The shell of a gas station is one of the few indications that the Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, was once home to a bustling shopping district. Weeds are poking up through the layer of debris covering the now dark plot where 60 stores had stood before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami destroyed everything.
The shell of a gas station is one of the few indications that the Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, was once home to a bustling shopping district. Weeds are poking up through the layer of debris covering the now dark plot where 60 stores had stood before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami destroyed everything.
A sign board at the site mocks, "Shop at the local mall."
"No one would be willing to live in such an inconvenient town," lamented Noriyasu Ito, a 60-year-old former cargo ship crew member.
Like many coastal municipalities in the Tohoku region, Ogatsu's population has plummeted, shrinking from 4,300 to 1,200 in the past six months.
About 83,000 people in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures changed residence from March 11 to July 31. Although many have since returned home or remain in the Tohoku region, the overall population has dropped by about 36,000, according to a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications based on the resident registers.
Most of the Ogatsu residents moved to temporary housing 20 kilometers west of the district, where elementary and junior high schools transferred their operations.
But others relocated far from their hometown, and they show no signs of returning anytime soon.
Of all the residents in the three prefectures who changed residences, nearly half, or about 40,000, moved to the Kanto region, including 14,000 to Tokyo. About 22,000 moved to other prefectures in the Tohoku region, including 4,077 from Fukushima Prefecture to Miyagi Prefecture.
Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, saw the greatest decrease -- 22,391 people -- compared with 5,020 over the same period in 2010. The population fell by about 2,000 in July, leaving the prefecture with a population under 2 million, according to the survey.
The survey also showed that Fukushima Prefecture still had 55,000 evacuees as of Sept. 5. The prefectural government fears more people will leave if the evacuation period is prolonged.
Naritoshi Sato, 44, a fifth-generation owner of Marutaka confectioner, which was located in the demolished shopping mall in Ogatsu, has left Miyagi Prefecture.
"Unless people are at ease in their lives, a confectionary business cannot survive," Sato said. "It would be impossible to operate in Ogatsu for a while."
Soon after the March 11 disaster, the Sato family, including five children, moved to Yachimata, Chiba Prefecture, where a relative lives. Sato opened a confectionery in Narita in July after borrowing money and renting a vacant store.
"I haven't given up my affection for Ogatsu," he said. "But I cannot do business or live in the town as it is. I have to stabilize my life first."
Ogatsu is struggling to rebuild. Its schools, hospitals, a bank, post offices and shops were swept away by the tsunami. There is still no store where one can buy daily commodities. One "luxury" is a soft drink vending machine installed at a provisional local office. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from Ogatsu to the nearest functioning convenience store.
Ishinomaki and Kesennuma, also in the prefecture, have seen their populations drop by 9,000 and 3,700, respectively. Miyagi Prefecture registered a decrease of 10,030 people, compared with a fall of 1,075 in the same period last year.
In fact, the populations fell in all coastal municipalities of the three prefectures, except for Sendai and Rifu town in Miyagi Prefecture, the survey found.
Yoshihiro Suzuki, a 41-year-old former lumber merchant in Ogatsu, moved in to a relative's home in Sendai after the quake. In May, he found work at a lumbermill operator in Rifu.
He now lives in an apartment with his wife, 41, and two daughters, a third-year student in junior high school and a first-grader at elementary school.
Sales at his lumber store reached 30 million yen ($387,600) a year before the earthquake. His monthly wage is now 200,000 yen.
Although he will receive 50,000 yen in rent subsidies from the central government for two years, there is no prospect for his business to reopen.
"I don't think Ogatsu will rebuild soon. It will take at least 10 years," he said.
The inflow of people to the three prefectures over the period was about 47,000, down by 7,000 from a year earlier.
In Iwate Prefecture, where all 12 coastal municipalities suffered population decreases, the outflow of people exceeded the inflow by 4,009, slightly more than the difference of 3,810 in the same period in 2010. Many from the disaster areas apparently moved to such inland cities as Kitakami and Morioka.
In the Tokyo metropolitan area, those leaving the capital outpaced those moving in by slightly more than 4,000 in June and July. In addition, the number of foreign residents has dropped by at least 10,000 since the earthquake, according to the ministry's survey.
In Ogatsu, Yorio Takahashi, an official of the town's rebuilding council, fears the depleted population could spell the end of the district.
"Unless at least 2,000 people return, the town's business won't work," said Takahashi, an ink-stone maker. "Our 600-year-old ink stone manufacturing won't be protected unless people live here. We don't want to be seen as having given up."
But the residents have not given up. In late June, they urged Ishinomaki Mayor Hiroshi Kameyama to help build public housing, temporary school buildings and a hospital. And in August, about 10 fishermen and restaurant owners jointly established a company called Oh! Guts! to culture oysters and scallops. They are seeking investors.
"Fishing should be revitalized first," said Hiromitsu Ito, a 50-year-old fisherman and representative of the company. "When fishermen can make a living, stores and people will return. The first one to two years are crucial for me and the town."
Noritoshi Sato, the confectioner, may be in Chiba Prefecture, but his mother, Eiko, could not stand being away from her home in Ogatsu.
The 74-year-old became sick and was hospitalized this summer in a neighborhood away from Ogatsu. In late August, she left the hospital and returned to Ogatsu by herself.
When Eiko started living in a temporary housing in the district, a friend visited her carrying many vegetables.
"Ogatsu is my life," Eiko said. "I feel secure as far as a close friend lives near me."