Honshu, the largest island in Japan, has long been a magnet for ‘dark tourism’ due to the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. However, more than a decade after the disaster, the northern region of the island is reinventing itself by introducing ‘reconstruction tourism.’
Initiated by the government’s Reconstruction Agency, created following the magnitude-9 earthquake, the concept aims to shift the focus from the areas devastated by the disaster to the towns and villages across Tohoku — the region encompassing six northern prefectures in Honshu — that are gradually rebuilding. JR East, airlines, prefectural governments, and Japan’s major travel agencies support the initiative, which is set to launch an organization promoting travel opportunities in the recovering Tohoku region on July 25, 2023.
Toru Inoue, JR East’s initiative leader, sees this as the next phase in Tohoku’s rebuilding journey. He hopes more people will visit and witness the area’s reconstruction. The plans for reconstruction tours across Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, and Ibaraki prefectures were formulated just before the Covid-19 pandemic but were temporarily shelved until travel could safely resume.
The new organization, tentatively called the Tohoku Reconstruction Tourism Promotion Network, aims to be a comprehensive resource for travel opportunities in the region. The tours will showcase museums and memorials dedicated to the disaster’s stories, as well as temples, shrines, and other historical sites rebuilt since the catastrophe. Visitors can also appreciate the stunning nature of Tohoku, its unique culture, and local cuisine.
The tours offer opportunities for visitors to meet individuals who lived through the disaster, sharing insights into their evacuation experiences and emphasizing the importance of preparedness and appropriate decision-making.
Fukushima prefecture, home to the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, faces the significant challenge of attracting tourists. However, Masanari Kanno, who oversees recovery tourism for Fukushima, remains optimistic. The prefecture offers several unique facilities under its ‘hope tourism’ initiative, offering visitors the chance to explore how the earthquake and nuclear disasters are personal matters, rather than solely local issues or someone else’s problem.
Notably, Fukushima has seen the construction of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Legacy Museum and the preservation of Ukedo Elementary School, a testament to the tsunami’s scale. There’s also a museum in Tomioka providing personal narratives from residents living near the power plant since its establishment in the 1960s. Additionally, Tokyo Electric Power has unveiled the Decommissioning Archive Centre in Tomioka to inform visitors about the procedures to render the plant site safe.
In this journey of recovery, the experiences offered by ‘reconstruction tourism’ go beyond observing disaster-stricken landscapes; they tell stories of resilience, of communities rebuilding, and of lessons learned for future generations.
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