Looking Back at Japan in 2024: Nature’s Fury Disrupted the Tranquility of New Year’s Day

Editorial

16:21 JST, December 22, 2024

The major earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula at the very beginning of the New Year caused many deaths and changed people’s lives completely. In the autumn, heavy rain added to the plight of these people. The fury of nature has been demonstrated this year.

The earthquake that hit the Noto area of Ishikawa Prefecture, registering a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, as well as the damage caused by subsequent tsunami, topped the list of this year’s top 10 Japanese news stories chosen by Yomiuri Shimbun readers. Many houses collapsed due to the earthquake that occurred on New Year’s Day and the death toll is approaching 500, including so-called disaster-related deaths.

As support was delayed due to disconnected roads, questions were raised over how to restore and reconstruct damaged infrastructure when a disaster occurs in a depopulated area. Discussions on this issue should continue to be deepened in society.

The day after the earthquake, a Japan Coast Guard aircraft transporting relief supplies collided with a Japan Airlines plane and caught fire at Haneda Airport, an incident that was chosen as the eighth-ranked news item. The images of the airplanes caught in the fire must have made many people feel that 2024 would be a hard year.

In September, the disaster-stricken Noto area was plagued by record-breaking heavy rain, which readers ranked 18th on the top news list. One cannot help but sympathize with the pain and agony of local residents who were devastated by the repeated disasters.

Ranked fifth was the series of incidents in which young people and others who had been recruited for so-called dark part-time jobs via social media carried out robberies and broke into the homes of elderly people. This is a serious situation that threatens public safety in Japan.

Police plan to adopt a method in which investigators will apply for dark part-time jobs while concealing their identities. It is hoped that these tactics will help uncover heinous criminal groups.

This year has seen major developments in domestic politics. Shigeru Ishiba was elected as the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party and became prime minister, which ranked seventh in the top news. However, the LDP and its coalition partner, Komeito, suffered a crushing defeat in the subsequent House of Representatives election and lost their majority in the lower house, a development that came in sixth.

The minority ruling coalition under the Ishiba administration has been in a situation where key bills cannot be enacted without cooperation from opposition parties. The administration is likely to continue struggling to manage the government.

The international situation has become increasingly tense, with challenges such as Russia, which has continued its aggression against Ukraine, hinting at the use of nuclear weapons. Amid these circumstances, Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations), a national body of atomic bomb survivors groups, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a news topic that ranked ninth.

As the only country that has suffered atomic bombings, Japan must make even more efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons.

Once again this year, the vibrant performances of athletes cheered up many people.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a single season. This achievement was the No. 2 news event of the year, followed in third place by the fact that Japan won 45 medals at the Paris Olympics.

Ohtani is expected to again be a two-way player — a pitcher and a hitter — next season. People will likely enjoy the vigorous performances of athletes in various sports next year, too.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 22, 2024)