Big earthquake in Niigata!!

[MikeM]

Thanks Dan for sharing that info.

[Brian]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dan Blatt Some news from my friend in Japan. He got off a news broadcast couple hours ago. "Thinking about the carp we left behind, we are more worried than delighted" to return, said carp farmer Masahiro Ishihara, 54. "We'll be unable to resume our business if all the seed carp die out."

The hobbyists have the stock distributed throughout the country, hopefully it wasn't all being kept in mud ponds in the affected areas. The seed stock is there and will come back.

[Brian]

There was another large aftershock today which registered at 5.8 on the Japanese magnitude scale. It was centered in Kawaguchi and the newly created city of Uonuma. We felt it down here in Tokyo as well.

[Brian]

I received a letter from Mr. Kataoka today telling me that he and the family were alright, and apologized for making everyone worry about them. True class to the core.

An update on the situation in Yamakoshi, etc. There are about 5 or 6 natural dams that were created due to landslides caused by the quake which are beginning to flood surrounding areas, and there is great concern that the situation will be exacerbated by rainfall. Areas of Higashi-Takezawa (around where the Nagashima store is) are completely submerged, and water is being pumped down into an adjoining valley. One house shown on the news tonight had gone completely underwater in a period of 3 days.

The government is offering 4 million yen's assistance for houses that were completely destroyed, and a mere 500,000 yen for houses only partially damaged. Out of that, only 1 million can be used to replace the house and the other 3 million will probably need to be used for basic living expenses. 1 million yen is roughly the equivalent of $9,400 US. I can tell you that in Japan that won't even pay for a bathroom. 40 million is a better figure for building a halfway decent house.

634 temporary residences are currently being constructed in a field in Nagaoka to relocate people from Yamakoshi into for the interim. These are the same type of pre-fab shelters that I saw people living in in Kobe a good year after the big earthquake there back in '95.

Let's all hope for the best. I think rather than rebuilding landmarks that perhaps we should start a fund for breeders to draw on to setup temporary facilities to get them through the upcoming year.

[scvkoi]

Brian,

Matt posted on this board information about The Yomiuri Newspaper organization starting a relief fund for the victums in Niigata.
Would this the relief you are speaking about?

[MikeM]

Brian: In the U.S. it would be common to have private casualty insurance to cover most of the losses. Is earthquake damage covered by private insurance in Japan?

[Brian]

Mike,

Most homeowner's and renter's policies that I've encountered here are not comprehensive. We had to pick up a separate premium just to cover quake insurance. We live in the region where the "big one" is overdue, so picking it this additional policy doesn't require much deliberation.

Regions in which quakes are not common probably do not sell much of these supplementary policies.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brian Mike, Most homeowner's and renter's policies that I've encountered here are not comprehensive. We had to pick up a separate premium just to cover quake insurance. We live in the region where the "big one" is overdue, so picking it this additional policy doesn't require much deliberation. Regions in which quakes are not common probably do not sell much of these supplementary policies.

Hey Brian, is there any complete news on the breeders as we know of to this point?

[Brian]

Whaddya mean by a "complete" report?

[Gen-Rin-Koi]

Good News!

Nikkei Net (Online Newspaper) says that
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries of Japan has determined
it should give a subsidy for koi breeders recovering their businesses up to 90% costs required.

May this governmental support be a help for victims!

Gen-Rin-Koi
Tokyo, Japan