Thousands of Twitter users are posting positive comments about Tohoku using the hashtag #Tohokudeyokatta ("It was good that it was in Tohoku"), playing on the job-ending gaffe of reconstruction minister Masahiro Imamura.
Imamura resigned Wednesday a day after saying "it was good that" the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku region rather than the Tokyo metropolitan area. Imamura later apologized and said he only meant that the reconstruction costs would have been higher had Tokyo been hit.
Many of the Tohoku Twitter posts were accompanied by images of scenery, like sakura (cherry trees) in full bloom, festivals, mountains and historical towns, drawing enthusiastic responses from other users.