Latest news with #disasterresilience
Japan Times
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Japanese parties' election campaigning swings into gear
Leaders of ruling and opposition parties took to the streets to canvass for votes on Friday as they entered full-fledged campaigning for the July 20 Upper House election. In speeches on the second day of the official campaign period for the Upper House election, party leaders focused on issues such as inflation and rice shortages. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who leads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, emphasized the importance of increasing rice production in a dialogue with local farmers in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture. In a stump speech, Ishiba touted his ruling coalition's campaign pledge to provide cash benefits ranging from ¥20,000 to ¥40,000 per person to help cushion the impact of higher prices on households, saying this was "not pork barreling." Later, the prime minister visited Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was hit hard by a major earthquake in January 2024, and pledged to make Japan the world's leading disaster-resilient nation. "Which party will discuss disaster prevention in an election?" he said. "I wonder where there is a party that can talk responsibly about medical services, pensions, nursing care and child-rearing," he said, emphasizing that the LDP will take responsibility for the country's future. Mitsunari Okamoto, policy chief at Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, touted the ruling bloc's cash benefits plan in a speech in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, saying the payments "may not be sufficient but we hope they will help people cope with rising prices." In a stump speech in the city of Kumamoto, Yoshihiko Noda, head of the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the ruling bloc's refusal to abolish the provisional gasoline tax. "It's quite natural to abolish (the tax) amid higher inflation," he said. Hirofumi Yoshimura, leader of Nippon Ishin no Kai, another opposition party, vowed in a speech in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, to defeat politicians who believe in handouts to solve problems. Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, campaigned in the city of Fukuoka and emphasized that providing the benefits alone "will not lead to a lasting sense of security." Meanwhile, Akira Koike, head of the secretariat of the Japanese Communist Party, visited the city of Fukushima and blamed the LDP's past push to reduce rice production for soaring prices.
Times of Oman
07-06-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
Japan approves ($139bn plan for disaster-resilient infrastructure
Tokyo: The Japanese government on Friday approved a plan to enhance the disaster resilience of the country's infrastructure over the next five years, with the project expected to cost more than 20 trillion yen ($139 billion). Kyodo News reported. Focusing on measures to address aging infrastructure, the plan specifies 326 measures to be taken by government bodies from fiscal 2026 through 2030, while regional authorities bear part of the costs. The approval by the Cabinet comes in light of prolonged water outages following a powerful earthquake that devastated the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day in 2024, and the formation of a massive sinkhole in Yashio in Saitama Prefecture, neighbouring Tokyo, which is believed to have been caused by sewer pipe corrosion. According to the plan, 10.6 trillion yen will be allocated for the maintenance of vital services, which include aging infrastructure, such as transportation, communication, and energy. All sewer pipes with corrosion or damage that could lead to accidents will be repaired by fiscal 2030. The repair rate of the approximately 92,000 bridges managed by the central and local governments that require urgent attention will be raised from 55 per cent in fiscal 2023 to 80% in fiscal 2030, with the aim of full completion in fiscal 2051. Meanwhile, 5.8 trillion yen will be used for disaster prevention infrastructure, including erosion control dams to prevent landslides and river embankments amid increasingly severe flooding caused by climate change.
