RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--Lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake on what to do in disaster situations will be showcased at a planned museum in this city, which was devastated by the magnitude-9 quake and tsunami.
In plans unveiled by the Iwate prefectural government for what will be exhibited at the facility in Rikuzentakata’s Takata Matsubara district, the project has two main aims: to spread information on what to do in possible earthquake and tsunami situations; and to promote the city’s ongoing reconstruction efforts.
Nearly 1,800 people were killed or went missing in Rikuzentakata due to the catastrophe, according to the municipal government.
The facility will form the centerpiece of a complex including a large park and will function as the main government-run memorial to the disaster.
The 270-year-old “miracle pine tree” that survived the tsunami six years ago, a symbol of hope, will be one of the park's attractions.
The two-story building will begin construction after the design is complete, scheduled around March 2018.
The exhibition space, to occupy a 1,100-square-meter area on the first floor, will feature victims’ accounts of their experiences, remnants of the disaster and other features to convey what transpired on March 11, 2011, and illustrate the factors that determined whether people survived or not.
Exhibits will be organized around five themes: “culture and daily lives that were damaged by the disaster”; “what occurred on March 11”; “disaster preparedness”; “going toward reconstruction”; and “information for visiting the disaster-hit sites,” according to the plans.
The project is intended to be completed no later than autumn 2019 when the Rugby World Cup will be held in nearby Kamaishi, also in Iwate Prefecture, one of the host cities, where many foreign visitors are expected.