Twenty percent of households that were part of community resettlement plans as a result of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake have dropped out over the past year as progress on the projects has stalled, according to data from the Reconstruction Agency.
Municipal governments involved in community resettlement plans — in which entire communities are relocated to safer, higher ground — are now being forced to scale back their plans.
Despite ongoing efforts during the three years since the disaster occurred, virtually none of the resettlement plans have moved forward, in part due to the time-consuming nature of construction work to make inland mountainous areas fit for residences.