松山まつやま 土石流どせきりゅう災害さいがいから1年ねん 犠牲ぎせい者しゃの友人ゆうじんが手てをあわせ悼いたむ

The 12th marks one year since the landslide disaster in which the mountain with Matsuyama Castle in Matsuyama City collapsed, claiming the lives of a parent and two children. At the site at the foot of the mountain, friends of the victims quietly joined their hands in prayer.

On July 12th last year, a mudslide occurred on the mountain where Matsuyama Castle is located in Matsuyama City, resulting in the deaths of an elderly couple and their son who lived in a house at the foot of the mountain. Mud and driftwood also flowed into nearby apartments and houses, forcing many residents to evacuate and live in shelters.

On the 12th, marking one year since the incident, Hideyuki Onishi 46, who had known the deceased son for about 20 years through an adult basketball club, visited the site.

Mr. Onishi quietly put his hands together in prayer to mourn the three victims after offering a sports drink that his friend liked at the site where a house once stood, which is now just an empty lot.

Also, people living in nearby apartment buildings have said, “It’s been a year since that day, but it still stays with me.”

Flowers were offered along with a message saying, We sincerely pray for your soul to rest in peace.

Mr. Onishi said, I was very shocked when I heard the news of their passing, and I wish I could have seen them one more time.

I dont want the damage to be forgotten, and if there are other places where landslides might happen in the same way, I hope they will be investigated immediately and measures will be taken to prevent something like this from happening again, they said.

At around 1,200 locations, such as slopes of mountains with cultural properties, there is a high risk of disasters. Matsuyama Castle is designated as an Important Cultural Property by the Japanese government, and the landslide occurred on the slope of the mountain where the castle is located.

When the Agency for Cultural Affairs surveyed slopes of mountains and other areas with cultural properties across the country, it found that there are as many as 1,200 locations nationwide where there is a high risk of disasters occurring during heavy rains or earthquakes, and it is hurrying to take countermeasures.

Amid a series of heavy rains and earthquakes, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, aiming to identify cultural properties at high risk during disasters, conducted a survey last year with the cooperation of local governments across the country to examine the condition of slopes within areas designated as national historic sites and scenic spots.

As a result, it has been found that there are as many as 1,200 slopes where, if they collapse due to heavy rain or earthquakes, there is a risk of harm to human life or significant loss of cultural property value.

Some of the areas included slopes different from the one where the landslide occurred on the mountain with Matsuyama Castle.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs plans to prioritize reinforcement and other measures at 250 sites, including slopes at World Heritage Sites and Special Historic Sites out of a total of 1,200 locations, and aims to complete these measures by fiscal year 2030.

In addition, since there have been a series of stone wall collapses at places such as Kumamoto Castle as well as on slopes, there is a plan to complete preservation measures for stone walls at 111 locations nationwide by fiscal year 2045.

Yuto Yokota, a specialist at the Cultural Resources Utilization Division of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, said, The Agency for Cultural Affairs will also secure a budget to support slope countermeasures by local governments across the country. Rather than simply focusing on areas with landslide risks, we want to prioritize measures in places where there is an impact on the value of cultural properties or a risk of human injury.