River fortification on the Sanriku coast

The scale of the natural disaster that had struck Japan on 11 March 2018 was afterwards often described as being souteigai, or “unexpected”, since allegedly no-one could have anticipated a disaster of such monstrous proportions – but what if another earthquake or tsunami would again exceed all experts' anticipations?

One major effect of having these sea walls is obviously the obstruction of any views of the ocean. Unless one moves a little inland and uphill, these seawalls block any view of the ocean behind them. Tourism has been a valuable source of income for these coastal communities before the tsunami, and can only have increased in significance after many of these communities lost their major source of income, which relied upon a thriving fishing industry. But who would want to visit a coastal community when you cannot even see the ocean?

It goes without saying that the large-scale construction of these concrete sea walls and other superstructures is a large boon for the Japanese construction industry; overall, Japan has reportedly spent 12 billion USD. But like with so many other large-scale building projects in the past, local communities were not sufficiently consulted in the decision-making process.

Some experts also argue that while these new seawalls may give the local population a heightened sense of safety, their very existence might actually provide a false sense of security, discouraging people from moving to higher ground – not to mention the potential ecological impact of these superstructures on the local ecology and overall environment.

2018.12

Miyagi - 7 Years after Japan's Triple Disaster