Utatsu

We remember the 10th anniversary of the 3.11 Tohoku disaster. We remember those who perished and the survivors who barely had a place to return to in the tragic aftermath. Recovery is not complete, but it persists with the unified resilience of the people of Tohoku and beyond.

^{Field work in}^{Shizugawa, Minamisanriku in the summer of 2011. / Photo by Matt Bunza}

From 2011 to 2014, the MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative (forerunner of eTOPOS) worked on the frontlines with three communities in Minamisanriku, Miyagi-ken: Utatsu, Baba-Nakayama, and Iriya. Each project became a “Stage for All,” responding to the urgent need for informal places to gather outside their temporary shelters and share a cup of tea. It was not so much about the things that were built but the people who created these labors of strength and unity.

Two girls sitting at a table surrounded by a canopy, in the alley of a temporary housing site. — *^{The youngest generation in Baabadoru 5-chome, Utatsu. / Photo by Shun Kanda}*

With the bare minimum of a bench, a table, and a canopy in an alley of a temporary shelter site, we worked with the residents of Baabadoru 5-chome 「バーバドール5丁目」to build a stage for all in the midst of dystopia. The local grandmothers (baba) brought their favorite pastries to sweeten the conversations.

The Garden Pavilione project, an airy wooden shelter with a bamboo porch — ^{All generations meet in the Garden Pavilione, Baba-Nakayama.}

A memorial and gathering place assembled from tsunami debris found among villagers’ homes became the Garden Pavilione 「ガーデンパビリオーネ」. Fishermen and other survivors of Baba and Nakayama villages, with volunteers from all over Japan, created a temporary stage for all during this post-disaster state of limbo.

Two women looking out over a field from a bamboo platform — *^{Reconnecting to the}*^{satoyama of Iriya}*^{, the land between mountain and field.}*

A prominent boulder anchored a stage for all atop a bamboo platform, Rinrin Popolo 「りんりんポポロ」. Marked by the Big Rock overlooking the rice fields and mountain afar, it is a place to enjoy the calm together, to imagine their future in the days ahead.

These vibrant people fuel the power of these places. Our collaborations continue. Collective strength and creative energies are at work, in hopefully planning and building for the next generations –

BEYOND 3.11.

~ eTOPOS, March 2021

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Title image: A renewed ecological vision for Minamisanriku, restoring people to place, home and the sea. / Rendering by Karin Schierhold

APhillips_shizugawa-rough-sketch — This general scheme generated during the Japan Design Workshop shows the different moments on the estuary. First, the narrow riverbed where habitats currently occur. Then, as the river behaves naturally, it should considerably broaden and create additional habitats. And coming to the mouth of the river, we envision it as a park, a space open to the public where a market will be located.

As one rounds the bend into Utatsu and the former commercial district of Isatomae, they are lead along a river’s edge. The river begins in the hills far to the northwest of the community. After collecting contributions from several valleys of stepped rice paddy fields, the river sweeps into Isatomae’s bay, where a give and take of salt and freshwater occurs with every turn of the tide. The river’s organic lines are accentuated by hilltop shrines that mark its sanctity and significance to human settlements of the area.

Over time, however, man’s development steadily encroached. Capped, sheer embankments, levees, and tidal gates all narrowed and constrained the natural dynamics of the river. Originally an important commercial and spiritual corridor, the river steadily became obscured and relegated to the status of a community backwater.

isatomae-estuary-plan-sm — *The initial sketch and overlaid plans for restoring Isatomae’s original estuary ecosystem.*

With the 3.11 tsunami came opportunity for the river. The tragic and fearsome forces of the tsunami’s repeated assault eroded and destroyed much of the infrastructure that confined the river. It reclaimed its territory. Through human tragedy came renewed opportunity for the river, and thus for other life.

The fluctuating nature of an estuary makes for tremendously diverse environs: boundaries fluctuate, salinity fluctuates, temperature fluctuates, nutrients fluctuate, and flows fluctuate. This diversity then inspires and supports a greater diversity of biotic life, and this species (and genetic) diversification results in resilience. Estuaries are important feeding grounds rich with life. For humans, they dampen storm surges and provide food and recreation.

APhillips_shizugawa-estuary-programs-eco-zones-sm — *Shizugawa Estuary and Programs and Eco Zones*

The dynamism and diversity of an estuary could serve as the vibrant heart of a new vision for community. The combination of a vibrant ecology and a practice of planning in accordance with environmental processes will result in a more disaster-resilient base. Through reconnection to natural ecology, this aquatic-informed community will be better equipped to endure and transcend future, inevitable natural events.

By Adele Phillips / Land Use Planner
Graphics by the author.

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About the author

Adele draws inspiration and energy from the natural environment as an artist and land use planner. After graduating from MIT’s Master of Architecture program, she joined the MIT Japan Design Workshop in working with the local communities of Minamisanriku after the 3.11 disaster. She currently works as a land use planner for the County of Mendocino, in northern California.

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How connected is your community with your natural environment? Have you seen that relationship disrupted, like in Minamisanriku? What other examples or visions for a more connected future have you seen? Let us know through the contact form, or post on our Facebook page or on your platform of choice using the hashtags #beyond2020nx #skyMEMO.

Learn more about the theme Beyond 2020_nx.

A Stage for All みんなの舞台 : 10 Years Since 3.11

The river’s rightful place in Minamisanriku

About the author