Naoya Takahashi comes from a family of fishermen and he lives in Minamisanriku. His work was heavily affected by the 2011 tsunami but he managed to start a new, parallel, business and he now brings tourists out in the sea on fishing trips. The seawall was built in front of his fishing hut, making it impossible to see the water from there. He now needs to take the car every day to reach his boat. He worries that tourists will stop coming: “This town was famous for the amazing view and the sea. Now, with the seawall, you can’t see anything, the landscape is ruined”.
Kesennuma is the biggest fishing town in Tohoku. The city now looks like a fortress, with kilometers and kilometers of white concrete seawall all around the coast. In Kesennuma the anti-seawall movement was the strongest: they managed to lower the height of the wall on a small area, that is considered more touristic and beautiful. Most of the activists are persuaded that clear and fast escape routes are the only good solution to a possible new tsunami.
Rikuzentakata is very difficult to reach with public transport. The train ends and then there is a bus that runs where the train tracks used to be before the disaster.
Rikuzentakata and many other coastal areas in Iwate and nearby Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were heavily damaged by the tsunami following the 9.0 magnitude Great East Japan Earthquake that struck on March 11, 2011.
The commemoration ceremony for the victims was held in March 11, 2020 at the Iwate Tsunami Memorial in Rikuzentakata, with very little participation due to concerns about the spreading of Coronavirus.
The commemoration ceremony for the victims was held in March 11, 2020 at the Iwate Tsunami Memorial in Rikuzentakata, with very little participation due to concerns about the spreading of Coronavirus.
