With hopes for a successful and safe Games, the Paralympic flame lighting ceremony was held in many parts of the Tohoku region on Aug. 12, starting the 12-day countdown to the Opening Ceremony.
Workers use gas burners at a glasshouse on Sept. 20, 2019, that opened in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. (Shoko Rikimaru)
The central government’s “reconstruction and revitalization period” for the Tohoku region is nearing an end and various infrastructure projects have been completed, but one thing remains missing in certain areas: people.
Under the post-disaster rebuilding period (fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2020), seawalls have been erected to protect the coast from future tsunami, projects are under way to promote new industries and shore up existing ones, and housing has been built for returning or new residents.