More than 35 percent of people from Miyagi who relocated outside the prefecture after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami are reluctant to return home, according to a recent survey by the prefectural government.
The findings have prompted the prefecture, which has struggled with migration and depopulation since the disaster, to ramp up its reconstruction efforts and find ways of encouraging evacuees to return.
The survey, conducted from September to November, was sent to 4,098 families. Among the 1,509 families who responded, as many as 35.7 percent said they intended to settle in the place where they relocated.
Just 20.5 percent said they intended to return to the town where they lived before, while another 36.2 percent said they had not yet decided whether to return home.
The prefectural government feels lack of information on the rebuilding rate may be a contributing factor and has decided to distribute a newsletter to the evacuees to keep them better informed about progress in regional reconstruction.