Wajima: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Ishikawa Prefecture on Sunday to inspect damage caused by the Noto Peninsula earthquake on New Year’s Day.

This is the prime minister’s first visit to areas affected by the 7.6-magnitude earthquake, which left 220 people dead in the central Japan prefecture and 23 people still missing as of 9 a.m. Sunday.

Speaking to people at an evacuation center set up at a junior high school in the Ishikawa city of Wajima, Kishida encouraged them to keep their hearts strong in the difficult situation, while vowing that the government will make every effort to respond to the disaster.

At the Air Self-Defense Force’s Wajima Air Station earlier in the day, the prime minister thanked SDF personnel for their disaster relief efforts and asked them to stand by affected people and address their concerns and hopes for the future.

On his Ishikawa visit, Kishida was accompanied by disaster management minister Yoshifumi Matsumura and Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase.

The prime minister aims to assess the needs of the disaster areas firsthand and use the information to support affected people and improve conditions in evacuation centers, as well as for restoration and reconstruction measures.

The prime minister’s Ishikawa visit was initially planned for Saturday, but was postponed due to weather conditions.

JIJI Press