Last public school in Iwate wrecked by 3/11 quake and tsunami rebuilt in Rikuzentakata
A ceremony marking the reconstruction of an elementary school — the last public school in Iwate Prefecture heavily damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to be rebuilt — was held Friday in the city of Rikuzentakata. Kesen Elementary School's new building stands on higher ...
Mayor of tsunami-hit city stresses resilience and inclusivity at U.N.
The mayor of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, which was devastated by the 2011 tsunami disaster, stressed Monday how resilience and inclusivity are necessary for rebuilding the city as he spoke at the United Nations to mark World Tsunami Awareness Day. "The inclusive and accessible society to ...
Drawing on Japan's flowers of the flock
Masumi Yamanaka, curator of "Flora Japonica," an exhibition of 80 taxonomically correct illustrations of Japanese plants, talks about the dedication that drives botanical art.
Replanting project launched to restore pine tree forest in tsunami-hit Rikuzentakata
A project to restore a pine tree forest wiped out by the tsunami that destroyed Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, in March 2011 kicked off Saturday with the goal of having about 40,000 saplings planted on the city's coastline by March 2020. The replanting project has a ...
Tsunami-hit Rikuzentakata turns to home-stay program to bolster tourism
Six years after tsunami ravaged Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture, the coastal city is moving to rebuild tourism with a unique home-stay program. The minpaku (private lodging) program, organized by tourism promotion organization Marugoto Rikuzentakata, enables visitors to get a taste of the daily lives of ...
Tsunami-hit Rikuzentakata rebuilding on raised ground, hoping to thrive anew
This is the first of a four-part series looking at the lasting impact of the March 11, 2011, disasters. It was a fateful moment. At 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake hit eastern Japan, impacting the 24,000-plus residents of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture. Minutes ...
Nagano student first to play violin made partly from 'miracle pine'
A Nagano high school student has become the first person to play a new violin partially made from the symbolic "miracle pine" that survived the March 2011 tsunami. "I was thinking of those who have suffered from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Kumamoto ...
Saga of lost Rikuzentakata tsunami boat forges pan-Pacific friendship
A new children's book recounts events following the 3/11 disasters that have led to a forging of bonds and cross-cultural exchange between young people in Tohoku and the U.S. West Coast.
Rikuzentakata looks to future with new tourism ventures
The coastal town of Rikuzentakata in southeastern Iwate Prefecture became an international symbol of the devastation wreaked by the tsunami that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Lashed by waves up to 13 meters high in places, the sections of ...
Putting a foreign face on the 3/11 recovery effort
Non-Japanese volunteers and residents are forming long-term bonds to Tohoku — and opening up minds in the process.
Four years on, Tohoku towns still waiting for schools, homes, answers
While cooped-up kids need places to play, exhausted residents could do with support from more teachers and caregivers.
Where do you go to escape Tokyo? The Yamanote Line. I ride it all the way around once and I’m all better.
