On March 11, 2011 at 14:46, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan occurred 70 kilometers off the Pacific coast of the Tohoku Region. Approximately 30 minutes later a devastating tsunami struck the Sanriku Coast. The suddenly rising waters killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed countless homes, schools, buildings and bridges.
The tsunami was particularly destructive in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures where entire towns and city districts were washed away and swaths of land were reduced to rubble. Further south in Fukushima Prefecture, the tsunami caused a disastrous nuclear accident, but the Sanriku Coast fortunately escaped heavy contamination.
Some town centers were elevated by over ten meters to better protect them from future tsunami
Reconstruction along the coast has largely been completed, with rebuilt town centers, new residential districts and improved coastal defenses. Even in some of the worst-hit towns, such as Rikuzentakata and Minamisanriku, monumental efforts transformed the landscape, raising parts of the former town centers by over ten meters and relocating homes to nearby hills to reduce damage from future tsunami. Efforts to revitalize local communities continue. Read more about the recovery process in our recovery blog.
Tourists are encouraged to visit the Sanriku Coast to enjoy the region's natural beauty and learn about the disaster and the recovery that followed. Museums, memorials and preserved buildings tell the stories of affected communities and pass on lessons to future generations. Tourism also supports local economies and helps keep the memory of the disaster alive.
Below is a list of tsunami-related museums, memorials and other points of interest:
Of a coastal forest of almost 70,000 pine trees only a single tree was left standing by the tsunami. Dubbed the Miracle Pine (Kiseki no Ipponmatsu), the tree stands as a symbol of perseverance along the coast of Rikuzentakata. It unfortunately died from salt toxicity 18 months after the tsunami, but was reinstalled as a permanent memorial. Nearby stands the Iwate Tsunami Memorial, an excellent museum about the tsunami.
The red steel skeleton remaining of the former Crisis Management Center in Minamisanriku is one of the disaster's foremost symbols. Many city workers died when the tsunami completely flooded the building and only a few people, including the town mayor, survived by clinging to the building's antenna. The ruined center has become the focal point of the town's memorial park.
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (until 16:00 from December to February) Closed: Tuesdays and December 29 to January 3 Admission: 600-1000 yen, depending on the program
Designed by architect Kuma Kengo, the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial just across the river from the memorial park offers an unusually engaging approach to learning about the disaster. Its main attractions are video programs that ask visitors to discuss the decisions faced by local people during the tsunami, encouraging them to consider how they would respond themselves. English versions are available. Advance reservations are recommended.
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (entry until 16:00, or 15:30 from November to January) Closed: Mondays (or next day if Monday is a national holiday or the 11th of each month, Jun 12, Sep 1 or Nov 5) and from Dec 29 to Jan 3 Admission: 600 yen
The best place in Ishinomaki to learn about the tsunami is the former Kadonowaki Elementary School, which stands at the foot of Hiyoriyama Park. The students and teachers who were at the school evacuated to the hill on the day of the disaster. A museum inside the former school allows visitors to see classrooms damaged by the tsunami and subsequent fires and learn about the disaster. Among the museum's exhibits are two examples of temporary housing, which used to be ubiquitous along the tsunami-hit coast for several years following the disaster as temporary homes for displaced people. Nearby is the Ishinomaki Minamihama Tsunami Memorial Park, a spacious park with a small museum at its center.
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 Closed: the exhibition hall is closed Wednesdays (or next day if Wednesday is a national holiday or the 11th of each month, June 12, September 1 or November 5) and December 29 to January 3 Admission: Free
Unlike several other preserved schools where the students escaped, the former Okawa Elementary School is a particularly painful memorial: 74 pupils and ten staff members died in the tsunami. Located about four kilometers inland, the school stands as a reminder of the consequences of underestimating the danger and failing to evacuate to safety. The tragedy also led bereaved families to sue the city and prefectural governments over failures to protect the children. Visitors can walk around the ruined building and visit a small exhibition hall about the disaster.
The Kesennuma City Memorial Museum consists of the ruins of a former high school that is located on a peninsula eight kilometers south of Kesennuma's city center and was damaged by the tsunami. The school was turned into an excellent museum which opened to the public in spring 2019. Some of the school's rooms have been preserved in the way they were left by the tsunami.
Located on a hill overlooking Kesennuma's waterfront, this memorial park offers views over the rebuilt city, fishing port and surrounding bay. Plates bearing the names and ages of local victims make the scale of the loss deeply personal. Sculptures and a sail-shaped monument provide places to reflect on the disaster and the city's recovery.
The Taro Kanko Hotel is a 6-storey hotel in the Taro district of Miyako City which lost its two lowest floors to the tsunami. The former hotel has been preserved as a memorial to the disaster. The exterior of the building can be viewed freely, while guided tours of the interior require advance reservations by phone.
Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi
Former Nobiru Station
Museum Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 Museum Closed: Mondays (or the next weekday if Monday is a national holiday) and December 29 to January 3 Museum Admission: Free
Located only a few hundred meters from the coast, Nobiru Station along the JR Senseki Line was flooded by the tsunami. The line and station have since been relocated 500 meters inland, but the former station platform has been preserved, alongside a small memorial park with a monument for the local victims. The former station building houses a small museum about the disaster and the city's recovery, with exhibitions on both floors. Nobiru Station is located between Matsushima and Ishinomaki.
Hours: 9:30 to 16:00 (until 17:00 in July and August) Closed: Mon and the 4th Thu of each month (except holidays), New Year Admission: Free
The former Arahama Elementary School on the coastal outskirts of Sendai sheltered 320 students, teachers and residents as the tsunami flooded its lower two floors. The preserved building displays damaged classrooms and exhibitions about the disaster, the evacuation and the surrounding community. Its rooftop offers views towards the sea and across the coastal plain towards central Sendai.
Natori City, Miyagi
Natori City Earthquake Reconstruction Museum
Hours: 9:30 to 16:30 (10:00 to 16:00 from December to March) Closed: Tuesdays (or next day if Tue is a holiday) and Dec 29 to Jan 3 Admission: Free
This small museum tells the story of Natori's coastal Yuriage district, south of Sendai, where the tsunami destroyed an entire community and killed more than one in ten residents. A model recreates the former neighborhood, with small flags recording residents' names and conveying the personal loss behind the devastation. Nearby, the Natori Earthquake Disaster Memorial Park provides another place to remember the victims.
Yamamoto Town, Miyagi
Former Nakahama Elementary School
Hours: 9:30 to 16:30 (entry until 16:00) Closed: Mondays (or next day if Mon is a holiday) and Dec 28 to Jan 4 Admission: 400 yen
At Nakahama Elementary School in Yamamoto, near the Fukushima border, 90 students, staff and other evacuees survived by sheltering in a rooftop storage space and spending a cold night above the floodwaters. Visitors can explore the damaged school, watch a video and join a guided visit to the rooftop refuge. Models recreate the surrounding coastal neighborhoods, which were destroyed by the tsunami and were not rebuilt on their former sites.
Further south, beyond the Sanriku Coast, the following sites in Fukushima Prefecture commemorate the tsunami and the nuclear disaster that followed.
Futaba Town, Fukushima
The Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (entry until 16:30) Closed: Tuesdays (or next weekday if Tue is a holiday) and Dec 29 to Jan 3 Admission: 600 yen
This impressive museum, about four kilometers north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, documents the earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear accident. Photographs, videos and objects tell the story of the disaster, the evacuation of entire communities and the long process of recovery. The exhibitions explain how the nuclear accident compounded the destruction caused by the tsunami and continues to affect residents' lives.
Futaba and Namie towns, Fukushima
Fukushima March 11 Memorial Park
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 (entry until 16:30) Closed: Tuesdays (or next weekday if Tuesday is a national holiday or the 11th of the month) and December 29 to January 3 Admission: Free
Opened in May 2026 about a kilometer from the earthquake and nuclear disaster museum introduced above, this spacious memorial park centers on a striking memorial facility built into an artificial hill matching the height of the tsunami. The park also preserves remains of the settlements that stood here before the disaster.
Namie Town, Fukushima
Ukedo Elementary School
Hours: 9:30 to 16:30 (entry until 16:00) Closed: Tuesdays (or next day if Tue is a holiday) and Dec 28 to Jan 4 Admission: 300 yen
The former Ukedo Elementary School in Namie was badly damaged by the tsunami, but its students and staff successfully evacuated to higher ground. The preserved classrooms and gym show the force of the water, while exhibits explain the evacuation. The surrounding coastal community was devastated by the tsunami and then emptied by the nuclear accident, leaving the school as a reminder of a neighborhood that disappeared. It stands about a kilometer north of the memorial park introduced above.
Below is a short introduction to some of the worst hit cities along the coast:
Ishinomaki, a large city in Miyagi Prefecture, suffered the biggest losses of life and property of any municipality when the tsunami inundated much of the city's waterfront districts and low lying neighborhoods. Hiyoriyama Park, a hilltop park in the center of Ishinomaki, overlooks the parts of the city that were flooded by the high waters. A large memorial park was opened in the coastal district below Hiyoriyama Park.
The tsunami hit Minamisanriku hard and swept away nearly the entire town center. Over the past years, the grounds of the former town center were elevated by over ten meters to better protect it from future tsunami. The red skeleton of Minamisanriku's Crisis Management Center was left standing on ground zero and has become a prime symbol of the disaster. A memorial park was opened around the ruined building.
Kesennuma is a major commercial fishing port and one of the country's busiest bonito and swordfish processors. The tsunami destroyed several parts of the city and left its fishing industry in shambles. In the meantime, the fish market has been repaired, and the industry has recovered.
Rikuzentakata was devastated by the tsunami, which swept away much of the city center. Since then, the grounds of the former city center have been raised by over 10 meters. A spacious and attractive memorial park was opened along the coast which includes the Miracle Pine, the ruins of a former roadside station and a memorial museum.
Kamaishi has been devastated over the centuries by both war and tsunami. Known as the birthplace of the iron industry in Japan, Kamaishi was hit by a 14 meter high tsunami on March 11, 2011. The water swept over the city's recently completed tsunami breakwater and through its low-lying industrial districts, destroying the local fishing industry and leaving several huge ships beached on dry land.
Miyako was one of the northernmost cities significantly damaged by the tsunami. The rising waters swept across many of the city's coastal districts, causing widespread damage. Some of the tsunami's most unforgettable videos were filmed here, depicting a huge black swell overtaking the seawall protecting the town and sweeping boats and cars and everything in its path along with it.
