On July 1st-4th, James Simpson and JSW guest writer Hisanori Hirata visited Miyagi Prefecture to conduct a tour of the areas affected by the tsunami, as well as to deliver anti-insect supplies to the evacuation center in the town of Onagawa. Reports from this trip were written up over the course of July and posted here on Japan Security Watch. This post brings together all those posts, and adds some final features to the appendices.
-
Visiting the Disaster Zone – Introduction
-
Ishinomaki
-
Minami-Sanriku
-
Kesennuma
-
Onagawa
-
On the Plains – From Higashi-Matsushima to Minami-Soma
* * * *
Report Appendices
Note on SDF Activities
As noted in the report, the Self-Defense Forces were winding down their activities in the region during our visit. Their initial search and rescue phase and the recovery of the dead ended July 1st when the tri-service taskforce headed by Lt. Gen. Eiji Kimizuka was disbanded. During our visit, the SDF’s key role at that time was providing relief to the most isolated and needy of areas, as well as bathing facilities. From today, the start of August 2011, the individual units are wrapping up their work as evacuees move into pre-fabricated housing and become more able to take care of themselves.
Otsukare-sama deshita!
* * * *
Report Location Map
[cetsEmbedGmap src=http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=215299861823771183255.0004a75be8f4989c40ae3&msa=0 width=575 height=575 marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 frameborder=0 scrolling=no]
* * * *
Key Statistics
Location | Usual Daytime Population | Combined Fatalities | Fatalities as %age of Pop. | Total # of Houses | Houses Fully Destroyed | Destroyed Houses as %age of Total |
Ishinomaki | 160835 | 5867 | 3.6% | 57812 | 28000 | 48.4% |
Kesennuma | 63841 | 1467 | 2.3% | 25464 | 8383 | 32.9% |
Natori | 69311 | 1019 | 2.1% | 25150 | 2745 | 11.0% |
Iwanuma | 43326 | 183 | 0.4% | 15530 | 705 | 4.5% |
Higashi-Matsushima | 35522 | 1181 | 3.3% | 13995 | 4791 | 34.2% |
Yamamoto | 13649 | 714 | 5.2% | 5233 | 2134 | 40.8% |
Onagawa | 10390 | 923 | 8.9% | 3,968 | 2979 | 75.1% |
Minami-Sanriku | 16294 | 1205 | 7.4% | 5295 | 3167 | 59.8% |
Minami-Soma | 69171 | 693 | 1.0% | 23643 | 4682 | 19.8% |
Shinchi | 7141 | 113 | 1.6% | 2461 | 548 | 22.3% |
*All data from CATDAT, as of June 16th
* * * *
Complete Slideshow

loading...
Related posts:
A former contributor to World Intelligence (Japan Military Review), James Simpson joined Japan Security Watch in 2011, migrating with his blog Defending Japan. He has a Masters in Security Studies from Aberystwyth University and is currently living in Kawasaki, Japan.
His primary interests include the so-called 'normalization' of Japanese security (i.e. militarization), and the political impact of the abduction issue with North Korea.
James Simpson has 254 post(s) on Japan Security Watch
8 comments
Tohoku Trip: Onagawa says:
Jul 31, 2011
[...] HirataRobert E. KellySam PorterGavan GrayContact usSpecial FeaturesGuest PostsJSW TalksOn The SceneTohoku Research Trip ReportYouTube FridaysJapanMSDFGSDFASDFAsia-PacificChinaSouth KoreaNorth KoreaUSView All PostsRSS [...]
Tohoku Trip: Kesennuma says:
Jul 31, 2011
[...] HirataRobert E. KellySam PorterGavan GrayContact usSpecial FeaturesGuest PostsJSW TalksOn The SceneTohoku Research Trip ReportYouTube FridaysJapanMSDFGSDFASDFAsia-PacificChinaSouth KoreaNorth KoreaUSView All PostsRSS [...]
Tohoku Trip: Minami-Sanriku says:
Jul 31, 2011
[...] HirataRobert E. KellySam PorterGavan GrayContact usSpecial FeaturesGuest PostsJSW TalksOn The SceneTohoku Research Trip ReportYouTube FridaysJapanMSDFGSDFASDFAsia-PacificChinaSouth KoreaNorth KoreaUSView All PostsRSS [...]
Tohoku Trip: Ishinomaki says:
Jul 31, 2011
[...] HirataRobert E. KellySam PorterGavan GrayContact usSpecial FeaturesGuest PostsJSW TalksOn The SceneTohoku Research Trip ReportYouTube FridaysJapanMSDFGSDFASDFAsia-PacificChinaSouth KoreaNorth KoreaUSView All PostsRSS [...]
Tohoku Trip: On the Plains – From Higashi-Matsushima to Minami-Soma says:
Jul 31, 2011
[...] HirataRobert E. KellySam PorterGavan GrayContact usSpecial FeaturesGuest PostsJSW TalksOn The SceneTohoku Research Trip ReportYouTube FridaysJapanMSDFGSDFASDFAsia-PacificChinaSouth KoreaNorth KoreaUSView All PostsRSS [...]
j says:
Sep 21, 2011
It seems that the SDF is working deligently on the matter. I imagine they want to maintain good public relations as well as fulfill their purpose.
loading...
James Simpson says:
Sep 21, 2011
Well, the SDF side of the mission is now over and they have done a great job all round, making a name for themselves that will hopefully stick.
As for their public relations, it is frequently overly-cautious and closed off. It was more visible and gave far many more public statements than effort, but the PR missions was held very close to its belt. Still, here too they did a great deal of good work.
loading...
Robert says:
Sep 21, 2011
The more savvy members of the SDF will come out of this with many lessons learned and one will be to have a more proactive PR machine.They will realize how much they have gained reputation wise and will try to build on it.
loading...