Three Years After a Mega-disaster: Recovery Policies, Programs and Implementation After the Great East Japan Earthquake - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 32

3.2.1 Recovery Phase One: Recovery Concept Development

In the fi rst year after the GEJE, key decision makers and several government bodies
devoted their energies to develop basic rebuilding concepts and strategies. At the
national level, the Reconstruction Design Council was established a month after the
earthquake to initiate recovery and craft a national recovery vision. Entitled “Toward
Reconstruction: Hope beyond the Disaster (Reconstruction Design Council 2011 )”,
the vision was published in June 2011 and included fi ve core principles for the
reconstruction as well as a series of basic strategies to rebuild safer from future
tsunami risk. Then, a Tohoku-wide survey was carried out for 10 months, under
the leadership of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism
(MLIT), to assess the overall damage and develop rebuilding strategies to fi t local
conditions. Tsunami simulations incorporating different potential designs for
coastal protection infrastructure were also conducted as part of this survey, to defi ne
tsunami-vulnerable areas in each locality.
Later in this phase, affected prefectural and local governments developed and
published initial recovery plans that closely mirrored the national recovery visions.
The four prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima announced their
plans in December, August, October and December 2011, respectively. At the same
time, because prefectural governments are responsible for coastal management,
levee and breakwater heights in each bay were also developed for use in local land
use planning for rebuilding. The three most devastated prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi,
and Fukushima announced these in September and October of 2011. Likewise, local
governments prepared municipal recovery plans that included basic strategies and
programs for rebuilding. The timing when plans were publicized varied by local
government; some of the earlier plans were announced in the fi rst 2 months after
the GEJE, while others were developed gradually in the next 10 months. By the end
of the fi rst year after the tsunami, 59 local governments had their plans ready
(Cabinet offi ce 2012b ); and that number continued to rise to a total of 81 in the
second and third years.

3.2.1.1 Rebuilding Concepts

One of the key achievements in this phase was the development and refi nement of
rebuilding concepts that aim to make Tohoku's coast more resilient against tsunamis.
The vision created by the national Reconstruction Design Council served as a
foundation for this recovery concept, together with rebuilding plans based on future
tsunami risk simulations and studies
Fundamental element of the Tohoku recovery plans: Combining structural
and non-structural measures. The national recovery vision developed by the
Reconstruction Design Council suggested that along with fi ve other principles,
prioritizing safety and resilience against disasters in rebuilding are critical
(Reconstruction Design Council 2011 ). Concurrently, the Reconstruction Design
Council ( 2011 ) emphasized the need for a combination of structural and non-structural