A New Shopping Center for a Tsunami-Struck Town

The famed architect Kuma Kengo designed the bright wooden structures, built with Japanese cedar wood harvested right here in Minamisanriku.

“It’s a relief to be open at last,” says the district association chief, Abe Tadahiko.

Some of the raised platforms near the new shopping area. At right is the red frame of the only town office building to remain standing after the tsunami hit.

Abe Takekazu’s Yūshindō bakery was founded in 1910. Its showcases are packed with a delicious variety of sweets and baked goods.

President Miura of Minamisanriku Town Future lost nine properties to the 3/11 tsunami, including his home, shops, and a factory. He is now working to rebuild his facilities one by one.

These municipal apartments in a higher area of Minamisanriku’s Shizugawa district, as well as those built elsewhere in the town, are almost all ready to house residents, but many remain in temporary housing units instead.

Miyakawa holds a card with messages that her neighbors gave her when she left the temporary housing unit. “We’ll never escape the sorrow of having our homes washed away, but we had each other, and that was a great source of strength.”

The broken frame of the reinforced town hall building where many residents lost their lives in the 3/11 tsunami. The surrounding area is changing rapidly, but this structure remains as a reminder of what took place.

Calm seas at the harbor in the town’s Shizugawa district. Many new buildings can be seen thanks to progress in construction of port facilities here.