This NHK article is good but leaves out much of the information shared in a segment on NHK’s morning news show on the same topic (4/17).
https://www.nhk.or.jp/ohayou/digest/2018/04/0417.html
Here are some key points of the segment:
*** There were more than four times as many deaths that were deemed to be caused indirectly by the quake (211) than those directly caused by it (50).
*** The high “indirect” death rate in Kumamoto was caused, in part at least, by overcrowding in evacuation centers.
*** The overcrowding in Kumamoto’s evacuation facilities made them worse than refugee camps in many troubled parts of the world.
*** Administrators of refugee camps follow guidelines laid out in the “Sphere Handbook,” which outlines “minimum standards in humanitarian response.” These guidelines stipulate minimum standards for per person space and toilet facilities, among other things. When toilets are bad or insufficient people avoid going to relieve themselves, or reduce their liquid and food intake in order to avoid doing so, and that can lead to series health complications. Conditions in many of Kumamoto’s evacuation centers where far below the minimum’s outlined in the handbook.
*** Though Japan is an economically advanced country, a culture of “gaman” (the idea that it’s a virtue to grit your teeth and suffer through without complaining) may have been part of the problem.
– Kirk
