Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011

On March 11, 2011, one of the greatest earthquakes in history hit the north-east coast of Japan’s Honshu island, followed by a deadly tsunami reaching as high as 10 meters. These Acts of God took lives of more than 20,000 people and left tens of thousands of families homeless. The quake and the tsunami not only destroyed area’s important industries and commerce but harmed many cultural properties. The Japanese Agency of Cultural Affair reports that just by counting the nationally-designated properties, more than 400 cultural properties were heavily damaged. Many National Treasures, Important Cultural Properties, Special Historic Sites, and Special Places of Scenic Beauty have been affected: several properties will require a long time to recover. Some are totally lost. Tourism sector was also badly hit. Suffering directly from the loss of tourism/cultural assets, transportation, and accommodation facilities, and from the possibility of further earthquakes, scheduled blackouts, and moreover, a general sense of restraint, Japan’s tourism business, outbound as well as inbound and domestic, was drastically decreased. Inbound tourist in April 2011 was less than 40% of the same month previous year. The Tourism Agency is taking every measures to revive the tourism traffic but after four months, it is well lower than the average. Cultural property, as well as cultural tourism, is a precious common heritage and valuable activity for Japan and for human beings. Cherishing these treasures to the future generation is the responsibility of those who live today. This is a report of the damages done by the Japan Earthquake 2011 and the tsunami to the cultural property and the cultural tourism business in Japan, and what measures has been taken to save the properties and to revive the tourism traffic.