Great East Japan Earthquake

Taro Kanko Hotel Tsunami Ruins The Taro Kanko Hotel is a building located in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture. Once a functioning hotel, it was severely damaged by the tsunami that struck during the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Today, it stands as a preserved disaster memorial site to convey the destructive force of the tsunami and the importance of disaster preparedness. You can clearly see how high the water rose just by looking at the structure. While a few new facilities exist in the area, the surrounding neighborhood is strikingly empty—homes and buildings once stood here, but ...

Visiting the 3.11 Tsunami Memorial in Rikuzentakata: Remembering the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Miracle Pine Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum During my onsen-focused trip around Japan, I chose to travel through the Sanriku coast—a region not known for hot springs—because I wanted to witness the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake firsthand. The earthquake struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, originating about 130km southeast of the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture, at a depth of around 24km. Like many people, I only knew the disaster through news and the internet. In the rain, I went ...