The slogan for the post-disaster reconstruction of the areas in the Tohoku region that were ravaged by the massive tsunami in 2011 stressed that the process should be designed for “fukko” (resurgence) rather than “fukkyu” (restoration), and “creative resurgence” at that.

The process, it said, should realize a desirable vision for Japan in the mid-21st century.

Numerous people have been making their own efforts in line with this call. Now, 10 years on, these local communities present a deeply mixed picture with bright and dark areas intertwined.

On March 11, the day for prayers, let us look back on the struggle for recovery endured by two cities in Miyagi Prefecture that were severely damaged by the tsunami so that we can learn lessons for building a new future for the nation.

COST OF PLACING TOP PRIORITY ON SAFETY

The Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki now boasts a towering seawall that is 10 meters high and a new residential area 20 meters above sea level that has been developed by scraping away part of a mountain.

The land in-between has been elevated. The district has been completely rebuilt to withstand the kind of huge tsunami that occurs only once in 1,000 years.

This transformation, however, has come at a large cost. During the long, drawn-out process, many local residents moved out of the district. The community of 4,300 people has shrunk by three-quarters and people aged 65 or older now account for 57 percent of the population.

Many people in Ogatsu feel bitterly disappointed as the reconstruction process has not been led by the local community, as another slogan for the mission called for.

The community should not be accused of failing to act. Two months after the disaster, people in Ogatsu set up a council to rebuild the community.

Driven by concerns that many people would leave the community unless it was rebuilt swiftly, they decided that summer to relocate the community to a new residential area to be built on high ground instead of constructing a high seawall, which would take time.

But it proved to be a daunting challenge to build a consensus among local residents who had started living in makeshift housing in various parts of the city, which had significantly expanded in area due to consolidation of municipalities.

Most of them were too preoccupied with their daily struggles to think ahead to the future.

A growing number of local residents started arguing that they should also be allowed to rebuild their lives in the area where they formerly resided. The community became even more divided when the prefectural government proposed building a seawall.

By the summer of the following year, those who argued for allowing residents to rebuild their homes where they used to live were removed from the council. The municipal government proposed a plan to move residents to higher ground and build a seawall at the same time.

As municipal government officials visited dissenting residents to persuade them to accept the plan, their ranks gradually shrank. Pressure on local residents to toe the line grew stronger and became hard to resist.

Yorio Takahashi, 53, who served as the vice chairman of the council, says what was intended as a forum for discussions among local residents degenerated into a setup to pressure people into accepting decisions by the local government.

While a gigantic seawall has been built, the reconstruction process has inflicted a deep wound on the community. Takahashi is one of the local residents who regrets how the reconstruction has proceeded in a way that was different from what they envisioned.

EFFORTS PRIOR TO THE DISASTER HELPED

In at least one case, however, local residents vetoed the prefectural government’s plan and rebuilt their community according to their own wishes.

The city of Kesennuma is a town of fishermen, which thrives on the nation’s largest haul of katsuo (bonito). It also faced some questions concerning the construction of a seawall.

The prefectural government initially proposed building a tide embankment over 6 meters high. A group of local residents led by Akihiko Sugawara, 58, started studying issues concerning seawalls. They learned that no seawall, no matter how tall, can block all tsunami and became convinced that evacuation should be the primary response to the risk of tsunami.

“Since we have lived with the sea, we know the danger of making it invisible to us,” they said to the prefectural government. The talks continued for three years after the disaster.

The community was not monolithic, however. While some people were dead set against the local government’s proposals, others called for a swift reconstruction.

Instead of heated debate between the opposing sides, the community sought to secure a consensus by spending a lot of time on efforts to share information and discuss various proposals and options. As a result, the prefectural government changed its obstinate stance and started paying more serious attention to the wishes of local residents.

In the end, the plan to build a seawall was modified. By making upper parts of the embankment movable, the height was reduced by 2 meters to keep the sea visible to local residents.

The city’s success was supported by the experiences citizens had gained through local community cooperation that started long before the 2011 disaster. They tackled the challenge of taking the initiative in local community development and, through the process, learned how to ensure a consensus among community members.

Also helpful was a local "slow food" program, as opposed to fast food, which is designed to build a sustainable community that values nature and traditions. The program helped deepen ties among local residents.

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT BIG DISASTER

It is one thing to argue the case that local residents should seek the best answers to questions concerning post-disaster community reconstruction on their own without handing the leadership over to the national or local government.

But it is another to put this principle into practice amid confusion and anxiety in the wake of a major disaster. The formidable challenges involved were clearly underscored by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami.

The economic power of the community is one important factor for success in such efforts. But the really crucial ingredients are the people and their basic capabilities for tackling tough local challenges built on their daily activities, as indicated by the experiences of Kesennuma’s community reconstruction.

The process of reconstructing infrastructure in the tsunami-hit areas will soon come to an end. But the nation will be hit by disasters in the coming years.

Since the March 11 calamity, there has been a growing trend toward developing detailed plans for responses to major disasters through joint efforts by local residents and governments. The trend, known as “jizen fukko” (prior reconstruction), has been especially pronounced in areas that are expected to be struck by the predicted mega-quake along the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast.

All people living in this disaster-prone archipelago need to confront the challenges of strengthening community ties, taking measures to protect lives in major disasters and gaining greater capabilities of rebuilding destroyed communities. Such efforts are vital for better preparing the nation for the next big disaster, which will come sooner or later.

With the nation’s population contracting and aging, rural and urban areas are facing different challenges. But the only way of dealing with the challenges is through steady and continuous efforts.

Daisuke Yamauchi, 42, who heads the San San Shotengai (shopping district) in Minamisanriku, a town in Miyagi Prefecture that was also devastated by the 2011 tsunami, says the district has been avoiding becoming overambitious in community development and focusing on capitalizing on local resources.

“If we can offer some unique attractions, people will still come,” he says.

The district’s unique approach to offering local marine products through integrated efforts by stores attracted some 500,000 tourists last year despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, contributing to the economy of the small seaside town of some 12,000 people.

Local residents should play the leading role in local community development. The central and local governments should focus on supporting roles.

The mixed experiences the areas battered by the disaster have had over the past decade in their struggles to rebuild themselves should be shared by the entire society to learn valuable lessons for the future.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 11