Ishiba visits disaster-hit Ishikawa in 1st inspection tour as PM

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday visited Ishikawa Prefecture areas devastated by a deadly earthquake in January and heavy rain in September in his first inspection tour after taking office earlier in the week.

Ishiba inspected some of the areas in Ishikawa Prefecture where heavy rain late last month flooded homes, including temporary housing for survivors of the powerful quake that struck the region on New Year's Day.

He spoke to quake survivors who were forced to evacuate from their temporary homes in Wajima due to flooding and also visited the site in the city of a major marketplace destroyed by fire following the quake.

"It is the government's responsibility to create the best possible living conditions in evacuation shelters" as part of efforts to support disaster survivors, Ishiba told residents at a shelter in Wajima.

Vowing to swiftly provide further funding for the recovery of the disaster-hit areas, Ishiba has instructed relevant ministers to use reserve funds.

The magnitude 7.6 quake in January claimed over 400 lives, while the heavy rain last month left at least 14 people dead.

Yoshihiko Noda, head of the largest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, also visited Ishikawa on Saturday and inspected flood-damaged areas.

Noda has criticized Ishiba's disaster recovery funding and called for the compilation of a supplementary budget instead of the use of reserve funds that can be spent without Diet approval.