Rehousing in Tōhoku: The Two Faces of Reconstruction

Arai Station, the eastern terminus of the Sendai subway’s Tōzai Line, opened last December, more than 20 years after plans were approved. The area around the station is undergoing redevelopment.

Sendai’s Arai Higashi municipal housing complex has become home to many former residents of Arahama, an outlying coastal community that was all but obliterated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Ōhashi Kimio, head of the neighborhood association at the new Arai Higashi municipal housing complex for disaster victims, spends most of his daytime hours at the development’s community center. “This is the heart of the community,” he says. “I like to spend my time here exercising and socializing with the other tenants.”

Kayaba Ichiko of the Moroya Farm Kitchen explains her pleasure at the restaurant’s role in helping along development of the station area.

The completion of Seapal Pia shopping street near Onagawa Station has given the town center a major face-lift.

Kimura Satoru, who lives with his son and grandson in a two-room temporary housing unit, takes responsibility for the housework. “I make my grandson’s lunch every day,” he says.

Onagawa Mayor Suda Yoshiaki: “However tough things get, I’m going to stand by our citizens, stay positive, and tackle each obstacle aggressively.”