Tohoku	  Geographical	  Association’s	  Bulletin	  on	  t he	  2011	  East	  Japan	  Earthquake,	  March	  9,	  2012	  March	  10,	  2012	  	  	  A	  snapshot	  of	  the	  displacement	  of	  Fukushima	  residents:	  as	  of	  the	  first	  anniversary	  of	  Japan’s	  3.11	  disasters	  	   	   	   	   	  Takashi	  Oda	  	  	  	  	  Assistant	  Professor	  Center	  for	  Simulation	  Sciences	   	  Ochanomizu	  University,	  Tokyo	  	  	  	  This	  short	  report	  presents	  the	  result	  of	  a	  GIS	  (Geographic	  Information	  System)	  mapping	  conducted	  to	  create	  a	  simple	  snap	  shot	  of	  the	  displacement	  of	  Fukushima	  residents.	   	   As	  we	  are	  approaching	  the	  first	  anniversary	  of	  the	  2011	  East	  Japan	  Earthquake	  and	  Tsunami,	  this	  report	  is	  aimed	  to	  serve	  as	  a	  reminder	  of	  the	  ongoing	  predicament	  of	  those	  who	  are	  affected	  by	  the	  disasters.	  	  Almost	  a	  year	  has	  passed	  since	  the	  3.11	  disasters	  and	  the	  subsequent	  Fukushima	  Dai-­‐ichi	  Nuclear	  Power	  Plant	  accident,	  which	  occurred	  in	  Japan	  in	  March	  2011.	   	   According	  to	  the	  latest	  figures	  put	  together	  by	  the	  Fukushima	  Prefectural	  Government1,	  as	  of	  February	  23,	  2012,	  62,674	  persons,	  who	  were	  the	  residents	  of	  Fukushima	  Prefecture,	  are	  officially	  reported	  to	  still	  be	  stranded	  outside	  their	  home	  prefecture2.	   	   	  	  As	  reported	  by	  Oda	  (2011)3	   in	  the	  August	  2011	  edition	  of	  this	  Bulletin,	  not	  only	  have	  the	  multiple	  disasters	  displaced	  tens	  of	  thousands	  of	  people,	  they	  have	  also	  resulted	  in	  the	  relocation	  of	  the	  municipal	  governmental	  functions	  of	  the	  townships	  in	  and	  around	  the	  nuclear	  power	  plant.	   	  	  While	  the	  tendency	  to	  remain	  close	  to	  the	  home	  prefecture	  continues,	  a	  significantly	  high	  number	  of	  people	  who	  evacuated	  Fukushima	  are	  located	  in	  Yamagata	  Prefecture	  (12,973	  persons),	  which	  exceeded	  the	  number	  in	  Niigata	  Prefecture	  (6,723	  persons),	  a	  popular	  destination	  back	  in	  June	  2011.	   	  A	  majority	  of	  evacuees	  either	  live	  in	  their	  own	  temporary	  residential	  houses/units	  or	  rely	  on	  their	  relatives	  and	  acquaintances.	   	   Those	  who	  evacuated	  the	  township	  of	  Futaba	  still	  live	  in	  Saitama,	  and	  a	  small	  number	  of	  them	  are	  residing	  in	  temporary	  shelters	  in	  Tokyo.	   	   Some	  have	  still	  been	  reported	  as	  living	  in	  hotels	  or	  inns	  in	  Yamagata	  (67	  persons),	  Shizuoka	  (10	  persons),	  and	  Okinawa	  (28	  persons)	  Prefectures	  since	  the	  disasters.	  	  While	  the	  figure	  in	  this	  report	  only	  reflects	  the	  number	  of	  evacuees	  living	  outside	  Fukushima	  Prefecture,	  it	  does	  not	  include	  the	  evacuees	  who	  live	  abroad	  and	  within	  Fukushima	  Prefecture.	   	  According	  to	  the	  Prefectural	  Government,	  over	  97,000	  evacuees	  living	  within	  Fukushima	  Prefecture	  stay	  in	  temporary	  housing	  units	  and	  are	  scattered	  across	  the	  prefecture4.	   	   Others,	  residing	  within	  Fukushima,	  who	  are	  not	  included	  in	  this	  figure	  rely	  on	  relatives;	  some	  of	  these	  evacuees	  do	  not	  report	  their	  whereabouts	  to	  the	  authorities.	  	  Continuous	  attention	  needs	  to	  be	  paid	  to	  the	  displacement,	  the	  lives	  of	  evacuees	  in	  new	  communities,	  host-­‐guest	  relationships,	  and	  related	  issues	  concerning	  the	  welfare	  of	  the	  evacuees.	   	  Careful	  assessment	  of	  the	  conditions	  of	  those	  who	  had	  to	  leave	  their	  homes	  is	  vital	  in	  order	  to	  refine	  aid	  policy	  for	  the	  displaced	  who	  are	  uncertain	  of	  their	  return	  home.	  	   http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/j/kengaihinanuchiwake240223.pdf	  released	  on	  March	  5,	  2012	  These	  figures	  were	  obtained	  by	  Fukushima	  Prefectural	  Government	  from	  the	  Reconstruction	  Agency’s	  evacuee	  survey	  except	  for	  Miyagi	  Prefecture.	   	   Miyagi’s	  data,	  as	  of	  February	  27,	  2012,	  is	  based	  on	  the	  reported	  data	  that	  was	  provided	  to	  the	  Fukushima	  government	  by	  the	  Miyagi	  government	  through	  “Nationwide	  Evacuee	  Information	  System.”	  3	   http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/tga/disaster/articles/e-­‐contents24.pdf	   	  4	   http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/kenchiku/04topix/shinchokujoukyou.pdf	  as	  of	  March	  6,	  201212	  	  Figure	  1.	  Distribution	  of	  evacuees	  from	  Fukushima	  Pref.	  and	  the	  types	  of	  evacuations,	  February	  2012	  Source:	  Fukushima	  Prefectural	  Government	  report,	  based	  on	  the	  Reconstruction	  Agency’s	  data;	  map	  created	  by	  T.	  Oda	  	  Note:	   	  This	  report	  is	  a	  portion	  of	  a	  research	  project	  with	  Prof.	  Isao	  Mizuno	  and	  Prof.	  Naoko	  Hasegawa	  of	  Ochanomizu	  University’s	  Geography	  Institute	  under	  the	  FY	  2011	  Ochanomizu	  University	  Grant-­‐in-­‐Aid	  for	  Campus-­‐wide	  Joint	  Research	  Program.	  	  Contact	  the	  author:	  oda.takashi@ocha.ac.jp