https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20240115-OYT1T50225/
According to Yomiuri Shimbun, the 15th marks two weeks since the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurred on January 1st, when a maximum seismic intensity of 7 was observed. In Ishikawa Prefecture, 222 people have been confirmed dead (as of 2 p.m.), and on the same day, the prefecture released the names of the 23 victims for the first time with the consent of their families.
Five items were made public: name, municipality, gender, age, and circumstances of death. Based on disclosure standards established in May last year, the prefecture began contacting bereaved families by phone on the 15th, and announced those whose consent had been obtained. They will continue to make public announcements from time to time after confirming the wishes of the bereaved families.
One of my Facebook friends has been sounding the alarm long before this earthquake about how cuts in the civil service have degraded services to the public. For example, in Osaka, the number of public health centers was dramatically reduced under the Nippon Ishin no Kai government. Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, health center staffs had to respond with a small number of people, and lives that could have been saved were not saved.
He also said the following about the recent earthquake on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture.
The seriousness of the lack of manpower in supporting the areas affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake has been brought into focus. The number of local public servants in Ishikawa Prefecture has been reduced by 9.2%, which is approximately twice the population decline during this period. In addition, a Mainichi Shimbun survey revealed that not only in the disaster-stricken areas but also in 45 prefectures, the number of local civil servants hired is seriously below the expected number.
Japan's number of civil servants is by far the lowest among the 31 OECD countries for which data are available. Japan has only a quarter of the average number of civil servants in the 31 OECD countries. Even though Japan is a country prone to natural disasters, the reason why there is always a shortage of manpower in disaster-stricken areas is fundamentally due to a lack of civil servants.
According to NHK News, the Kishida Cabinet's approval rating is 26%, while 56% disapprove. In Japan, the single-party dictatorship of the Liberal Democratic Party has continued for the most part, and I don't think there will be a fundamental solution unless this changes.
Friendship with the U.S. has its consequences
Really. Japan cannot say no to the US.
How long have you been in Japan and where are your roots from? How do people in Japan react to the name Olga? 🤔
I was born in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and have lived there all my life. My mother's side of the family seems to be a samurai family. My father's side of the family is ordinary Japanese.
My username, Olga comes from the name of the female robot in Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka's animated film "Space Firebird 2772."
One of Picasso's wives was named Olga, so I may have that in my mind as well.
Most of Japanese are ignorant about Russians, so they are not interested in the name Olga.
Very interesting!
All my assumptions based on the nickname turned out to be false)))))
I thought you had Slavic roots for choosing such a nickname.
Perhaps if I had watched the animated film you're talking about, I would have realised it was the name of a character.
My online friends, Anna Panina, Ph.D. in linguistics and researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow, and Florin, a Romanian male English teacher, are big fans of this animated film. Anna watched it aired in Russia in the 1990s and fell in love with the work. I encourage you to watch this film if you have the chance.
I've added this to the list of films demanding my attention, but the queue is long))