Government plays down Hirano remark

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura has played down a cabinet minister's controversial remarks about the March 11th tsunami.

Fujimura told reporters on Wednesday that he urged the minister for post-disaster reconstruction, Tatsuo Hirano, to choose his words carefully. But he said it is clear from the context what Hirano meant.

Hirano had told a meeting of Democratic Party lawmakers in Fukushima on Tuesday that some people remembered past tsunamis and tried to flee, but died anyway. Then he referred to a former classmate who died in the flooding because he didn't try to flee. Hirano said people like this were stupid.

He was stressing the need to study each case to devise preparedness measures for the next disaster. He later apologized for the remark, explaining it as regret that his old friend had not tried to flee.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 15:57 +0900 (JST)