and studying at a university in Denmark from August through December 2012. Twenty-year-old Mr. M who has a spinal-cord injury is self-accepting and courageous, and I am looking forward to seeing how he has grown after returning from Denmark.

(6) Conducting a survey of persons with disabilities and their needs by visiting emergency shelters throughout Fukushima

Kyosaren, a JDF related organization, introduced many volunteers to us. We asked these volunteers to visit all the emergency shelters in Fukushima. They went to about 200 emergency shelters and met with more than 100 persons with disabilities. However, they could not find any persons with severe physical disabilities in the shelters. Life in the shelters was extremely difficult for persons with disabilities - the family of a child with autism had to live in a car in the parking lot because they could not go into the shelter; a person with physical disabilities spent ten days in his wheelchair because the floor in the shelter was too hard to sleep on; and a person with disabilities was unable to take a bath for a month. A large number of the emergency shelters are gymnasiums, and many of these have steps at the entrances and exits and bathrooms that people in wheelchairs cannot use; therefore, many people with disabilities probably ended of taking refuge somewhere else since they disliked life in the shelters.

(7) Minamisoma-shi provides list of persons with disabilities making it possible to conduct fact-finding survey of persons with disabilities

While the population of Minamisoma-shi at one point declined to 10,000 from 70,000 because of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, it has recently rebounded to 40,000. Because it was important to examine what type of life persons with disabilities were living under these harsh conditions, parties related to the Support Center visited Minamisoma-shi numerous times. As a result of working with the representative of a disability support office and pressing Minamisoma-shi, the city released a list of persons with disabilities, finally making it possible to conduct a fact-finding survey of persons with disabilities. Based on this survey, it was determined that conditions for persons with disabilities were terrible - many persons with disabilities did not have access to any welfare services and elderly parents had to care for their child with disabilities. From right after the earthquake, it was families with the elderly and family members with disabilities who were unable to flee to safety.

(8) Visiting support facilities (residential) for persons with disabilities

When our associates visited the large emergency shelter in Koriyama's Big Palette, they heard the story of the doctor in charge of the facilities. The doctor runs a hospital in Tomioka-machi, and after a major earthquake hit, he ran out of oxygen cylinders when they were taking refuge, which resulted in the death of many patients. He seems to feel that life at emergency shelters can be deadly for the elderly and persons with disabilities. People were assigned to facilities either in or out of Fukushima. Working together, associates from the independent living center ascertained current conditions by visiting support facilities (residential) in Fukushima. Although initially after the disaster, there were persons with disabilities at these facilities, after conditions settled down, they returned to their own home or the facility they previously were at. There may have been cases when persons with disabilities were placed in facilities for the elderly, which is an issue that probably needs to be examined. It is also probably important to examine support facilities (residential) outside Fukushima, but this would be quite difficult.

(9) Dispatching support staff to disability support offices in Minamisoma-shi, etc.

Because of the nuclear accident, many of the young staff at the disability support offices fled to other parts of the prefecture; and work became too busy due to the small number of workers. Furthermore, some offices could not stay open after the earthquake, and all the users who could no longer go to these offices ended up coming to other offices with few staff. Kyosaren and the Japan National Council of Social Welfare dispatched support staff to these offices struggling with few staff. After receiving permission from Fukushima Prefecture, the Fukushima welfare/nursing matching project was launched in January 2012. The project to properly match people from throughout Japan to offices in Fukushima began with the assignment of staff to the Support Center. There are, however, limits to how long the situation can continue as is. It is probably also important to consider measures to secure staff and other workers for welfare-related offices within Fukushima.

(10) Survey of temporary housing

In the summer of 2011, temporary housing started to be constructed in Fukushima. With the help of volunteers, we conducted surveys by visiting the majority of temporary housing sites. There were various cases of mismatches between residents and the temporary housing; for example, some temporary housing had ramps, but no persons with disabilities were living there. I have still never seen temporary housing that was appropriate for a person with a disability who uses a wheelchair. Although there have been numerous major earthquakes in the past, the construction of temporary housing has not changed at all.

(11) Opened Shinsei, a social lounge for persons with disabilities affected by the earthquake

In October 2011, we opened Shinsei, a social lounge for persons with disabilities in the area hit by the earthquake. The salon was created to provide a place for persons with disabilities affected by the earthquake to interact with each other. Approval was received from Fukushima Prefecture, and in January 2012, it was expanded as a project to create centers for the independence of persons with disabilities in Fukushima. Having recruited new staff, such as persons with disabilities, we launched sherpa activities (cafe wagon) for expanding support for parties such as persons with disabilities living in temporary housing near Koriyama-shi or privately-rented accommodations used as temporary housing, but much of the social interaction was between the elderly, not persons with disabilities. That is an issue in the future. Every Tuesday, there is also a mini-event, such as yoga class, cinema cafe, or balloon art class, which both persons with disabilities affected by the disaster and those living in the neighborhood are invited to attend. Through our year of activities, we have finally begun to build a relationship with the municipal governments in the disaster area, and we will probably continue to provide individual support to persons with disabilities in the area.

(12) Opening satellite independent living center (refuge base) in Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa

Radioactive material from the nuclear accident is still scattered all over the place in Fukushima. Children are the most susceptible to the damage caused by radioactive material. The elderly and persons with disabilities who have weakened immune systems are the next most susceptible group. Furthermore, it is difficult for persons with disabilities to take refuge somewhere unless proper preparations have been made. With these points in mind, we rented a former home with care facilities in Sagamihara-shi (it was constructed when I was in Sagamihara-shi), and we used it as a refuge base. At the end of May 2015, one person with cerebral palsy moved in. Another person with cerebral palsy moved in at the end of August, and we started various activities, including creating an independent living center, centered on Sagamihara. After that, several other people moved in with the help from associates in independent living centers throughout Japan, including Tokyo, Niigata, Hyogo, and Hiroshima. In the summer of 2012, we also conducted a recreation tour for children with disabilities. Although we would like to continue to conduct the recreation tour, plans have been put on hold since we are now short of staff at the support center and there are insufficient funds.

(13) UF-787 Project

At the disability support office in Fukushima, various types of work, including agriculture-related work, were done, but it was impossible to continue the agriculture-related work as high levels of radiation were detected in those agricultural areas. In order to remove the radioactive material from the agricultural land, we are planting rapeseed and sunflowers, which absorb radioactive material. It has been confirmed that radioactive material is absorbed by the stalk, leaves, and roots of sunflowers, but a decision on how to dispose of the remains of the sunflowers, etc., has yet to be made. On June 2, we held the Everyone Plant Festival, in which sunflower seeds were planted on the farm land of the disability office. With the UF-787 Project, in addition to planting sunflower seeds in agricultural land with high levels of radioactivity, seeds received from throughout Japan were divided up, and we would like to develop some sort of product from the oil extracted from those seed.

(14) Connection ∞ Fukushima Project

On account of the Great East Japan Earthquake, companies, etc., are no longer sending work to disability support offices. Some of the offices are unable to pay wages to the facility users. Working together, seven disability support offices in Minamisoma formed a group called the Minamisoma Factory, which has divided up the work of designing, making, and packaging metal badges, and then selling them through various channels, including over the Internet. The Support Center is also fully supporting the work. In cooperation with entrepreneurs from throughout Japan that are supporting Fukushima, we have also held various events including workshops to think up new work for the users of disability support offices that have lost work.

(15) Workshops on compensation due to the Fukushima nuclear accident

Working with JDF, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, and the Fukushima Bar Association, we held the Workshop on Understanding Compensation for Persons with Disabilities from Tokyo Electric Power Company at the Hotel Hamatsu in Koriyama-shi, on January 29, 2012. There was a high level of interest in the topic, with more than one hundred people participating in the workshop, including related parties. After holding the workshop, the Support Center received numerous inquiries regarding compensation for the nuclear accident. In-house study meetings need to be held so that center staff can handle the initial stage of the response. Along with the in-house study meetings, we probably must strengthen our collaboration with compensation related organizations and lawyers in Fukushima. On May 29, 2012, the second workshop was held in Iwaki-shi. The goal of the workshop was to provide a venue for not only affected persons with disabilities but also their supporters to learn about the issue. After that, workshops were also held in Minamisoma-shi (June 29), Fukushima-shi (August 25), and Aizuwakamatsu-shi (August 26).

2. Issues that came to light through work of the Support Center and proposed solutions

(1) Ideal evacuation method for persons with disabilities

When a major disaster hits, everyone panics and does all they can to protect themselves. Under these conditions, helping people who need assistance such as persons with disabilities inevitably gets put off. The problem comes down to how to create a system in which everyone has an equal opportunity to flee to safety. Actual measures include

i. Strengthening sharing of information and interactions among residents in areas that persons with disabilities live. Develop relationships among residents where people recognize each other. Continually conduct evacuation training in the area.

ii. Have local governments take a more proactive stance toward creating a disaster prevention manual and conduct training based on the manual. Have persons with disabilities take part in the committee involved with creating the disaster prevention manual.

iii. What became clear due to the support system during the Great East Japan Earthquake was that activities in areas with organizations that persons with disabilities play a central role in are based on calls for “friends helping friends.” On the other hand, in areas where persons with disabilities were not active, the support activities for persons with disabilities was put off. Furthermore, in areas where persons with disabilities were more independent, a large number of them probably demanded to stay in the area, not to be put in a residential institution against their will. In areas with independent living centers, welfare services are provided to a large number of persons with disabilities, and because of this, there are strong connections with service users. Taking this into consideration, it is probably true that developing organizations that persons with disabilities can play a leading role is also an important factor.

(2) Releasing the lists of names of persons with disabilities in the disaster area

I have heard that at the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, disability organizations aggressively pushed local governments to release the list of persons with disabilities, and using this list, the organizations confirmed the safety of persons with disabilities. After the Great East Japan Earthquake hit, a list of persons with disabilities was almost never released because the Act on the Protection of Personal Information was a major obstacle. A major earthquake will probably happen again, and it is important to specifically work for the release of the list of persons with disabilities. To accomplish this,

i. When a major disaster occurs, each local government should release a list of names of persons with disabilities, including those requiring assistance to evacuate, and should quickly work to get persons with disabilities to evacuate.

ii. Close consultations should be held with various parties, including local governments, local disability organizations, and neighborhood association, concrete measures and procedures for releasing the list of names of persons with disabilities should be decided upon, and concrete disaster prevention measures should be planned.

(3) Ideal form of emergency shelters

When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit, locations such as school gymnasiums and public facilities were designated as emergency shelters, but these locations still have many barriers. When we visited emergency shelters, we found persons with disabilities who were being forced to live harsh lives. Many persons with disabilities probably avoided staying at emergency shelters since they know life there is difficult. What would a desirable emergency shelter be like?

i. Buildings used as emergency shelters should be made barrier free.

ii. Prefab bathing units and toilets that anyone, including persons in wheelchairs, can use should be prepared so that they can be installed at emergency shelters when a disaster occurs.

iii. A space to give people a minimal amount of privacy should be ensured, and beds should be installed so that persons such as those with disabilities feel free to live there.

iv. Consideration should be given to life as an evacuee for persons with disabilities who have a difficult time with group life. There are many ways this could be accomplished - for example, a private building (e.g. support offices for persons with disabilities) could be used as an emergency shelter for persons with disabilities.

(4) Ideal form of temporary housing, public housing for disaster victims, and general housing

One of the activities undertaken by the Support Center was to visit the various temporary housing sites and examine how persons with disabilities were living and what type of support they desired, but there were few persons with disabilities living in temporary housing. There were various cases of mismatch, such as persons without disabilities living in units with ramps. Although there have been numerous major earthquakes such as the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, it is strange that temporary housing that persons such as those with disabilities who use a wheelchair cannot live in is still used. The following are our proposals.

i. Temporary housing that incorporates universal design should be used so that anyone can easily live in any of the housing.

ii. The living space for temporary housing is too small. Consideration should be given to creating temporary housing with separate private and public spaces in order to create as leisurely a living space as possible. It is probably important to examine the ideal form of temporary housing; for example, if bathing rooms and toilets are shared or washing machines are placed in a shared area and everyone uses them, it would be possible to have larger private areas.

iii. Some of the temporary housing in Fukushima was built at locations with high levels of radiation. It is necessary to implement a policy to not build temporary housing in dangerous areas such as where there is a high level of radiation if the people living there are to be healthy and safe.

iv. After this earthquake hit, ryokans (traditional Japanese style hotels) and hotels were used as emergency shelters. For persons who use wheelchairs and persons with intellectual disabilities who required an individual room, shelter life in a ryokan or hotel is easier since to a certain extent, the facilities are well equipped. Therefore, we would like there to be a policy of systematically making use of these facilities as emergency shelters for persons with disabilities.

v. In addition to temporary housing, there is privately-rented housing used as temporary housing, and probably a large number of persons with disabilities and their families live in this type of housing rather than normal temporary housing. Since private housing built with universal design in mind is probably almost nonexistent, a system should be created to quickly rebuild or renovate private housing to be used as temporary housing so that persons with disabilities can live there in peace of mind if another earthquake hits.

vi. After temporary housing and private-rented housing used as temporary housing, the next point of focus is probably public housing for disaster victims. When building public housing for disaster victims, the housing should incorporate universal design. For Fukushima, public housing for disaster victims should be built where there is a low level of radiation.

vi. It is probably important to work to have not only temporary housing and public housing for disaster victims but also general housing based on universal design. If all general homes also incorporated universal design and there were a major disaster, even persons with disabilities in wheelchairs could probably stay in the home of a friend (a person without disabilities). Furthermore, everyone will develop disabilities as they get older. Taking this into consideration, to a certain extent, laws should require that for newly built general homes, there are no difference in level on the floor at the entrance etc., doors are wide enough for wheelchairs to easily pass through, and toilets are such that people in wheelchairs can also use them.

viii. The population of Fukushima continues to decline because of the nuclear accident. The population outflow is mainly among young workers and children. If this population outflow continues, Fukushima will be on the forefront of the extremely aged society. It is necessary to think of what type of environment can the elderly and persons with disabilities live in with few caregivers. Consideration should be given to what type of housing makes it possible for residents to help each other and live with the minimum amount of care and to promoting the construction of cooperative housing, which European and other countries have taken the lead in.

(5) Bonds with persons with disabilities affected by the disaster

What I have come to deeply feel though my work to support persons with disabilities affected by the earthquake is that the farther one goes into the countryside of Tohoku, the larger the number of persons with disabilities who do not receive welfare services is. In addition, there are many persons with disabilities who are immediately placed in a residential institution after graduating from a school for special needs education, etc., or who live lonely lives without connections to local people as their families make due by nursing the person themselves. The following should be done to ensure that no person with disabilities live such a life.

i. Each local government should earnestly work to ascertain how persons with disabilities are actually living and make it possible for them to live independent lives in the area with peace of mind by creating bonds.

ii. An environment should be created so that as few people with disabilities as possible are placed in support facilities (residential) and they are able to live independent lives in community by promoting mobility within the local community for persons with disabilities.

iii. Strive to realize inclusive education. In 1979, the requirement that children with disabilities attend schools for special needs education was established, forcing persons with disabilities on the path to such schools. In order to reduce discrimination and prejudice against persons with disabilities, it would be ideal if persons with disabilities and those without disabilities interacted with each other from when they are young.

(6) Expanding welfare services for persons with disabilities

There are many places in Tohoku (but not only Tohoku) where there is an insufficient supply of welfare services for persons with disabilities for any of various reasons, including the financial conditions of the local government. A major earthquake in such areas could cause various problems, such as an insufficient supply of helpers for persons with disabilities. In order to prevent this, the following should be done.

i. A system should be developed so that sufficient services can be supplied anywhere in the country. For local governments with poor finances, there should be a policy to raise the central government's share (from 1/2 to 2/3).

ii. When a disaster such as a major earthquake occurs, it is unknown when a strong aftershock will hit, and this can be a scary time for persons with disabilities living on their own, and a helper should be provided when they evacuate. Taking this into consideration, the amount of time that helpers for persons with severe physical disabilities are dispatched during earthquakes should be dramatically increased.

(7) Securing the human rights of persons with disabilities is an urgent issue for Japan

At the end of March 2012, I participated in the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disability and Diversity in Hawaii. At the workshop I attended, it was reported that throughout Asia, the human rights of persons with disabilities have not been secured at all. Japan is included in this group. Japan has not ratified the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is probably important that persons with disabilities also develop bold programs to secure their own human rights.

i. The United Nation's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities should be ratified as quickly as possible after obtaining the opinions of disability groups.

ii. Laws prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities (establishing their human rights), which incorporate the opinion of disability organizations such as JDF, should be created.

(This report was written in December, 2012.)

∗ Finally, survey of number of persons with disabilities in Fukushima who died because of the earthquake.

(excerpts from Ato Sukoshi No Shien Ga Areba [With Just a Bit More Support] by Masahiko Nakamura)

Target Number of persons with a certificate for persons with disabilities who died because of the earthquake between March 11 and June 30, 2011.
∗ Figures for the deaths of residents and population does not include persons with disabilities.
Persons with a certificate for persons with physical disabilities (as of April 1, 2010) (source: Fukushima General Welfare Center for Persons with Disabilities)
Population (as of October 2010) (Basic population statistics by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)