Relocation After Tsunamis in the Sanriku Area and the Condition of Fishing Villages Two Years After the 2011 Great East Japan Tsunami - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 56

4.5 Conclusions

From our interviews and fi eld visit, we found that land subsidence was the most
common problem even almost 3 years after the 2011 tsunami. For locations where
aquaculture is the main productivity, the land subsidence problem especially in
fi shing ports should be solved as soon as possible. Nature-like embankments that
can serve as recreation park may be adapted in some areas but they require more
space. However, this might help preventing villagers to move back to low land and
build their houses again. Villagers in three areas have the same future plan because
they decided to relocate high ground. Nevertheless, some small differences were
observed according to their respective historical tsunami experiences, geographical
setting and local problems. Relocation to high ground will defi nitely affect the evac-
uation culture of some fi shermen who still prefer to save their boats from tsunamis
because they should perform the evacuation faster. This action will be more diffi cult
and risky for future tsunamis. Although for other areas, most of the fi shermen who
generally prefer to live near the sea, the 2011 event was so large that they must con-
sider the most important aspect—their lives—rather than convenience. Maintaining
their awareness and transmitting this experience to future generations so that they
will not move back to low land will be one of the biggest challenges.

Acknowledgments We greatly appreciate Mr. Susumu Tsuboi and the other six fi shermen in
Tadakoshi, Mr. Yasuhiro Sato and the other eight fi shermen in Niranohama and Mr. Yoshietsu
Atsumi and the other three fi shermen in Yagawa for their time and participation in the interviews.
We would also like to express our deep appreciation for the research fund from the Reconstruction
Agency of the Government of Japan and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. and
through IRIDeS, Tohoku University.

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