COMMUNITY REGENERATION PROJECT: After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011

In recent years, natural disasters, such as earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, high wave, tornado, volcanic explosion, draught, and forest fire occur frequently all over the world. In Japan, natural disaster, such as earthquake, tsunami, flood, and landslide, happens every year, and as a result, it causes human damages and collapse of local community. Especially, the Great East Japan Earthquake left twenty thousands dead and missing and the decline of the vitality continues in many local communities　regardless of reconstruction work in the disaster area. The disaster also caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and many local people still remain refuge even after four years have passed. Such complex disaster may occur again in the future. However, causes that decline social vitality are not only natural disaster but also man-made ones such as wars, disputes, epidemics, sea level rise, climate change, air pollution, and water shortage. Local communities therefore require keeping resilience that recovers themselves from serious damages and prevents from collapse. This project tries to consider and propose possibility of designing resilient community that keeps regenerative power through participating in volunteer activities in Ishinomaki city in Miyagi Prefecture.

There are three projects according to target sites and implementation schedule. The first project is Mt. Kinka Project (October 2011 – Ongoing), the second project is Ajishima Project（July 2014 – Ongoing）and the third project is Watanoha Project (July 2014 – Ongoing).