Victims in the disaster-hit region are eagerly awaiting the election of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's successor in the hope that the new prime minister will show leadership and a future vision for the region.
Five members of the Democratic Party of Japan kicked off their election campaigns Saturday after announcing their candidacies.
The disaster victims are placing high hopes on Kan's successor, as the current prime minister is generally considered to have failed to take proper measures in response to the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
"I don't want [the next prime minister] to seek immediate benefits. He should look 10 years, 100 years and 1,000 years into the future," said Hiromichi Shishido, 52.
Shishido is now taking refuge in rented accommodations in Motomiya, Fukushima Prefecture, as he had to evacuate from his house, located within a 20-kilometer-radius from the nuclear power plant. He complained about the measures taken by the Kan administration to deal with the nuclear crisis, saying, "[The administration] was too slow in making decisions."
Some victims complained about the current administration's failure to convey information to the public.
"I want the new administration to refrain from hiding the truth and convey accurate information," said Mihoko Oda, 44, from Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture.
She is taking refuge in Aizu-Wakamatsu in the prefecture with her 17-year-old son, a high school student, and 8-year-old son, a third-grader at a primary school. Her 48-year-old husband is living in Fukushima.
"If we can't return to our house, I want the government to say so explicitly. We could then move forward with our lives," she said.
Meanwhile, some people see few clear-cut differences in the policies of the candidates.
"They put aside policy debates, and just snuggle up to [former DPJ President Ichiro] Ozawa to win the votes [from Ozawa's group]," said Ikuro Okuda, 64, a shipbuilder in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. He is staying at a primary school gymnasium in Ishinomaki.
On Friday, a job-hunting seminar for people who hope to work in Fukushima was held in Minato Ward, Tokyo, under the sponsorship of the Fukushima prefectural government.
"As the number of tourists [visiting Aizu-Wakamatsu] has decreased, the city has become less vibrant. I want to work at a company in my hometown [Aizu-Wakamatsu], so I want the new prime minister to put a great deal of effort in the rehabilitation program," a 21-year-old student of Komazawa University said.
A 36-year-old man who is trying to find a better job through a Hello Work job-placement office in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, said the new prime minister must show strong leadership and ability to act.
Before the disaster, the man worked as a nonregular employee at a local office of Japan Post Service Co. in Otsuchicho, a town neighboring Kamaishi, but lost his job as the office was swept away by the tsunami. He currently is a part-time factory worker.
He thinks the Kan administration's reconstruction steps and its economic measures came too late. "I want [the new government] to introduce a system that increases employment," he said.
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