Paper short abstract:

Drawing on five years of research on local opposion to governmental plans of seawall construction in Mōne village, Miyagi Prefecture, this paper reflects on the negative impacts of a wall, that is no longer needed from the relocated villagers, on the ecosystem of Mōne District,

Paper long abstract:

The coastal city of Kesennuma was one of the most heavily damaged municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture, where more than thousand people died, and 220 people are still missing in the course of the events on March 11, 2011. As part of the reconstruction efforts Miyagi Prefecture presented plans for tsunami seawalls up to 12m in height, even though the most recent tsunami had topped 12m. In Mōne, a fishing village in Kesennuma, residents submitted a formal request to the mayor of Kesennuma to withdraw the plan for its 10m seawall because most households would relocate to a new residential area constructed by the government. By presenting results of my own five-years survey on the debates produced by local people opposed to the seawall construction, this paper will focus on the negative impacts the wall could also have on the ecosystem of Mōne District.