Towns". It categorized concepts for tsunami disaster protection and reduction, such as combining hard and soft policies by innovative ideas based on the principle of saving lives through town building, trying to secure safe and immediate evacuation, etc. It also made concrete issues clear and showed proposals for them. It also discussed the following: the nation's role, the sharing of disaster information, mutual communication, the formulation of specific evacuation plans, land usage, restrictions on construction structures, the creation and maintenance of tsunami protection facilities, systems for early restoration and reconstruction, and systems to promote the comprehensive design and building of tsunami-protected towns.

By realizing and embodying the visions and proposals for various reconstruction in order to rebuild livelihoods and restore the damaged areas as soon as possible, MLIT has a great and important role to take on. Its goals include town building, industrial revitalization, the creation of infrastructures that support the restoration efforts, traffic, housing, etc. MLIT will progress its approaches in cooperation with the affected areas and with consideration to the issues and problems which have arisen in various places and on various occasions.

## Social and Economic Situations in the Affected Areas

The areas affected by this disaster, especially those along the coast that were devastated by the tsunami, are facing increasing economic and industrial deterioration. Among those areas are many where the elderly population (65 and older) is more than 30% and where the total population has decreased by more than 5% in the last 5 years. The demographic shift due to depopulation, a decreasing birth rate, and an aging society has been progressing in the local communities. The damages from this disaster made the situation worse in those areas that cannot attract, circulate, or lose manpower, materials, and funds.

Smaller municipalities (in terms of population) have a higher ratio of agricultural, forestry, and fishery industries, but also a higher aging ratio. That translates to a lower financial capability index.

Considering the situations in the affected areas, it is necessary to promote reconstruction by revitalizing and creating new power to help them reconstruct and restore their communities. One of the goals is to give victims' employment first priority so that they can support their own restoration strategies, and industries such as agriculture, forestry, fishery, manufacturing and tourism can be revitalized using the areas' unique local resources.

81: Aging and Decreasing Population in the Afflicted Areas Damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake

1. Affected municipalities are the ones to which are applied the Disaster Relief Act on the Great East Japan Earthquake in Iwate, Miyagi, Aomori, Ibaragi, Tochigi, and Chiba and where aftershocks intermittently occurred after the main shock on March 11, and where many people were harmed or their lives and threatened, evacuated, and need constant support and help.

2. “Population change” is the rate of change between 2005 and 2010. “Aging rate” is from data from 2005.

Source: MLIT, based on “National Population Census” of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication