This research is a development of a coastal town model in Tohoku region of Japan from social and physical sustainability perspectives. The social and physical challenges due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami (hereinafter refer to as Tohoku 3.11) on 11th March 2011 were studied in various coastal cities including Kamaishi, Rikuzentakata, and Minamisanriku. Super-aging society Japan has about 23% of its population above 65 years, and an attempt was made to empower the people and communities. The aim is to design a resilient master plan, architecture, and landscape where everyone wants to live and has vitality and freedom to contribute to the environment, society, and economy. In vulnerable lowland areas with deeply indented coastline bordered by sea and mountains, Tohoku 3.11 destroyed homes and livelihoods. Based on surveys of the social and physical vulnerabilities and future city initiatives of clean and renewable energy, a resilient urban design, architecture and landscape were proposed. The urban design encompasses memorial landscape at the seafront to mitigate tsunami, detached houses on high ground, and physically resilient collective housing between the highland and lowland areas. The lowland area was designated as a commercial area to maintain the liveliness of the city while ensuring an emergency evacuation system and the city hall was plannedas a revitalization center. Spaces for everyone was propose in the designs to strengthen social ties and bond. The present contemporary reconstruction works in 2021 has a paradigm shift in coastal protection policies to ‘preparedness and mitigation level 2’, to protect lives and reduce losses with comprehensive disaster management measures includingcoastal protection, urban planning, evacuation, and public education for the largest-possible tsunami level of more than 150 years recurrence interval, such as the Tohoku 3.11.

1.
T.
Ito
et al,*
Sustainable Downtown Development for the Tsunami-Prepared Urban Revitalization of Regional Coastal Cities
.
Sustainability
2019
,
11
(
4
), pp
1020
.
2.
S.
Nakahara
and
M.
Ichikawa
,
Mortality in the 2011Tsunami in Japan
.
Journal of Epidemiology
,
2013
;
23
(
1
),
70
73
.
3.
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
,
2011
. Accessed: 27.01.2022: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami
4.
M.
Kazama
,
T.
Noda
,
Damage statistics (Summary of the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake damage)
.
Soils and Foundations
,
2012
,
52
(
5
),
780
792
.
5.
I.
Nishiyama
,
I.
Okawa
,
H.
Fukuyama
,
Y.
Okuda
,
Building damage by the 2011 off the pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake and coping activities
,
NILIM and BRI collaborated with the administration
,
2011
.
6.
T.
Noda
,
Never give in, never give up, Recovery and reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake
,
2011
. Accessed 30.01.2022: http://www.unescap.org/idd/events/2011-December-Japan-Earthquake/Never-give-in-never-give-up.pdf
7.
A.
Ishigaki
,
H.
Higashi
,
T.
Sakamoto
,
S.
Shibahara
,
Liquefaction in Tohoku district during the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake.
Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (TJEM)
,
2013
,
229
, pp
287
299
.
8.
T.
Arikawa
et al,
Failure mechanism of kamaishi breakwaters due to the great east japan earthquake tsunami
.
Coastal Engineering
,
2012
, No.
33
(
2012
). .
9.
K.
Tungnung
, Revitalization of Kamaishi-Mitigation of Social and Physical Vulnerabilities towards Holistic Sustainability
Kobe Design University Japan
,
2013
.
10.
K.
Tungnung
, EPHEMERAL-Expression of Passive Resiliency against Vulnerable Environment.
Kobe Design University Japan
,
2012
.
11.
K.
Tungnung
, REHAB 3.11 | ‘Hope-Vision’ for Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami (
2011
).
Kobe Design University Japan
, 2011.
12.
K.
Tungnung
,
REHAB 3.11 | ‘Hope-Vision’ for Tohoku Earthquake & Tsunami
2016
13.
Minamisanriku
. Accesed 29.01.2022: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamisanriku
14.
Rikuzentakata Iwata. Accessed 29.01.2022
: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikuzentakata,_Iwate
15.
K. K.
Whitt
.
10 years after Japan's big tsunami.
EarthSky.
Accessed 17.03.2022: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/10-years-after-2011-japan-tsunami-rikuzentakata/
16.
Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum-Protecting lives and living together with the ocean and earth
. Retrieved 29.01.2022: https://iwate-tsunami-memorial.jp/en/index.html#wrapper
17.
D.
Cyranoski
,
Tsunami simulations scare Japan
.
Nature
,
2012
,
484
, pp
296
297
.
[PubMed]
a.S.
Koshimura
,
S.
Nobuo
,
Response to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster.
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A
,
2015
.
18.
Kamaishi, Iwate
. Accessed 27.01.2022: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamaishi,_Iwate
19.
Statistics Bureau, Japan
,
Chapter 2 Population, “Statistical Handbook of Japan 2012
” by Statistics Bureau, Japan,
2012
.
20.
T.
Noda
,
Never give in never give up – Recovery and reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake
.
Kamaishi City Mayor office
2021
.
21.
Nakahara
,
S.
, &
Ichikawa
,
M.
(
2013
).
Mortality in the 2011 tsunami in Japan
.
Journal of epidemiology
, JE20120114.
22.
Britannica
, n.d.
Iwate Prefecture, Japan
. Accessed 27.01.2022: https://www.britannica.com/place/Iwate
23.
N.
Nakamura
, Is there any hope for “Kamaishi”?: The Generation of a Former Company Town.
Hope Studies Kamaishi Research) on Kamaishi City conducted by the Institute of Social Science
,
University of Tokyo, N
.,
2008
.
24.
A.
Yamaguchi
,
T.
Mori
,
M.
Kazama
,
N.
Yoshida
,
Liquefaction in Tohoku district during the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake
.
Soils and Foundations
,
2012
,
52
(
5
), pp
811
829
.
25.
N.
Nakamura
,
Hopology-The Kamaishi Research, The role of hope, Social Science Japan
,
2007
, pp
6
8
. Accessed 31.01.2022: http://newslet.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ssj36/ssj36.pdf
26.
Japan Fishery Agency, MAFF
,
FY2011 Trends in Fisheries, FY2012 Fishery Policy. (White Paper on Fisheries: Summary)
.
Japan Fishery Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
,
2012
. Accessed 29.01.2022: https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/kikaku/wpaper/pdf/2011_jfa_wp.pdf
27.
Japan Fishery Agency, MAFF
,
Fisheries of Japan – 2008 / 2009 Fisheries Policy Outline for FY2009 (White Paper on Fisheries). Japan Fishery Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
,
2009
. Accessed 29.01.2022: https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/kikaku/wpaper/pdf/2008_jfa_all.pdf
28.
Japan Fishery Agency, MAFF
Fisheries of Japan – 2008 / 2009 Fisheries Policy Outline for FY2009 (White Paper on Fisheries). Japan Fishery Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
,
2009
, 2011
29.
Shimada
, State of Japan's Forests and Forest Management,-2nd Country Report of Japan to the Montreal Process-
Forestry Agency Japan
,
2009
.
30.
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. Of Japan
Kamaishi Future City Initiative, Kamaishi's new challenges leading other small-scale cities
. Govt. of Japan,
2011
. Accessed 30.01.2022: http://doc.future-city.go.jp/pdf/reference/Pamphlet_H24futurecity_en.pdf
31.
Iwate (Japan): Prefecture, Major Cities & Towns-Population Statistics in Maps and Charts
. Accessed 17.03.2022: https://www.citypopulation.de/en/japan/admin/03iwate/
32.
Philippe
Rahm
,
Towards a Meteorological Architecture, UIA2011 Tokyo
,
2011
. Retrieved 31.01.2022: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLBCRhYlXZQ
This content is only available via PDF.
Published by AIP Publishing.
You do not currently have access to this content.