TOKYO: The massive earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture has dealt a severe blow to one of the country’s leading agricultural regions.
In the Yatsushiro and Hikawa areas, known for their production of igusha rushes, factories that make tatami facings collapsed and machinery was damaged. Irrigation channels and reservoirs also suffered extensive damage, leaving farmers struggling to recover after the quake, which registered the maximum 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale.
“I also experienced the earthquake that occurred 10 years ago. Aftershocks are still happening, so I’m too scared to work,” said igusa farmer Makoto Sakaeda, 57, at his tatami-facing factory in Yatsushiro on Aug 9.
The period from late July until just before the Obon holidays is normally the busiest season for the production of tatami-facings, when Sakaeda ships about 120 pieces a week. However, he has yet to resume work since the quake.
Sakaeda’s grandfather began growing igusa and producing tatami facings after World War II, making Sakaeda the third generation of his family in the business. His two-storey wooden factory, located on the same property as his home, was warped by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. He repaired it afterward, reinforcing its pillars and making other improvements.
The latest earthquake registered an upper 6 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in Yatsushiro, causing walls and ceilings in the factory to collapse.
A humidifier used to add moisture to the rushes and make them easier to weave was buried under the debris.
Agricultural irrigation channels were also damaged, raising fears that the fields where Sakaeda has planted igusa seedlings could dry out.
“It’s just too much to be hit by another earthquake,” Sakaeda said.
According to the Kumamoto prefectural government, preliminary estimates put earthquake damage to the prefecture’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries at about ¥38.1 billion as of Thursday. Damage has been confirmed at 421 fields and at 2,845 agricultural facilities, including irrigation ponds and channels.
On Thursday (Aug 13), the prefectural government approved an emergency supplementary budget of ¥4.161 billion, including funds for temporary repairs to agricultural irrigation facilities. - The Japan News/ANN
