The
Great East Japan Earthquake
Reporton the Damage
to the Cultural Heritage

A ship washed up on the rooftop of an building by Tsunami (Oduchi Town, Iwate Prefecture )iCollapsed buildings (Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture )ii

Introduction
The Tohoku Earthquake (East Japan Great Earthquake) which occurred on 11th March 2011 wasa tremendous earthquake measuring magnitude 9.0. The tsunami caused by this earthquake
was 8-9m high, which subsequently reached an upstream height of up to 40m, causing vast andheavy damage over a 500km span of the pacific east coast of Japan (the immediate footage ofthe power of such forces now being widely known throughout the world). The total damage andcasualties due to the earthquake and subsequent tsunami are estimated to be approximately
19,500 dead and missing persons; in terms of buildings, 115,000 totally destroyed, 162,000 half
destroyed, and 559,000 buildings being partially destroyed.
Immediately after the earthquake, starting with President Gustavo Araoz’s message entitled ‘ICOMOS expresses its solidarity with Japan’, we received warm messages of support and encouragement from ICOMOS members throughout the world. On behalf of Japan ICOMOS, I would like totake this opportunity again to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to you all.
There have been many enquiries from all over the world about the state of damage to cultural
heritage in Japan due to the unfolding events. Accordingly, with the cooperation of the Agency for
Cultural Aﬀairs, Japan ICOMOS issued on 22nd March 2011 a first immediate report regarding thestate of Important Cultural Properties designated by the Government, and sent it to the ICOMOS
headquarters, as well as making it public on the Japan ICOMOS website. Following this, on 29th
March 2011, the Flash Report on the Situation of Damage on Cultural Properties and Buildings,
Scenery and Historic Sites was also sent to the ICOMOS headquarters and made public on our
website.
We now have this opportunity to bring to the public, a comprehensive report of the state of damage to cultural properties which has been made possible by further detailed information provided
by members of Japan ICOMOS. It is our hope and wish that this report may become an importantreference for experts in the many countries throughout this world which shares and lives side-byside with the threat of such natural disasters. At the same time, we would like to take this opportunity to ask for your continued support to the people and professionals in every part of EasternJapan and Tohoku regions, as they continue to walk the path to recovery.
Yukio Nishimura
President,
Japan ICOMOS National Committee,
6th November 2011

iii

DATE-TIME
at14:46 JST (05:46 UTC)
March, 11, 2011
EPICENTER
Oﬀ the coast of Sanriku
38.1 N, 142.9
Depth:
24 kilometer
MOMENT MGAGNITUDE
9.0- (JMA, as of 2011-03-11)
Cf. The seismic energy was -10.000(10 4.05 ) times as big as 2009
L’Aquila (6.3- magnitude)

Aomori

Akita
Yamagata

Iwate

MiyagiEpicenter
Fukushima
Tochigi
Gunma

Ibaraki

Saitama

Tokyo
Chiba
(Ref. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)iv

The Great East Japan Earthquake-Report on the Damage to the Cultural Heritage-

Introduction
1. Outlines and Characteristics of the Great East Japan Earthquake01

1.1 Outlines of the Earthquake01

1.2 Ground Motion Characteristics

01

1.3 Tsunami

04

1.4 Outlines of the Damage04

1.5 Past Earthquake and Tsunami Damage05

2. Damage to Cultural Properties

06

2.1 Damage to Cultural Properties

06

2.1.1 Overview

06

2.1.2 Features of Damage

08

2.2 Architectural Monuments and Structures08

2.2.1 Wooden Structures08

2.2.2 Masonry Structures (stone and brick construction)

11

2.2.3 Reinforced Concrete Structures

15

2.2.4 Modern Heritage16

2.3 Groups of Traditional Buildings

17

2.4 Historic Sites

18

2.5 Places of Scenic Beauty and Cultural Landscape21

3. Eﬀorts toward Recovery

26

3.1 Overview

26

3.2 Initiatives by the Japan National Trust27

3.3 Salvage Project of Cultural Properties Damagedby the Earthquake and Tsunami
4. Status of Damage to Individual Cultural Properties and Future Issues

2931(1) Ishinomaki St. John the Apostle Orthodox Church

31(2) Sekinoichi Brewery

31v

The Great East Japan Earthquake-Report on the Damage to the Cultural HeritageContributors
Makoto Akasaka: Chapter 2 (2.5 (1)-(5))
Shoko Doi: Chapter 3 (3.2)
Toshikazu Hanazato: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 (2.1, 2.2.1-2.2.4), Chapter 4
Masayuki Morii: Chapter 3 (3.3)
Kazuyuki Yano: Chapter 2 (2.2.4, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 (6)), Chapter 3 (3.1)
Photos provided by
Makoto Akasaka, Shoko Doi, Toshikazu Hanazato, Yuga Kariya, Hiroshi Kasai, Aya Kubota,
Masayuki Morii, Akiko Umezu, Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, Yasuhiro Yamashita, Kazuyuki Yano
Cooperated by
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Designed by
Chieko Igarashi
Edited by
The Secretariat of Japan ICOMOS National Committee
Published by
Japan ICOMOS National Committee
c/o Japan Cultural Heritage Consultancy
Hitotsubashi 2-5-5-13F, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0003, JAPAN
Tel&Fax: +81 3 3261 5303
E-mail: jpicomos@japan-icomos.org
Web: http://www.japan-icomos.org
20 November, 2011
The Present publication was made possible by
the Adachi Fujio Fund of the Japan ICOMOS National Committee© 2011 Japan ICOMOS National Committeevi

1. Outlines andCharacteristics of the Great
East Japan Earthquake

divided into three, it is estimated that the depth ofthe epicenter (Miyagi Prefecture oﬀshore) was 24km,
and the duration of the rapture was approximately 3
minutes (Japan Meteorological Agency)1). There havebeen a number of aftershocks, which occurred over awide area as far away as the Chubu region hundreds

1.1 Outlines of the Earthquakeof kilometers away. There were 500 aftershocks ex-

The Pacific Ocean offshore the Tohoku and Kanto

ceeding magnitude 52).
regions of Japan is home to the Japan trench, andis a zone where the Pacific Plate is subducting into
the North American Plate. As will be described later,
this region has been subjected by a large number ofmajor earthquakes over the years. The Plate is subducting at a speed of approximately 10cm per year,
and the displacement rate on the western side is said
to be 3 to 7cm per year. Earthquakes occur whenan accumulation of these differences are suddenly
released. On 11th March, 2011, a devastating earthquake of the moment magnitude 9.0 (Mw) struck

1.2 Ground Motion Characteristics
Since 1996, the Japan Meteorological Agency has
conducted the mechanical measurement of seismic
intensity and announced the instrumental seismic
intensity. Based on this, regions where the seismic
intensity of the main shock is X or exceeds X underthe modified Mercalli intensity scale (6 or more under the JMA intensity scale) were widely distributedwith an epicenter off the Pacific Ocean of Japan
from the Tohoku to the Kanto region. This 2011 Tohoku Area Pacific Oﬀshore Earthquake is the largest
earthquake to have hit Japan since records began.
Even from a global perspective, the only earthquakes
exceeding a magnitude of 9.0 over the past 60 or so
years since earthquake measurements began are thefollowings:
1952 Kamchatka Earthquake and Tsunami (Mw=9.0);
1960 Chile Earthquake (Mw=9.5);
1964 Alaska Earthquake (Mw=9.2);
2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami(Mw=9.3).
The fault that caused the main shock of the 2011
Tohoku Area Pacific Oﬀshore Earthquake was a lowangle reverse fault as shown in Figure 1.1. It wasestimated to be approximately 450km long, approximately 200km wide, with a maximum strike
slip of 20 to 30cm (Japan Meteorological Agency)1).
Furthermore, dividing the main rapture area was1

Figure 1.1 Epicentral area of the main shock of the Tohoku
Area Pacific Oﬀshorefrom Iwate Prefecture to the Pacific coast of north-response spectrum for these earthquake records, theern Ibaraki Prefecture. Furthermore, the National

predominant period was within a short-period range

Research Institute for Earth Science and Disasterfrom 0.3 to 0.5 seconds, and at the same time, 3 to 4

Prevention (NIED)’s strong-motion seismograph net-second long-period components were predominant.

works (KNET) surround the whole country (Figure

It has been pointed out that these ground motion

1.2), and national research institutions and universi-

characteristics, which combined short-period andties have also placed strong-motion seismographs

long-period ground motion, are very common in oth-in the Tohoku Pacific Ocean side region where there

er observation points. It has also been pointed out

the seismic activity is high. According to seismicthat the ground motions for this earthquake wererecords collected by these strong-motion seismo-

generated by a huge long-period slip along an ocean

graphs, there were approximately 20 stations withtrench and by a strong short-period ground motions

peak acceleration exceeding 1.0G. However, thesein the coastal area2). This earthquake was character-records show the eﬀect of short period components

ized by the relatively minor damage to buildings by

was large, and it was reported that the predominant

the ground motion despite its extremely large peak2)

frequency was higher than 5Hz . This is exemplified

acceleration2). There was even little damage to con-by Figure 1.3 which shows records of KNET (by NIED)

ventional wooden dwellings, which were particularly

in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture. Although theaﬀected in the case of the 17th January, 1995 Great

seismic intensity according to the JMA intensity scale

Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, a.k.a. Kobe Earthquake

was 6, the damage to buildings around the Kesennu-(southern Hyogo Prefecture earthquake, M=7.3). Thisma station was minor. According to the acceleration

was because the damage to general buildings such

NS

EW

UD

Figure 1.2 National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention’s KNET observation points and the Kesennuma station’s accelerogram2

as wooden dwellings caused by 1 to 2 second cycle

suﬀered deformation. The eﬀect of such ground mo-ground motion components was minor. It is believedtion characteristics on historical buildings is that thethat the ground motion characteristics made theimpact on traditional wooden buildings was minor.

progressive destruction of traditional wooden build-

Instead, short-period structures such as masonryings diﬃcult. Contrasting with the Kobe earthquake,constructions, mud-wall warehouses and stone-

it was reported that 1 to 2 second cycle components

retaining walls over a wide area from the Tohoku

3)

were less than about 1/3-1/5 . On the other hand,to Kanto were greatly affected. In addition, groundlong-period ground motion of more than a few sec-motions with a long duration lasting more than threeonds propagated as far as distant major cities as aminutes caused liquefaction of soils due to cyclic

surface wave, causing high-rise buildings in Tokyo

shear deformation of loose saturated sand deposits.

and Osaka etc. to shake significantly with amplitude

Some of “Important Preservation Districts for Groups

reaching tens of centimeters. The top of the modernof Traditional Buildings” were seriously affected byheritage, Tokyo Tower (built: 1958, height: 333m),

the disaster caused by the liquifaction.

Figure 1.3 Acceleration response spectra of KNET Kesennuma station’s strong motions (h=5%)
Table 1.1 Modified Mercalli intensity scale and peak acceleration level (gal=0.001G)

Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale
Acc (gal)

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

0.5

1.0

2.1

5.0

10

21

44

94

202

432

-

-

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

~

<

1.0

2.1

5.0

10

21

44

94

202

432

3

While the JMA intensity scale is used in Japan, theEarthquake by the Architectural Institute of Japan2),

modified Mercalli intensity scale is used in most for-approximately 105,000 houses were completely

eign countries. The relationship between modified

damaged and approximately 107,000 were partially

Mercalli intensity scale and acceleration level are

destroyed. Most of this human and residential dam-shown in Table 1.1.

age was caused by the tsunami. Another characteristic specific to the present earthquake was that the
number of injured was significantly lower than the

1.3 Tsunami

number of deceased because the tsunami was responsible for the greater part of the damage. Approx-

The main cause of damage due to this earthquake

imately 31,000 cases of damage to non-dwellings

was the tsunami as shown in the following section.

were reported2). With regard to reinforced concrete

The height of the tsunami was reported to be an

structure buildings, there was damage to buildings

average of 8 to 9m along the coast from Miyako City,

built before the Building Seismic Code was revised

Iwate Prefecture to Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture.

in 1981, being similar to the damage aspect of 1995

The tsunami height was not uniform, exceeding 10m

Kobe Earthquake. Because there was considerable

south of Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture, and reaching 10

damage to lifelines and the earthquake affected a

to 15m at the Sanriku shoreline up to the Oshika Pen-wide area, it was announced just after the earth-insula in Miyagi Prefecture. It was reported that it re-quake that electricity was cut oﬀ to about 8,600,000

duced to 5m at the scenic spot, Matsushima Bay, buthouses; the gas supply was cut oﬀ to approximately

4)

was approximately 10m from Sendai Bay to Soma . A

2,000,000 houses; and around 2,300,000 houses

study by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers reported

were without water. Transport was also aﬀected withthat the tsunami hit the Miyako city shore at a heightdamage to 5,000 places along the Tohoku Shinkan-of 39.7m. This height is a new record for Japan. The

sen and a number of standard railway lines. Standard

total wetted surface area extended to 560km2, ofcoastal railway lines were affected by the tsunami

which 60% was in Miyagi Prefecture.

with 23 railway station buildings and approximately
60km of railway track being swept away or buried
under the water. In regard to civil engineering facili-

1.4 Outlines of the Damage

ties, a total of 190km of approximately 300km sea
embankment was completely or partially destroyed

The 1995 Kobe Earthquake caused concentrated

by the great tsunami. Farmland was also affected.

damage because it was a local earthquake (Local

Approximately 5% or 23,000 ha (ha:100m x 100m)

earthquake means that Kobe is in the epicentralof cultivated acreage was flooded by the tsunami.

area), but the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

The total cost of damage was reported to be approxi-

caused damage over an extremely wide area of themately 17 trillion yen (220 billion US dollars). Further,eastern Japan.

the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident caused

The human damage caused by the Great East Japanby the Tohoku Area Pacific Oﬀshore Earthquake has

Earthquake as of September 16 was 15,790 dead,become an extremely large problem socially, and it

4,056 missing, and approximately 5,500 injured. Fur-is said that recovering this situation may take up to

thermore, according to the Preliminary Reconnais-

tens of years.

sance Report on the 2011 Tohoku-Chiho Taiheiyo-Oki

41.5 Past Earthquake and Tsunami
Damagetively few historic buildings along the coast from
Iwate Prefecture to Fukushima Prefecture is probably
because of the frequent major tsunamis that have

The majority of the regions that sustained significant

struck the region. An old city area located behind Ke-

damage due to this earthquake are regions with

sennuma Bay has a traditional streetscape made up

high seismic activity. Over the last 30 years or so,of nationally-recognized cultural property structures

a number of regions have undergone magnitude

built at the beginning of the twentieth century, but

7-class-earthquake ground motions that has dam-

most of it was swept away or wrecked by the tsu-

aged buildings, including the 1978 Miyagi Prefecturenami. No major tsunami damage was caused by the

Offshore Earthquake (MJ=7.4); the 1987 East Chiba

1933 Showa Sanriku Earthquake, which shows that

Prefecture Offshore Earthquake (MJ=6.7); and thethe recent tsunami was one of the largest from a2008 Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake (MJ=7.2). One

historical perspective. However, the main hall of theof the reasons damage caused by ground motions

Zuigan-ji temple (1604) and Godaido (1605) facing

was comparatively minor despite sustaining strong

Matsushima Bay east of Sendai were not aﬀected bymotion exceeding X under the modified Mercalli in-

the tsunami caused by the this earthquake, and tsu-

tensity scale (upper 6 under the JMA intensity scale),nami damage has not been recorded even in the past

was largely attributable to period characteristics as

earthquakes. It is possible that the topography ofshown in “1.2 Ground Motion Characteristics”, but

Matsushima Bay and its islets controlled the height

one could also argue has this region has been sub-of the tsunami.

jected to those major earthquakes in recent years, sobuildings with low earthquake resistance had been
weeded-out and the earthquake resistance of buildings was secured to a certain extent.
Furthermore, the region affected by this earthquake is actually overlapping to the region that hassustained significant tsunami damage in the past.
Main tsunami earthquakes include the 869 Jogan
Earthquake (MJ=8.3); 1611 Keicho Sanriku Earthquake (MJ=8.1); 1896 Meiji Sanriku Earthquake(MJ=8.25); 1933 Showa Sanriku Earthquake (MJ=8.1);
1952 Tokachi-oki Earthquake (MJ=8.2); 1960 Chile
Earthquake (MJ=9.5)2). In the case of the 869 Jogan
Earthquake, it is possible that the area flooded by
the tsunami was of a similar scale to the Earthquakeof March 11, 2011, and studies are ongoing to identify the tsunami-flooded area from traces of thatearthquake. The tsunami damage caused by the1896 Meiji Sanriku Earthquake was extensive, andthe number of victims reached more than 20,000
people. One of the reasons why there are compara-

5[Reference Literature]1) 25th March, 2011 (5.30 p.m.) press release by the Japan Meteorological Agency: Re: The 2011 Tohoku Area Pacific Oﬀshore Earthquake (28),http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/press/1103/25b/kaisetsu201103251730.
pdf
2) Architectural Institute of Japan: Preliminary Reconnaissance Report on
the 2011 Tohoku-Chiho Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake2011, p. 25, 2011
3) Yuki Sakai: Ground motion caused by the 2011 Tohoku Area Pacific Oﬀshore Earthquake and preliminary damage report
http://www.kz.tsukuba.ac.jp/~sakai/113g.htm

2. Damage to Cultural
Properties

significantly large human damage; 25 prefecturallydesignated cultural properties (including 7 structures
and 9 art objects) and 70 municipally-designatedcultural properties (including 27 structures including historical sites and 10 art objects) were aﬀected

2.1 Damage to Cultural Properties

by the disaster. A statistical survey of the number ofsuch damaged cultural properties did not categorize

2.1.1 Overview
Figures 2.1 and 2.2 sort the number of damage
cases relating to nationally-designated or registeredcultural heritage as of 3rd August into prefecturesand damage types. Damage extended as far as Kochi
Prefecture which is more than 1000km away. There
have been over 700 cases of damage. Note that thisfigure does not include cultural property designatedby prefectures and municipalities. It is believed thata total number of such cultural properties damaged

damage caused by ground motion or the tsunami, so
the percentage of tsunami-caused damage is unclear.
Therefore, further studies are required. Furthermore,
fire damage to cultural property caused by groundmotion has not been reported. A study of damage
to cultural property not designated or registered atnational, prefectural or municipal levels, or in otherwords undesignated cultural property, is being conducted by the Architectural Institute of Japan.

by the earthquake exceeds 1,000. According to a detailed survey by Iwate Prefecture; a prefecture with

10
12

3

10

3
1
1

1

11
25

20
174

38
47
60

89
65

Ibraki

Miyagi

Tochigi

Iwate

Fukushima

Gunma

Tokyo

Chiba

Saitama

Yamagata

Kanagawa

Akita

Aomori

Yamanashi

Shizuoka

Niigata

Kouchi

NaganoMie
87

68

Figure 2.1 Statistics of damage in each prefecture
2
4
13
15
22

2
5

2

6

1

85

133

420

Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
Important Cultural Properties (Structures)
Historic Sites
Important Cultural Properties (Works of fine arts & Applied crafts)
Natural Monuments
Places of Scenic Beauty
Groups of Traditional Buildings
National Treasure (Structures)
Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties
Special Places of Scenic BeautySpecial Historic Sites
Registered Monuments
Important Cultural LandscapeFigure 2.2 Statistics of damage to categorize into type of cultural properties

61) Tangible cultural properties
Structure (Architectures)
Works of f ine arts & applied craf ts

Important Cultural Properties

2) Intangible cultural properties
Drama, Music, Craf t technique, etc

Important Intangible Cultural Properties

National Treasures

Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

3) Folk cultural properties
Tangible Folk Cultural Properties
Intangible Folk Cultural Properties

Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties
Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties
Registered Tangible Folk Cultural Properties

4) Monuments
Historic Sites
Place of Scenic Beauty
Animals, Plants, Geological& mineral f ormations

Special Historic Sites

Historic Sites
Places of Scenic Beauty
Natural Monument

Special Places of Scenic BeautySpecial Natural Monument

Registered Monument
5) Cultural landscapes

Important Cultural Landscape6) Groups of traditional buildings
Historic town or villages

Preservation Districts forGroups of Historic Buildings

ImportantPreservation Districts forGroups of Historic Buildings

Figure 2.3 Schematic Diagram of Cultural Properties in Japan(Ref. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

Table2.1 Number of Damaged Cultural Properties (As of August 15th, 2011)(Ref. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)
Tangible

Folk

Type of cultural Works ofFine Arts
properties
Structures Tangible& Applied
CraftsDesignation or
Selection by
22
142
3
national
Government
National
Treasures
0
5
and Special
Monuments
Important
22
137
33
Cultural
Properties
Registration
0420*some of these have multiple designations

Monument
Groups ofAnimals,
CulturalTraditional
Places ofPlants,Landscape
Buildings
ScenicGeological(area)(area)
Beauty and Mineral
Formations

Intangible

Ancient
sites

4

96

22

16

1

6

-

6

5

0

-

-

4

96

17

16

-

-

1

0

2

0

-

-

7

Sum

312

423
Total 735

2.1.2 Features of Damage

to period characteristics as shown in “1.2 GroundAs shown in Figure 2.1, the number of cases of dam-

Motion Characteristics” in Chapter 1. Furthermore,

age to nationally-designated and registered cultural

there was also damage by deformation such as soil

properties has regional characteristics. The Kantoliquefaction caused by the ground motions with longregion has more cases of damage to cultural proper-

period. Examples of damaged buildings are shown asties than the Tohoku region which was devastated byfollows.

human damage. This is because the number of cul-

The main building of the old Yubikan (Japan’s oldest

tural properties in the Kanto region is higher than theschool located in Osaki city, Miyagi Prefecture; built

Tohoku region. Similarly, as shown by Figure 2.2, thein 1691) which is a designated National Historic Site,

number of cases involving registered tangible cultural

collapsed (Figure 2.4). It is located in the region withproperties is remarkably high. This is also because

the strongest measured tremor of by the present

the number of registered tangible cultural properties

devastating earthquake. As the main building had

is high.

little earthquake-resistant elements, it is believedthat it was fundamentally lacking in horizontal resistant capacity. This building suffered damage when

2.2 Architectural Monuments andStructures

the Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake struck in 2008.

The status of damage is shown by structure type.

old yubikan sustained significant damage despite the

Very few traditional wooden buildings such as thelarge scale of this earthquake.

2.2.1 Wooden Structures

The national treasure, Zuigan-ji temple, located in(1) Damage Caused by Ground Motions

Matsushima facing Sendai Bay was not affected byDamage caused by the ground motions to residen-

the tsunami, but the main hall and priest’s quarters

tial buildings built by traditional timber framework(1609) sustained minor damage to the mud walls

methods was either minor or intact. As well as, dam-with plaster finishing breaking away from the walls

age to historical buildings from temples and shrines(Figure 2.5). The nationally-designated importantto houses were, albeit with some exceptions, minor

cultural property, Godaido (1604, Figure 2.6), locatedor intact. In addition, many buildings with a shorton an islet in the Bay was not damaged even thoughnatural period such as dozo (mud-wall warehouse)

the stone pagoda collapsed. The national treasure,

were severely damaged. This was largely attributable

the Osaki Hachimangu Shrine (Figure 2.7), which

Figure 2.4 Main building of the historic site, the Yubikan (Left: Before earthquake; Right: After earthquake)8

locates in Osaki city, Miyagi Prefecture, was slightly

erty, the former Baba Family Residence (mid-Edo

damaged. In this Osaki City, Yubikan completely col-era), which is located in Aizu-gun, Fukushima Prefec-

lapsed as described above. Although this building

ture, has little earthquake resistant elements, andof Osaki Hachimangu had been partly dismantled

therefore, the building is now tilting (Figure 2.8).

and repaired five years before, it was not seismicallyFurthermore, western-style nationally-designatedstrengthened. Damage to the Sendai City important

important cultural properties also sustained damage

cultural property, the Mutsu Kokubun-ji Yakushido

such as breaking to lath wall finishing. These dam-

(1607), was limited to part of the lath wall falling

aged cultural properties included the former Date-

down.

gun City Hall (1883, Date-gun, Fukushima Prefecture)

The nationally-designated important cultural proper-

and the former Fukushima Prefecture Jinjo Juniorties of timber or brick masonry were damaged as theHigh School (Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture,

Horaguchi Family House (mid 18th century) locatedin Natori City. This family house suﬀered significant
damage such as broken pillars and cracked mud wall.
Aside from that, the Agatsuma Family Residence(mid-18th century, Miyagi Prefecture) was damagedby the soil deformation. The important cultural prop-

Figure 2.7 The national treasure, the Osaki Hachimangu
Shrine - sustained very minor damage

Figure 2.5 The Zuigan-ji temple priest’s quarters, whichsustained damage to the plaster wall

Figure 2.6 The important cultural property, Godaido,
standing in the beauty spot of Matsushima: Undamaged

9

Figure 2.8 The important cultural property,
the former Baba Family
Residence, which is tilting (Top: Exterior; Bottom: Tilting interior)

1889; Figure 2.9).

tori-kura (walk-through storehouse)). The building

Hiraizumi structures such as the Konjikido, whichis slanted and the eaves are damaged. It was reno-

was inscribed on World Heritage List in 2011, werevated by a sake brewery to be used as a dozo, and issubjected to the earthquake strong motions, whicha registered cultural property that was still being put

measured at weak 6 on the JMA intensity scale. Very

to use. This heritage structure is a registered tangibleslight damage was sustained by part of the building,cultural property and is still being put to use. Devis-

but it was virtually undamaged. While Hiraizumi sus-

ing measures to keep utilizing it while securing safety

tained minor damage to the main hall of the Chuson-

have become a challenge. The registered tangible

ji Temple as a result of the June, 2008, Iwate-Miyagi
Inland Earthquake which measured at strong 6 (JMA
intensity scale), no significant damage was reported.
Dozo (mud-wall warehouse) buildings spreading froma wide area from Tohoku to Kanto were damaged.
Figure 2.10 shows typical damage to classic dozo (theregistered tangible cultural property, the Mori Goshi
Gaisha storehouse). The eaves have collapsed andthe earthen wall is cracked. Figure 2.11 is an example
of damage in the Tohoku region (Sekinoichi Shuzo,

Figure 2.10 Damage to classic dozo (mud-wall warehouse)- the registered tangible cultural property, the Mori Goshi
Gaisha storehouse

Figure 2.9 Damage to the important cultural property, Fukushima Prefecture Jinjo Junior High School (Top: Building
exterior; Bottom: Peeling lath wall)

Figure 2.11 The registered tangible cultural property,
Sekinoichi Shuzo and damage to the tori-kura storehouse(mud-wall timber structure)10cultural property, the Sekinoichi Shuzo buildings, willof interest will be discussed in Chapter 4.

be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 4.
(2) Damage Caused by the Tsunami

2.2.2 Masonry Structures (stone and brickconstruction)

The registered tangible cultural property, the “Izura(1) Damage Caused by Ground Motions

Institute of Arts & Culture, Ibaraki University” (1905)

The strong motion zone caused by the Great Eastin Kita-Ibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, was destroyed

Japan Earthquake (X or higher under the modified

by the tsunami. The port town of Kesennuma City

Mercalli intensity scale) encompassed a wide regionin Miyagi Prefecture is a historical town facing thefrom the Tohoku region to the inland from the Pa-

harbor, and home to many registered tangible cul-cific Ocean coast of the Kanto region. However, its

tural properties built at the beginning of the 20th

ground motions were characterized by predominantcentury. Cultural properties such as the Kakuboshi

short-period components as shown in Chapter 1.

shop (Figure 2.12) and the Sato Family Residence

Therefore, it was an earthquake with a large impact

timber storehouse were swept away by the tsunami.

on buildings with a short natural period such as

Figure 2.13 shows the collapse of the first story of
the 3-story registered tangible cultural property, theOtokoyama Shuzo original store (1912). A recovery
program that makes full use of this historical landscape will be required for this district in the future.
On the other hand, there are wooden cultural property structures that withstood the tsunami. The
Ishinomaki City-designated cultural property, theSt.Haristos Orthodox Church (1880), which is locatedin the Nakaze Park close to the mouth of the Kitakami River, was hit by a tsunami with height of approximately 5m. While it sustained substantial damage, it
survived from being swept out to sea. This building

Figure 2.12 The registered tangible cultural property, theKakuboshi shop, which was swept away by the tsunami

11

Figure 2.13 Tsunami-caused damage to the registered tangible cultural property, the Otokoyama Shuzo original store

Figure 2.14 Collapse of stone storehouse in Makabe, an
Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional
Buildings

stone and brick-constructed buildings. Many of thedamage such as horizontal cracking starting fromstructural styles of cultural property in this strong

the entrance due to ground motions (Figure 2.15).

motion zone were wooden. Masonry structures

According to a survey of the exterior, damage wasare also widely distributed across this region evenconcentrated in the two-story building section. The

though their numbers are less than wooden build-

district where the Takahashi Family Residence isings. Buildings built with tuff stone called nobiru-

located was submerged under a tsunami approxi-

stone (shiogama-stone) produced in the Shiogama

mately 1m deep, but the damage was caused by

City region of Miyagi Prefecture are widely distrib-

the earthquake ground motions. The dimension of

uted across the Tohoku region. This nobiru-stone

piece of stone was 87cm x 29cm x 27cm. Cement

was used to build the Sekinoichi Shuzo registeredmortar was used for the joints. The building was

tangible cultural property building (Ichinoseki City,

unreinforced structurally, but according to a survey

Iwate Prefecture), which will be discussed in moreof buildings (Kesennuma City buildings built withdetail in Chapter 4. Moreover, structures built withsimilar stone materials) that collapsed due to theoya-stone (tuﬀ) produced in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi

tsunami, it seems that cramp steel bars approxi-

Prefecture, are widely distributed across the North

mately 6mm in diameter were inserted to connect

Kanto region. In the case of the present earthquake,stones. This implies necessity for conducting more

many structures made from such stone suﬀered seri-

detailed surveys of damage and reinforcement in theous damage. Makabe (Ibaraki Prefecture), which isfuture. There are also machiya (traditional wooden

an Important Preservation District for Groups of Tra-

townhouses) style buildings surrounding in the area

ditional Buildings, also sustained serious damage but

surrounding the Takahashi Family Residence. While

structural damage was largely restricted to dozo andsome buildings have stone walls between adjacentstone storehouses built with oya-stone. One example

residential buildings, no damage was sustained byof damage to such stone structures is shown in Fig-

the strong ground motions. At the Hashino Blast Fur-ure 2.14. As to brick structures, modern heritage

nace (Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, 1958), which

structures can still be found in prefectural capitals in

is Japan’s oldest western-style blast furnace and a

the Tohoku region such as Morioka City, Sendai City,

nationally-designated historic site, there was dam-and Fukushima City. They are also widely distributed

aged such as displacement of the ashlar stone thatacross North Kanto such as Mito City, Tsuchiura City,

made up the furnace (Figure 2.16). Generally, manyand Kiryu City. Most of these structures sustainedstone constructions, such as stone lanterns vulner-

damage although there were diﬀerences in the level

able to ground motion, were aﬀected by the strongof damage. Examples of damage to cultural property

ground motions. In the case of the Shiogama Shrine

masonry structures are shown below.

in Shiogama City where strong 6 on the JMA inten-

Nobiru-stone was used as wall material for two ofsity scale was recorded, wooden important cultural

the Sekinoichi Shuzo structures (Ichinoseki City) reg-

property structures including the Migimiya (rightistered as tangible cultural property, but the unrein-

shrine) main hall, the Hidarimiya (left shrine) main

forced masonry wall sustained damage as shown inhall, and the Betsumiya (separate shrine) main hall

Chapter 4. The registered tangible cultural property(beginning of the 18th century) were not aﬀected ex-

in Shiogama City, the Takahashi Family Residence

ternally (Figure 2.17), but there was damage to many

(1922), is in part a two-story stone building that uses

stone monuments such as stone lanterns. This dam-

local nobiru-stone. This building sustained significant

age included displaced stones and fallen top stones.

12Damage to stone pagodas vulnerable to ground mo-

Figure 2.20) is a brick structure that has been nomi-

tions could be seen in various regions. Many stonenated as a modern heritage, but cracks appeared

pagodas designated as important cultural property

in the entrance area and emergency measures arecollapsed at the Toshogu Shrine in Sendai City (Figure

being taken to prevent the building from collaps-2.18).

ing. In Sendai City, the 3-story brick architectural

The damage to brick structures will be shown as fol-museum in the Tohoku University campus (before

lows. In Iwate Prefecture, there was no damaged to1910) sustained damage such as cracks in brick walls.

the brick-constructed silos at Koiwai farm (1907-08),

In Fukushima City, the brick-constructed and regis-

which is registered as tangible cultural property. In

tered tangible cultural property, the United Church

the old town of Morioka City, there are two remain-of Christ in Japan, was damaged by the disaster. It

ing important cultural property brick structures. One

was subsequently demolished and removed by theof those is the “Former 99 Bank Head Oﬃce” (1910,

owners due to concerns for the safety of the church

Figure 2.19), which is currently being used as thegoers1). In North Kanto, there was no structural dam-Morioka Takuboku and Kenji Museum. The seismic

age to the timber framed brick structure, the former

intensity in Morioka City was reported to be weak

Tomioka Silk Mill, which is registered as an important

6 on the JMA intensity scale. The building sustained

cultural property. The Kiryu City-designated cultural

damage such as cracked and discolored plaster wall

property, the Yurinkan, sustained some damage toand ceiling inside the second floor. Morioka City’s

the roof tiles and the brick wall was slightly cracked.

“Former Covered Parade Ground” building (1909,

In Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture, there is a district

Figure 2.15 Damage to
the Takahashi Family Residence, a registered tangible cultural property

Figure 2.16 Displaced andcracked stone masonry at
the Hashino Blast Furnace,a historic site in a Kamaishi
City

13

where there are still brick-constructed storehousebuildings from the Taisho era to the Showa era. Oneof those, the Machikado Kura Nomura brick storehouse, sustained significant damage with cracks
appearing in the walls (Figure 2.21). This brick-constructed structure was being used as a cafe before it
was damaged by the earthquake. The Architectural
Institute of Japan is involved in the conservation ofthis building due to its historical value, although it is
not a designated cultural property. The S kindergarten building in central Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture

Figure 2.17 The Shiogama Shrine, an important culturalproperty: Undamaged

is a brick-constructed structure built in 1912 (undesignated), and in recent years it has undergone reinforcement work. However, as shown in Figure 2.19,
inplane shear cracks have appeared in the English
bond brickwork wall, and other major damage has
occurred such as the wall collapsing in out-of-plane.
This building had been structurally reinforced witha steel frame. Nearby residential housing and commercial facilities were undamaged. The first winery
in Japan, the Chateau Kamiya in Ushiku City, Ibaraki
Prefecture, is a brick structure that was built in 1903.
Designated an important cultural property, it was significantly damaged by this earthquake (Figure 2.22).
(2) Damage Caused by the Tsunami

Figure 2.18 Collapse of stone lanterns at the Toshogu
Shrine, Sendai City, an important cultural property

In coastal regions where houses were swept away by
the tsunami, there are very few designated culturalproperty masonry structures. However, there wereundesignated historic brick structures damaged by
the tsunami. Once of those was the Joban line, Sakamoto station oil warehouse which was swept awayby the tsunami. Although not a building, the Ishii lock(1880) at the entrance of the canal was damaged by
the tsunami. The Ishii lock is on the canal beside theKitakami River and is brick-constructed modern heritage designated as an important cultural property.
The damage to the Ishii lock is shown as “2.2.4 Modern Heritage”.

Figure 2.19 Former 99 Bank Head Oﬃce, an important cultural property: Minor damage to internal walls and ceiling14

2.2.3 Reinforced Concrete Structures
Damage to reinforced concrete-constructed architectural heritage caused by ground motions has beensurveyed by the Architectural Institute of Japan.
In the Tohoku region, there are seven reinforced
concrete-constructed architectural heritage selectedby Docomomo Japan, and three of those were in thestrong motion zone2). One of those is the Furukawa
Civic Hall, built in 1966 (Furukawa City, Miyagi Prefecture, Figure 2.233)). This building is located near Osaki
City, Miyagi Prefecture, where the strongest groundmotion during this earthquake was recorded. As a result, non-structural components cracked and underwent deformation2). Similarly, the Fukushima Prefectural Educational Hall, a reinforced concrete building,sustained damage to its non-structural components.
[Reference Literature]1) Nikkei Shimbun (evening edition), 29th March, 2011

Figure 2.21 Disasteraffected brick storehouse, the Machikado
Kura Nomura (Top:
Building exterior; Bottom: Cracked gablewall)2) Architectural Institute of Japan: Preliminary Reconnaissance Report on
the 2011 Tohoku-Chiho Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake, 20113) http://www.city.osaki.miyagi.jp/people/kurashi/manabu/manabu04/03.html

Figure 2.20 Disaster-aﬀected modern heritage, the former
covered parade ground building

15

Figure 2.22 Disaster-aﬀected Chateau Kamiya winery building, an important cultural property Top: Building exterior;
Bottom: Cracked gable wall)2.2.4 Modern Heritage

recovery of this tank is impossible, important cultural

Some industrial heritage and civil engineering monu-

property designation status was removed.

ments, which helped to modernize Japan for a centu-

The Ishii lock (Miyagi Prefecture) was completed inry from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, were

the thirteenth year of the Meiji era (1880) and con-affected by the disaster. These monuments include

sists of a stone lock chamber and brick lock gates.

many canal facilities such as locks, electrical power

While it sustained partial cracking, the damage is notfacilities, filtration plants, blast furnace sites and so

serious. The Yokotone lock gates were completed inon. They can be restored with minor repairs, but

the tenth year of the Taisho era (1921) together withthere was one case of devastating damage in Ishioka

repair work carried out at Japan’s largest river, theElctric Power Plant.

Tone River. It did not sustain serious damage.
Additionally, canals, filtration plants, and steel bridg-(a) Civil Engineering Monument

es sustained minor damage.

The Ishioka No.1 Power Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture
is a conduit type power plant that was completed(b) Industrial Heritage

in 1911 and is in operation even today. It was desig-

The Hashino Blast Furnace site is the remains (circa

nated as a nationally important cultural property in1860) of the first western-style blast furnace to suc-2008 for its high value in terms of Japanese industrial

ceed in iron-making in the twilight years of shogu-

technology, and because it was the first facility tonate rule. The stone-constructed blast furnace basemake use of reinforced concrete technology in Japan.

still remains today, and while distortion, cracks, andIt consists of 10 places: a diversion weir, grit cham-minor defects appeared in part of the rock work due

ber, No.1 and No.2 aqueduct bridges, water tank,water tank spillway, pressure-controlled tank, mainbuilding’s dynamo room, main building’s former
transformer room, and the main building’s switchgear room. Of these, the water tank collapsed three
and a half hours after the earthquake occurred (Figure2.24). The structure itself was not destroyed, but thevirgin soil that supports the bottom of the tank collapsed and the tank was unable to hold out. Since

Figure 2.23 Furukawa Civic Hall which underwent damage to its non-structural components (from Furukawa city
homepage3))

Figure 2.24 Ishioka Electric Power Plant (Top: Before earthquake; Bottom: After earthquake) (Ishioka city, Ibaraki Prefecture)16

to the recent earthquake, its value remains largely(1) Makabe, Sakuragawa City, Important Preserva-

untouched.

tion District for Groups of Traditional Buildings

The Former Tohoku Quarry Factory produces lime-

After a massive fire in 1700, a rural town originatedstone, and is the factory where Kenji Miyazawa, a key

from a castle town, good numbers of traditional

poet of the Japanese modernization era, temporarily

town houses with fire proof detached storehouses

worked as an engineer. Due to the recent earthquake

are preserved in Makabe district until today.

and an aftershock on 7th April, cracks in the ground

Approximately 70% of the 106 traditional structuresappeared inside the factory and wood structure com-were aﬀected by the disaster, with ceilings and walls

ponents became loose.

sustaining damage. Of those, two earthen wall storehouses and one stone storehouse collapsed. Destructive damage such as collapsed buildings was scarce,

2.3 Groups of Traditional Buildings

demonstrating that Japanese traditional houses areresistant to earthquakes, but it was a serious prob-

There are currently 91 Nationally Selected Importantlem for groups of buildings in general.

Preservation Districts in Japan where groups of tra-Common roof damage was caved-in ridge tiles andditional buildings are protected. Six of those districts

falling tiles. Wall damage sustained included cracks

were affected by the recent earthquake (see Tableand detachment of plaster wall and the collapsed

2.1)

pediment part of stone storehouses. (Figure 2.25,

Two of these preservation districts, Makabe,

2.26)

Sakuragawa City (Ibaraki Prefecture) and Sawara,
Katori City (Chiba(2) Sawara, Katori City, Important Preservation Dis-

Prefecture) sus-

trict for Groups of Traditional Buildings

tained extensive

Sawara city was known as a commercial city devel-

damage.

oped along the Ono river, a concentration of modern and contemporary traditional buildings such as
wooden machiya and storehouses.
Approximately 70% of the 92 historic structures wereaﬀected by the disaster, with ceilings and walls sus-

Figure 2.25 A traditional building in Makabe (Top: Before
earthquake; Bottom: After earthquake)17

Figure 2.26 A damaged house in Makabetaining damage and one gate collapsing. The damage

2.4 Historic Sites

to roofs was particular extensive including cavedin ridge tiles; falling tiles; and cracks, peeling, andDamage to archaeological remains caused by the re-caved-in external walls.

cent earthquake and tsunami included cracks in theThis district is on soft ground and liquefaction has

ground in some areas and small-scale landslides, but

occurred, so the embankment of the river that flows

there was no major damage. This is because remains,through the center of the district caved-in, and sub-which were once the hub of human activity suchstantial damage was caused by the movement ofas villages, and old temples and shrines are usually

wood-framing due to uneven settlements along thefound on stable land and in places resistant to disas-river. (Figure 2.27, 2.28)

ters such as floods and tsunami. However, this point
requires special attention because land containing
remains may be developed into residential areas
because some areas damaged by the tsunami aretransferred upland.
Castle remains that date back to the early modern
period are mainly constructed from the end of the
16th century to the beginning of the 17th century.
Many of those are made up of masonry walls. Thesemasonry walls structure of gradient and warping
were created by unique techniques developed in Japan. Although the masonry walls have been restored
every time there was an earthquake or heavy rainover the past 400 years, many of the original masonry walls still remain intact.
However, these walls sustained considerable damage
due to the recent earthquake. Nationally designatedFigure 2.27 Traditional buildings in Sawara (Top: Before
earthquake; Bottom: After earthquake)castles remains were in no small part aﬀected by thedisaster. This included the Edo Castle remains (Tokyo); the Sendai Castle remains (Sendai City, Miyagi
Prefecture); the Wakamatsu Castle remains (Wakamatsu City, Aizu-gun, Fukushima Prefecture); theNihonmatsu Castle remains (Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture); and the Shirakawa Komine Castle
remains (Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture). This
also applied to castle remains designated by local
authorities such as the Soma-nakamura Castle; theIwaki Taira Castle; and the Kasama Castle.

Figure 2.28 Historic riverside damaged

In particular, the masonry walls of Komine Castle
sustained heavy damage, and collapsed in ten places

18

Figure 2.29 Collapsed masonry walls of Komine Castle

Figure 2.30 Collapsed masonry walls of Komine Castle

19

(Figure 2.29, 2.30). However, even the parts that es-

era, including the famous school, the Mito Kodokan.

caped collapse suﬀered other kinds of damage such

In addition to the collapse of the school alarm bell

as loosening, bulging, and cracks, and a great deal of(belfry) within the campus, many buildings sustained

money and time is needed to restore them. Consid-

damage such as falling tiles and cracked walls as aering that hillside landslides occurred commonly in

result of the recent earthquake.

this region, it is believed this was due to strong horizontal oscillation. It is also believed that previous res-

The graves of feudal lords etc. exist in these regions,

toration methods prior to national designation wereand damage to some gravestones was found. The

flawed considering that the sections collapsed on a

Mito Tokugawa Family grave site (Ibaraki Prefecture)

grand scale were concentrated in these sections. As

was located on a hillside, so some gravestones anda cause of this, it could be argued that the shape andpart of the foundation masonry wall collapsed andthe stacking method of the newly added stone wascracks in the land in the embankment area werefaulty and that the masonry wall backfill was insuf-

found due to strong horizontal oscillations.

ficient.
Sendai Castle sustained damage to various sections
due to the 11th March earthquake and an aftershockon the 7th April. The masonry wall collapsed in 11
places, underwent bulging in 7 places, there was alandslide in 1 place, and a collapsed earthen wall in 1
place.
The masonry wall of Edo Castle sustained bulging
and loosening in some parts. Also, the city entrance
was made up of masonry walls, city gates, and bridges. Timber bridges were used up until the Edo era,but one of these is the Tokiwa Bridge which replaceda stone arch bridge in the tenth year of the Meiji era(1877). Instead of western technology, indigenous
technology developed from Kyushu in Japan wasapplied to build this bridge. While it withstood theGreat Kanto Earthquake of 1923 (M=7.9), there arefears it may collapse as a result of the recent earthquake.
The Yushima Seido and Shoheizaka Gakumonjo (Tokyo) are Confucianism-based educational institutions
founded by the Edo Shogunate. Damage sustained bythese institutions include tiles falling from wall roofs
and cracks in the wall. The number of educational institutions educating the children of samurai families
belonging to each clan was 255 at its peak in the Edo20

2.5 Places of Scenic Beauty andCultural Landscapephotographic observation was commenced to monitor movement (beginning of June). A support wasadded as an emergency measure (early June). At the(1) Introduction

end of July, a laser scanning was applied to survey

The Agency for Cultural Aﬀairs created a list of dam-the existing condition of the standing rocks, and aage caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake oftest trench survey was conducted at the base of the

11th March this year to nationally-designated cultur-

standing rock (Figure 2.31) until August. A commit-

al property . This list includes places of scenic beauty

tee meeting on the first round of repairs was held in(gardens etc.) that were aﬀected by the disaster. The

mid-August, when the repair method was decided

Motsu-ji Temple of Hiraizumi (Special Place of Scenic

on. In early September, the rock was secured with

Beauty), which was inscribed on World Heritage Lista chain block, and an additional test trench survey

this year, and the tsunami-damaged Sanriku andwas conducted. A second meeting was held in mid-

Matsushima seashore will be given as case studies.

September, and the standing rocks were repaired in

As opposed to Hiraizumi which is located in inland

the presence of committee members. Figure 2.32

Iwate Prefecture; the coastline place of scenic beauty,

shows the condition of the rocks on 20th September

Matsubara (pine woods seashore), suﬀered devastat-following repairs.

ing damage. Cedar and pine trees in districts where
seawater swept inland are withering or dying. The(3) Place of Scenic Beauty - Takata-Matsubara (Ri-whole picture relating to damage sustained straight

kuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture)

after and subsequent to the tsunami is still unclear.

Facing Hirota Bay, the breathtaking Matsubara (pinewoods) scenery is backed by beautifully-shaped(2) Special Historic Site and Special Place of Scenic

mountains such as Mt. Hikami and Mt. Raijin. How-

Beauty - Motsu-ji Temple (Hiraizumi-Town, Iwate

ever, unfortunately it was greatly damaged by the re-Prefecture)
It is said that the Motsu-ji Temple Buddhist monk no-cent earthquake, as shown in Figure 2.33. This dam-

ticed in May that the standing rocks in the garden’s

sandy beach extending approximately 2km from east

pond were tilting more than before as a result of theto west and 300m north to south, as well as the pine

earthquake and an aftershock (7th April). In late May,

trees that densely grow there. The eastern half was

the place in question was looked over, and then fixed

greatly eroded by the tsunami and large numbers of

Figure 2.31 Test trench at the base of the standing rocks(Photo provided by the Center of the Cultural Heritage to
Hiraizumi)

Figure 2.32 Condition of the rocks on 20th September
following repairs (Photo provided by the Center of the Cultural Heritage to Hiraizumi)

21

age included the topography of the reef, formed by a

fallen pine trees are now scattered over the sandy

tive authorities of Rikuzentakata City are temporarily

area of the western half, which has retained its island

incapacitated, the Iwate Prefecture Development

shape. It is believed that the width of the reef fromand Promotion Bureau is endeavoring to support thenorth to south has reduced to one-third following theconservation of Matsubara. It is seen as important

disaster. Figure 2.34 shows, only one red pine on theto leave behind regenerated pine trees from Takada-western tip of the reef survived without being swept

matsubara to revitalize the area. In order to increase

away. A three-story reinforced concrete building lo-

the number of pine trees by taking cuttings of thecated in the Hirota Bay side acted as a buffer, so thered pine was able to avoid the effect of the tsunami.
Accordingly, it is seen as a miracle that this red pine
survived. Since the surrounding fallen trees were
all shallow-rooted, it is believed that the surviving
red pine has no axial root. A sand embankment was
built to prevent the effect of seawater when a springtide occurs, but the seawater came around behindthe embankment and completely saturated it. As aresult, the branches and leaves at the top of the pinetree are weakening. Considering that the administra-

Figure 2.34 Survived only one red pine, Takata-matsubara

Figure 2.33 Tsunami-swept seashore, Rikuzentakata City22

pine trees remaining in the island-shaped reef and(5) Special Place of Scenic Beauty: Matsubara Coast,

grafting them elsewhere, it is seen as necessary to

Matsushima Nobiru Area (Higashi-Matsushima City,

confirm the status of surviving trees. The topography

Miyagi Prefecture)and pine vegetation sustained serious damage due

There is a need now to combine activities preserving

to the earthquake-induced tsunami, but part of thethe landscape of the nationally-designated Special

beach terrain certainly still remains. From hereon, it

Place of Scenic Beauty, Matsushima, and restoring it

will be necessary to canvass the owner, Rikuzentaka-after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The Higashi-ta City, as well as citizens and other concerned par-Matsushima City, Nobiru area, known as “Oku-ties to confirm their willingness to preserve the area,

Matsushima”, sustained the largest damage among

while at the same time build consensus on restoring

the designated districts. As shown in Figure 2.37, theit to its status as a place of scenic beauty by restoringarea where pine trees were literally uprooted andits topography and vegetation.

carried away by the tsunami has become a basin andwater is still accumulated there (as of 22nd Septem-(4) Rikuchu Kaigan National Park, Jodogahama (Theber, 2011). Half a year has passed since the tsunami

first prefecturally-designated place of scenic beauty,

struck, but a lot of time and patience is required to

Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture)

restore this place of scenic beauty.

The Rikuchu Kaigan National Park stretches 180km
from Iwate Prefecture to Miyagi Prefecture. The entire coastal region sustained extensive damage dueto the major tidal wave that struck in March, and outof the total 124 facilities, 18% (22 facilities) were totally destroyed and 31% (38 facilities) were partiallydestroyed (Figure 2.35, 2.36). These facilities included the picnic site and camping ground in the National
Park. Emergency recovery work by the Ministry of
the Environment has started at the Jodogahama
collective facility area, which is a point for accessing
the Park. However, a lot of the marine erosion and

Figure 2.35 Facilities destroyed by the tsunami (Jodogahama)strangely shaped rocks that were formed over a long
period have largely retained their appearance andgo unchanged. The Jodogahama Visitor Center (corefacility in Hitachihama-cho, Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture that introduces the National Park) held thespecial panel exhibit, “Rikuchu Kaigan National Park Memories of the Disaster and Towards Recovery” fortwo months from August to September this year inorder to relay the status of damage and recovery.

Figure 2.36 The conspicuous dying of pine trees that were
engulfed by the tsunami

23

Higashi-Matsushima City publicly announced asushima (viewing points to the sea and the islands ofscheme to develop and transfer the hill area desig-

Matsushima), as shown in Figure 2.38. Mt. Otakamo-

nated as a protected region due to wide-scale relax-ri is on Miyato island, but the elevated points of thisation of building restrictions in July. However, theisland are virtually all in the special protection area.

proposed place of location is in a place that can be

In fact, there have been moves principally among

seen from Otakamori, one of the four views of Mat-

residents to select a new location that includes thisprotection area. However, rather than being reliant
on relaxing restrictions, it is necessary to consider
ways of minimizing the eﬀect on the landscape andto individually examine the place and building scale.
(6) Yubikan and Its Gardens
This cultural heritage consists of a garden with apond and buildings including the Shoin style study. It
was a han school for the Date clan who dominatedthe region in the 17th century and its gardens date

Figure 2.38 Overlooking the Nobiru area beach and Matsubara from Mt.Otakamori (taken in September, 2010 - theyear before the earthquake)back to the early 18th century.
Although the study collapsed due to the earthquake,

Figure 2.37 Current state of the Matsubara coast in the Nobiru area (half a year after the tsunami struck)24

it had undergone temporary seismic reinforcement

the damage status of the structural components inconstruction after it tilted due to the previous earth-order to design and carry out the repair work (includ-

quake (Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake in 2008).

ing structural reinforcement).

The building collapsed just when extensive repair

Other buildings (a subsidiary building, a corridor,

work was planned to strengthen the building which

and a tea room) sustained a strained framework andhas a lot of openings. The building collapsed toward

partial collapse of the walls although they did not

the south east direction, its pillars broke and walls

entirely collapse.

collapsed. Its Japanese-style thatched roof is cur-

The garden consists of a large pond and islands. The

rently lying on the ground. Fortunately, there wereriver wall on the shoreline has subsided and suﬀered

no casualties as it collapsed at the end of the long

cracks. The river banks need to be repaired exten-

ground motion of the main shock. While it is cur-sively.

rently protected by plastic covering (Figure 2.39),
there are plans to dismantle it carefully and look into

Figure 2.39 Yubikan (Top: Before earthquake; Bottom: After earthquake)25

3. Efforts toward Recovery

nation. This is the only case of delisting that has happened as a result of the disaster. The place of scenic
beauty, Takada no Matsubara, suffered devastating

3.1 Overview

damage with only 1 pine tree remaining. It has not

As of 31st October, Agency for Cultural Aﬀairs haveand to restore the pine forest have got underway.

grasped the status of damage to nationally desig-

It is possible that some of the registered culturalnated, selected and registered cultural properties inproperties which broke up leaving only a foundationeach prefecture. An investigation into the status ofafter being swept away by the tsunami or suffereddamage to buildings of historical value, which haveextensive earthquake damage could be delisted. Of

not been designated as cultural properties, has beencourse we have been trying to preserve as many

conducted by the Architectural Institute of Japan andrepairable properties as we can, but the situation

the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. A preliminary

remains severe.

report has been submitted, yet the whole picture of

Although the level of subsidy for disaster recovery

the damage status has not been revealed. We haverepair of nationally designated cultural properties

dispatched experts as “cultural property doctors” tomay diﬀer according to type of ownership (i.e. public

not only investigate the damage to the immovableor private), the national government (Agency forcultural properties but also provide technical as-

Cultural Affairs) is going to provide subsidies for up

sistance in developing plans to repair them. We also

to 85% of the expenditures. Since registered cultural

dispatched “cultural property rescuers” to the disas-

properties receive support for design management

ter-struck area immediately after the earthquake in

only and are not eligible to receive construction fees,

an eﬀort to preserve the movable cultural properties

disaster relief funds provided by agencies other than(Figure 3.1).

the Agency for Cultural Aﬀairs and private funds will

been delisted, and efforts to protect the pine tree

be used in this regard. It is expected to take about
The water tank of the Ishioka No.1 power plant,

5 to 10 years to complete repair and reconstruction

which had been designated as an important cultural

work.

property, collapsed along with the virgin soil, result-

Although some of the undesignated historical build-

ing in its lifting of important cultural property desig-

ings have been dismantled and relocated, thosewhich suﬀered extensive damage are expected to be
dismantled.
As for locally designated cultural properties, it is impossible to cover repair and reconstruction efforts
with just the budgets of disaster-struck prefecturesand cities and city budgets. Therefore, it is believedthat administrative eﬀorts will be required, including
the implementation of budgets regardless of national
ministries and agencies.
Specialists from the Kansai municipalities including

Figure 3.1 Salvage of water-damaged documents

Hyogo Prefecture who dealt with the Kobe Earth-26

quake 17 years ago will support disaster-struck pre-ture) designed by W.M. Vories was to be torn down

fectures such as Miyagi.

rapidly as a result of this major earthquake, which

When it comes to reconstruction work, it will be

had dealt a lethal blow to the already dilapidated

necessary to investigate and preserve buried cultural

Church abbey building.

properties. There are plans for archeologists from re-

As revealed by the fact that both of the structures

gions unaﬀected by the disaster to provide assistancewere registered as nationally-designated tangible

in this regard.

cultural properties; it became gradually clear throughsubsequent information-gathering and field surveys
that there was particularly extensive damage to

3.2 Initiatives by the Japan National
Trust

cultural heritage which could not be recovered or
restored with government subsidies, making the situation more serious.

The Great East Japan Earthquake which struck on

Further, damage to cultural heritage not only af-

11th March, 2011, not only took many lives and thefected the Tohoku region, but extended over a wide

gentle lifestyles of communities, the significant dam-

range as far as the North Kanto region including dam-age extended to region’s historical culture and theage caused by subsequent frequent aftershocks. It

natural and cultural heritage that coexist with it.

was reported that the majority of damaged cultural

Following the earthquake, the Japan National Trust

property in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture; which is(hereinafter referred to as “JNT”) was kept constantly

developing a policy to establish an Important Pres-updated with the status of damage to natural andervation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings;

cultural heritage in all regions. The shocking informa-

was nationally-designated cultural property (of thetion that the “Rokkakudo” (Ibaraki City, Ibaraki Pre-

117 matters in 34 places, 41 matters in 17 places

fecture), which was constructed by Tenshin Okakura

were aﬀected by the disaster), and that the scale ofbased on his own design, had been swept away by

the damage was more serious than expected (Figure

the tsunami was widely reported a few days after

3.2).

the disaster and had a great impact on many people.

In consideration of such circumstances, the JNTInformation was received in late March that the Fu-

launched the “SEEDS OF FURUSATO - The Great East

kushima Church (Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefec-

Japan Natural and Cultural Heritage Reconstruction

Figure 3.2 The Mori Goshi Gaisha storehouse, a registeredtangible cultural property (Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture)

Figure 3.3 A meeting for the “SEEDS OF FURUSATO - The
Great East Japan Natural and Cultural Heritage Reconstruction Support Project” (29th August, 2011)27

Support Project” (hereinafter referred to as the “Proj-

the support they truly need. The Architectural Insti-ect”) on 20th May. The JNT has promoted protection

tute of Japan is already carrying out disaster damage

activities that go beyond protection measures by thesurveys of historic structures, mainly including reg-

government etc. throughout Japan for over 40 years.

istered cultural property in the various prefectures

These activities aim to protect valuable natural andin the Tohoku and Kanto regions. But coordinating

cultural heritage that requires protection and protect

such achievements so that they encourage concretethem itself without relying on national policy, and toprotection measures has become a pressing issue forpromote the correct use of such heritage while pass-owners seeking technical as well as financial support.

ing them onto next generations (Figure 3.3).

As well as continuing with the already-underway

By supporting the recovery and restoration of natural

donation campaign, the Project is scheduled to carryand cultural heritage as a regional “symbol”, the Pro-out “support work” via a public oﬀering every fiscal

ject aims to restore ways of life rooted in a regional

year over a 10 year period starting from 2012. To

culture and build a base to protect and utilize heri-

lighten the burden of owners etc. as much as possi-

tage. To achieve this, the Project is endeavoring toble, “partner projects” that will simultaneously carry

support the repair and recovery of tangible culturalout fund-raising activities and restoration and re-property (structures) and Important Preservation

covery work will be developed in the future throughDistrict for Groups of Traditional Buildings; monu-

partnerships with groups (irrespective of corporate

ments (remains, places of scenic beauty, natural

capacity) such as NPOs attempting to support themonuments) and cultural landscapes; and folklore

restoration and recovery of natural and cultural heri-cultural assets (irrespective of whether any of thesetage.

heritage have been designated as cultural property

Prior to commencing work, a preliminary survey ofby the national government, etc.).

owner’s requests was conducted from 22nd June via

This project is founded on three underlying prin-

the boards of education in each city and prefecture

ciples. The first one is “REVIVE THE SYMBOLS”, which(the preliminary deadline was 15th July, since whenrefers to supporting natural and cultural heritage

responses have been received on an as needed

as a symbol of a region. The second is “DONATION

basis). According to this survey, 194 requests have

CAMPAIGN”, which aims to collect donations frombeen submitted by 55 municipalities in 12 cities anddomestic and foreign groups and individuals sympa-

prefectures. The survey findings showed that ap-

thetic with this theme. The third is “PARNERSHIP”,

proximately 70% of these (137 cases) relate to struc-which refers to making use of networks with thetures, of which 41 cases (approx. 30%) are nationally-

government, experts (academic society, engineers,registered tangible cultural properties and 52 casesetc.), and domestic and foreign action groups. Ap-(approx. 40%) are undesignated cultural properties.

proximately seven months have passed since the

The survey findings also showed that an overwhelm-

earthquake struck, and as recovery programs con-

ingly large number of these are not eligible for public

cerning upland transfer etc. are examined by various

subsidies for repair and recovery work. In regard to

local governments, the circumstances surrounding

intangible folklore cultural assets, 38 requests fornatural and cultural heritage are constantly chang-recovery support have been received, most of whiching. Close collaboration with experts, NPOs, and local(36 cases) were concentrated in the Sanriku coastal

government is believed to be crucial to gather ac-

region extending from northern Miyagi Prefecture to

curate information and link owners and regions with

Iwate Prefecture. 26 cases (70%) of those requests

28

related to undesignated cultural properties.

the earthquake and the tsunami including about

The aim of this project is not simply to subsidize ex-

600 nationally designated cultural properties (fig-penses required for restoration and recovery work.

ures reported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Through this project, everyone can contribute to the

It took a tremendous amount of time to grasp theprocess for recovering a region’s “symbol”, leading

whole picture of the damage caused by the disasterto machi-zukuri (town-planning) that makes use of a

immediately after it happened and it was deemed

region’s historical culture. I deeply hope that we canvirtually impossible to investigate the status of dam-nurture as many people as possible to maintain theage to these cultural properties. However, under“SEEDS OF FURUSATO”.

these circumstances, the Agency for Cultural Aﬀairs
emphasized the importance of initiating national« Donation for Japanese Earthquake »efforts to relocate the damaged cultural properties

We are extremely grateful to everyone making

to safe places not long after the disaster struck. The

a donation by bank transfer. We would like tocommissioner for Cultural Aﬀairs sent out a message

sincerely thank you.

to seek cooperation from people all over the world

Account name: JAPAN NATIONAL TRUSTon April 1st. Also, a special committee to salvage

Bank name: THE BANK OF TOKYO-MITSUBISHI

cultural properties damaged by the Great East Japan

UFJ, LTD.

Earthquake was organized on April 15th.

Branch: MARUNOUCHI BRANCH (002)

The committee consists of national research insti-

Swift code: BOTKJPJT

tutes involved in cultural administration including the

Account No.: 002-00-1108049

National Institutes of Cultural Heritage, the Indepen-

Bank address:7-1, MARUNOUCHI-

dent Administrative Institution National Museum of

2CHOME,CHIYODA,TOKYO JAPAN

Art, the National Institutes for the Humanities, theNational Museum of Nature and Science, the National Diet Library and academic institutions including
the Japanese Council of Art Museums, the Japanese

3.3 Salvage Project of Cultural
Properties Damaged by the
Earthquake and Tsunami

Association of Museums, the Japanese Society for
Scientific Studies on Cultural Properties, and the Japan Society for the Conservation of Cultural Property
as well as NPO organizations involved in rescuing his-

The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred

torical materials damaged by disasters. The commit-

on March 11th, 2011, triggered powerful tsunami

tee dispatches workers to the disaster-struck areas

waves reaching heights of over 10 m and brought

in order to carry out salvage activities in response

destruction along the Pacific coastline of the Tohoku

to requests made by the boards of education of theand Kanto regions. The tsunami waves destroyed

prefectures aﬀected by the disaster.

and swept away countless buildings; left more thanThe committee initiated its activities in Miyagi Pre-

15,000 people dead; nearly 4,000 people missing;

fecture in April and then extended its activities toand about 100,000 people seeking shelter. It was one

Iwate Prefecture in May and to Ibaraki/Fukushimaof the worst natural disasters this country has everPrefectures in August. Its major projects include theexperienced.

“Ishinomaki Cultural Center”, which has over 10,000

Numerous cultural properties were devastated byitems including the Mouri Collection, and the “Ri-29kuzentakata Municipal Museum”, which specializes inhistory, art and science. Since these institutions are
situated along the coastline, the first floor of the Ishinomaki Cultural Center was completely submergedby the tsunami and a whole two-story building of the
Rikuzentakata Municipal Museum was completely
submerged.
For example, at the Ishinomaki Cultural Center its
work started by removing the sea bottom sludge
and rolled paper from the neighboring paper factory,
which occupied the entire floor. We salvaged all theworks including artworks, archeological artifacts, articles for everyday use, and the Mouri collection materials, and stored them in several facilities in Miyagi
Prefecture after securing a route to transport these
items.
We are still dispatching workers from the committee
in response to rescue requests while taking measures
to temporarily store the salvaged goods by vacuum
freeze drying or washing them in order to prevent
wet items from deteriorating.

Figure 3.4 Salvage activities at the Ishinomaki Cultural Cneter30

4. Status of Damage to
Individual Cultural Properties
and Future Issues(1) Ishinomaki St. John the Apostle Orthodox Church
The Ishinomaki St. John the Apostle Orthodox
Church, which is a municipal-designated culturalproperty, stands on a sandbank close to the estuaryof the Kitakami River (2 km from the estuary). The
building was originally built in 1880 and is said tobe the oldest wooden church in Japan. The tsunami
reached a height of about 5 m around the church.
It is clear from the water mark that the tsunami
reached as high as the ceiling of the 2nd floor. The

severe damage during the 1978 Miyagiken-oki earthquake (M=7.4). It has been utilized as a museum
since it was relocated. The current structure employs
the traditional Japanese timber framework methodof utilizing braces. Before the relocation, the outerwalls adopted the shitami itabari style (wooden
board siding with battens), but mortar with a thickness of about 20 to 30mm is now used for finishing.
Reinforced concrete is used for the strip footing andis connected well to the base of the frame. It is considered to be fortunate that since the church standson the sandbank of the river, it might not be struckby the houses that were swept away. A combinationof several factors seemed to contribute to the survival of the building. (Figure 4.1, 4.2)

area around here has suffered devastating disasteralong the Kitakami River. Almost all the wooden
houses were swept away by the tsunami and only
the Ishinomori Manga Museum, which is made ofreinforced concrete and steel frame, survived. The
church suffered damage and deformation but miraculously survived without being swept away. The
reason why the church survived the disaster is to beinvestigated by future research.
This wooden church was built in 1880 in Sengokucho (about 600m inland from the current location)
but relocated to the current location after suﬀering

Figure 4.1 Ishinomaki St. John the Apostle Orthodox
Church (Ishinomori Manga Musuem in the back)31(2) Sekinoichi Brewery
Sekinoichi Brewery, which is located in Ichinoseki
City in Iwate Prefecture, owns 7 buildings built in theearly 20th century, all of which have been registeredas tangible cultural properties. Currently, these buildings are open to the public and utilized as a beer
factory, a restaurant and a museum etc. to serve as
tourist attractions. Two of these buildings are madeof stone. The stone material used is called “Shiogama
Ishi” (also called Nobiru Ishi in Shiogama) which isa tuff-based stone material produced in Shiogama.
Shiogama is close to the estuary of the Kitakami Riv-

Figure 4.2 Damage caused by the tsunami around the Ishinomaki St. John the Apostle Orthodox Church

er and the river was utilized to transport the stones

utilized again after emergency response measuresat the time of construction of these buildings. The

were applied. These buildings symbolize the highbuildings contain wooden frameworks. Although thelevel of awareness of the owner to keep the regionalbuilding was built in stone walls with inner wooden

culture alive. Also, a symposium on the utilization

frames, structurally the stone materials provide theof cultural properties was held here. The event was

main resistance and rigidity elements. The dimen-

hosted by the Regeneration of Architectural Heritage

sions of the stone are 87cm × 29cm × 23cm, which isand supported by the Japan ICOMOS. In the future,

approximately the same as those used in the histori-

the ICOMOS is expected to actively support thesecal stone buildings in Shiogama city. Of the two stone

initiatives.

buildings, the one which is used as sake tasting area
and a direct sales spot suﬀered serious damage as aresult of the 11th March earthquake in which the top
part (triangular part) of the stone walls of the gableon the south side collapsed (Figure 4.3). This is a typical type of damage seen in masonry construction
and highlights the importance of seismic safety for an
out-plane response. Although the walls on the northside of the building suﬀered no visible damage, they
were converted to brick walls after flood damage
suffered in the mid Showa-era (1960s-1970s). The
other stone building, which is utilized as a beer hall,
suﬀered distinctive vertical cracks on the stone gable
walls. The earthen warehouse, which is called Torigura and hosts events such as ceramic art exhibitions

Figure 4.3 Collapsed stone gable walland concerts, tilted toward the west (Figure 4.4). This
earthen warehouse was deformed as a result of theearthquake and tilted toward the west at an angle ofapproximately 1/30. Although it is called an “earthen”
warehouse, it has a wooden framework and highdeformability. Tile roof did not suﬀer any particulardamage but it was slightly displaced as a result of theaftershock. Although the roof was covered with soil,
the roof tiles were secured with pins. The Sekinoichi
Brewery is located close to the Hiraizumi area. Also,
it is considered to be an important cultural property
to the area.
Registered tangible cultural properties can be preserved and maintained by utilizing them. In this regard, owner judgment is also important. The disasteraffected buildings of Sekinoichi Brewery are being

Figure 4.4 External appearance of the Sekinoichi Brewery’s earthen warehouse (Torigura)32