Anamizu, Ishikawa Pref., Oct. 5 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Kazuo Yana stressed his resolve to promote restoration in disaster-hit Ishikawa and Kumamoto prefectures during his visits to afflicted areas over the weekend. He inspected progress in the work to restore farmland and fishing ports in Ishikawa on Sunday, after municipalities on the Noto Peninsula in the central Japan prefecture sustained heavy damage from a powerful earthquake in January 2024 and heavy rains in September the same year. The minister told the press that he will “steadily work on” issues including budget allocation even if local government heads do not support the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Yana made the remark after weekly magazines Bunshun Online and Shukan Shincho reported that the minister, a member of the LDP, told a meeting in Tochigi Prefecture, his home turf, in May that the fiscal 2026 road budgets were drastically cut for two municipalities in the eastern Japan prefectures whose mayors did not support the party in the February election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. At a press conference Friday, Yana broadly admitted making such remarks while denying that he had contacted the transport ministry for cuts in the road budgets for the municipalities. “I will work on supporting reconstruction projects based on the local needs,” Yana told reporters in Ishikawa on Sunday. On the restoration of a water intake facility in Suzu, a key challenge for fully resuming agricultural operations in the Ishikawa city, he said, “We will address the matter in cooperation with the land ministry and the prefectural government.” On Saturday, Yana visited Kumamoto to inspect agricultural facilities in the southwestern prefecture, which was struck by a powerful earthquake on July 28 this year. Specifically, he visited an irrigation channel and a farm for “igusa” rush grass, used in tatami mats, in the city of Yatsushiro and a fruits-sorting facility in the town of Ashikita. “We will take various measures for the restoration of the local agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries,” he told reporters in the city of Uki later on Saturday. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
