A Waseda University student has hiked about 400 km through Tohoku as part of a field survey to choose a path for a new national park to be established by rebuilding areas damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
"I wanted to help support the disaster-damaged areas one way or another," Shunsuke Goto, 22, said of his decision to participate in a survey launched by a Tokyo consulting firm on behalf of the Environment Ministry.
The selection of the 700-km "Tohoku Kaigan Trail" — a coastal path from Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, to Soma, Fukushima Prefecture — is one of the core projects in building Sanriku Fukko (Reconstruction) National Park. It's a symbol of Tohoku's rebuilding effort.