Heavy Rains and the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on the Noto Peninsula | Tomohiro Ichinose, Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
2024.10.01
Record-breaking heavy rains along the Sea of Japan coast, which continued for about three days from September 20, caused numerous floods and landslides on the Noto Peninsula. First, I would like to express my deepest condolences and sympathies to all those affected by the disaster. The Noto Peninsula Earthquake, which occurred on January 1, is still fresh in people's memories, and this new disaster struck just as recovery efforts were getting underway.
In fact, just a week earlier, from September 13 to 16, I had visited the disaster-stricken areas of the Noto Peninsula for the first time since the earthquake. It was a personal shock to see the earthquake-affected areas struck by disaster again, this time by the heavy rains. This visit was an opportunity to accompany members of the disaster response committee of the Association of Rural Planning, where I served as president until this April. Immediately after the earthquake on January 1, committee members and association executives began gathering information and exchanging it with members within Ishikawa Prefecture. However, roads were severely damaged in this earthquake, limiting access to the affected areas. As widely reported, it was difficult even to accept volunteers, and the association was cautious about conducting external investigations. The disaster response committee first entered the area in late March, but unfortunately, I was unable to join them.
More than eight months after the earthquake, I finally had the opportunity to visit the affected areas. This time, we visited places such as Anamizu Town, central Wajima City, Mitsui Town, Monzen Town, and Shiroyone Town. We entered the area starting from Noto Satoyama Airport. Although the main arterial roads were passable, the road surfaces were uneven due to the earthquake, and collapsed sections had only been temporarily repaired. Furthermore, in the villages along the roads, completely and partially destroyed buildings were left as they were. According to local hearings, publicly funded demolition had only just begun. The Oku-Noto region was characterized by beautiful rows of houses with black-tiled roofs, but we were told that in some villages, as much as 80% of the buildings would be demolished.
Shiroyone Senmaida, located in Shiroyone Town, Wajima City, is a series of terraced rice paddies designated as a National Site of Scenic Beauty, which attracted many tourists before the earthquake. The earthquake damaged waterways and slopes, but this year, they managed to harvest rice from 120 of the more than one thousand paddies. However, the village itself also suffered significant damage, and planting was achieved through immense effort to preserve the landscape of Senmaida, even as residents struggled to rebuild their own homes. Just after hearing this story, the terraced paddies were once again severely damaged. During our visit, we had exchanged views on recovery, so it is truly heartbreaking to hear about the situation in the village, which was temporarily isolated due to landslides. I am planning another visit to the disaster-stricken area and hope to be of some help, however small.