KESENNUMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Residents and graduate students are creating a miniature model of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, as it appeared before it was largely wiped out by the March 11 tsunami.
KESENNUMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Residents and graduate students are creating a miniature model of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, as it appeared before it was largely wiped out by the March 11 tsunami.
The 1-meter-square miniature, made of expanded polystyrene and paper, will be one-500th the size of the actual city.
To replicate minute details of Kesennuma, aerial photographs and residential maps, as well as memories of the locals, are being incorporated in the process.
The graduate students involved are from Kobe, which was devastated by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Cherry trees have been planted and the roofs painted in the "pre-quake town."
A 43-year-old woman participating in the project who grew up in Kesennuma, where she is now raising two children, said every corner of the town brings back fond memories of her life.
Kobe University is seeking cooperation from universities nationwide to make 4,000 models of disaster-affected areas in Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.