SHIOGAMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Despite their experience of the deadly tsunami four years ago, residents of Nonoshima island do not want a high seawall erected that spoils views of the Pacific Ocean.
SHIOGAMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Despite their experience of the deadly tsunami four years ago, residents of Nonoshima island do not want a high seawall erected that spoils views of the Pacific Ocean.
As a safeguard against future tsunami, the Miyagi prefectural government plans to construct a coastal wall that will rise 3.3 meters above sea level.
On the southern coast of the island, 31 houses were destroyed by the tsunami spawned by the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
But Nonoshima's 100 or so residents are demanding that the coastal barrier be no higher than 2.3 meters.
Nonoshima island is part of a group of islands in Matsushima Bay off the coast of Shiogama in Miyagi Prefecture.
In March, the islanders set up two mock walls made of plywood--one at 3.3 meters in height and the other at 2.3 meters--to see if there was a significant contrast.
“Even just 1 meter higher makes a huge difference to the seascape,” said Torao Suzuki, head of the local residents' association.