Thank you for the Fukushima update (Report, 29 February). No doubt the first anniversary of the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami will see similar retrospectives from the world's media focusing on Japan's ongoing need. But the destruction encompasses much more than the irradiated area around Fukushima. Reading that "the world is in awe of the speed with which Japan has cleared tsunami rubble from other stretches of its north-east coast" might suggest the rest of the north-east is back to normal. This is not so. Prefectures further north than Fukushima, Sendai and Miyagi, bore the main force of the tsunami. In those areas, wreckage has mostly been cleared and the reconstruction effort can begin. Towns, villages and cities still need to be rebuilt. Thousands of people in temporary housing anticipate being there for the next five years, while the psychological scars in those regions will take much longer to heal. With so many lives and communities lost, depression and suicide are major threats to those living in the area. The very efficient relief operation will not be over for many years to come.
Simon Cozens
WEC International, Kyoto, Japan
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