Japan is grappling with its worst wildfires in half a century. For Japanese authorities and affected citizens struggling to put out the flames, light rain and snow on Wednesday have raised hopes that they will help control the blazes.
A wildfire that has been raging for more than a week around the northern city of Ofunato has killed one person and forced about 4,000 residents to evacuate their homes. It has destroyed about 2,900 hectares (about half the size of Manhattan) and is the largest fire since a 1975 fire in Hokkaido that burned 2,700 hectares.
An AFP correspondent reported that light rain and snow on Wednesday caused a white mist to rise from the mountains, with more rain expected through Thursday. “This is a fire that I have never seen before, it has terrified the settlements. It is huge and spreading rapidly,” said Mitsuo Otsubo, 85, who fled his home and is staying with relatives.
“There has been no rain or snowfall this year. Fortunately, it has rained today. I can only hope that this will help control the situation,” said a farmer who cultivates seaweed and scallops.
apan experienced its hottest ever last year as global temperatures rose due to climate change. Ofunato received just 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inches) of rain in February, breaking the record for that month of 4.4 millimeters set in 1967.
‘I don’t know where to run’
“Life has come to a standstill,” 69-year-old Fumiko Tanaka, who is living in makeshift tents in a hall where about 270 people are taking shelter, told AFP. Pointing to the tables in the hall with water bottles and food items scattered everywhere, he said, “Leaving home and living in such an environment is certainly no less painful, but what is more painful is what happened to the house and the property there.”
“Fires are the most terrible disaster, they spread from one place to another and people are not even sure where to run,” said Tanaka, 69. “I can only hope that the fire does not reach the settlement and my house.”
Tanaka and her husband, who has taken up the fishing business, said, “Every year, we feel the effects of climate change and interpret it in traditional terms. The rising sea temperature has affected the diet of fish and it is not as easy to find as before. This has also affected our daily lives.”
The fire is estimated to have damaged at least 84 buildings, but the fire department said details were yet to be released. The owner of a hotel that provides hot water service said he was voluntarily vacating his inn’s facilities for the displaced and providing the service free of charge. “Not being able to take a bath to cope with the chaos of life at the shelter definitely makes you feel frustrated,” Toyoshige Shida, 60, of Ofunato Onsen, told AFP.
He said he built the inn after seeing the suffering people experienced after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Ofunato in 2011, which killed at least 340 people.
Dry season
The number of wildfires in Japan has decreased since the 1970s. In 2023, fires spread over an area of about 1,300 hectares between February and April. Greg Mullins, a former fire and rescue commissioner for the Australian state of New South Wales, told AFP that this fire and the recent fires in Los Angeles were “highly unusual” because they were in winter.
“In both cases, the lack of rainfall before the fires started made the landscape dry. The heat increased, which caused widespread evaporation and drying of vegetation. Then the forest fires started and caused a crisis,” he said. “This is a shared product of climate change,” said Mullins, founder of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group.
“As the planet gets warmer, we see more fires and wildfires in those places. Ofunata, Japan, has never had a problem like this before.” About 2,000 firefighters deployed from Tokyo and other parts of Japan are working from the air and on the ground to control the fires.
Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami said, “The fire has been going on for a week. The firefighting team has been reinforced every day. This shows the extent of the dry weather and the difficulties we are facing.” The geographical structure of the mountainous coastal region, with steep slopes and narrow and winding roads, is reportedly hindering firefighting efforts.
