New homes for Japanese

After the horrible earthquake Japan suffered in March that demolished millions of Japanese homes, temporary housing is finally being put up. The housing isn’t the best and is nothing like home to the Japanese, but it’s the best they can manage right now. The temporary “units,” which resemble compact double-wide trailers, feature new appliances and two small bedrooms each. They are the first constructed “homes” built in Japan since the March 11 disaster quake. Many people in the country are happy to be focusing on putting up these temporary houses because it’s a mental change from focusing on death and destruction in the country, which is all that has been mentioned for the last 40 days or so. With more than 150,000 people still spending time at shelters across northern Japan, officials are aiming to build temporary housing for 62,000 households. Families will be expected to have back permanent housing within two years. Both Japanese and American Officials faced many challenges in completing the first temporary housing units. The effort involved coordination between central and regional governments to find suitable public land which was extremely hard to find after the damage of the quake. Once the sites were chosen, the Japanese Red Cross provided electrical items, and Peace Winds Japan supplied basic necessities such as kitchenware and bedding. Things that are taken for granted here in the United States every day. With more and more families just happy to have running water and a bed again it’s getting easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the reconstruction of Japan.

By: Taylor Depola