Memories and Rebuilding in the Fukushima Town of Futaba

The natural wood construction makes the new municipal building stand out. Futaba had been without a town office since the March 2011 disaster.

A public housing project for disaster evacuees west of Futaba Station is becoming a hub for community revitalization.

JR Futaba Station opened in March 2020.

Shuttle buses between the station and the museum are timed to match the train schedule. One-way fare for adult is ¥200 and ¥100 for children. Discount round-trip tickets are also available.

The town is dotted with giant murals, providing a touch of color to the long-abandoned area.

F-BICC hosts revitalization-related corporate tenants like Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Revitalization Headquarters. It also has conference rooms suitable for symposia or workshops, a coworking space, and restaurants.

Construction on the Fukushima Prefecture Reconstruction Memorial Park is progressing along the seaside to the northeast. In the foreground, the ruins of houses in the Nakano residential district are visible.

Interim radioactive waste storage facilities stand directly to the south. Fukushima Daiichi’s exhaust stacks are visible beyond the hills.

A view of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum from the F-BICC rooftop. The museum also boasts an observation terrace on its roof.

Exhibits at the museum show different aspects of the disaster.

An outdoor exhibit of a fire truck crushed in the tsunami and a replica of a pro-nuclear-power slogan once displayed in the town.

The bicycle-sharing dock outside F-BICC.

Bicycles are offered for a returnable ¥100 deposit.

The ruins of the Nakano residential district stand testament to the scale of the tsunami. At center is the only reconstructed building, the Nakano Hachiman shrine.

The viewing tower on the Fukushima Prefecture Reconstruction Memorial Park construction site.

The first floor of Ukedo Elementary School was completely swamped by the tsunami. The second floor has panels and other exhibits about disaster-struck Namie.

A devastated classroom demonstrates the destructive power of the tsunami.

The first-floor food court at F-BICC features local shops.

Penguin’s trademark special pork cutlet sandwich (¥600), medium French fries (¥280), and an old-fashioned soft-serve ice cream (¥300).

Namie-style yakisoba (¥650) is typically topped with a raw egg.

Sunplaza Futaba offers up seafood products, local crafts, and regional sake.