Tag - miyagi

 
 

MIYAGI

Suguru Kikuchi, an employee of the Yamamoto town government in Miyagi Prefecture, on Jan. 13
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2026
Using experience from 3/11 to help Noto reconstruction
Suguru Kikuchi had long hoped to repay the assistance his hometown received after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Yumi Sakurai (second from left in the background) performs on a piano damaged in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and later restored, at Sendai Airport in Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2026
Sendai Airport fills with music from piano once damaged in 2011 tsunami
After being made playable again, the piano has been placed at the airport for a limited period every year since 2021 to encourage people to reflect on the disaster.
Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai said during an interview in Sendai on Tuesday that he intends to have three seawalls finished before his current term ends in 2029.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2026
Miyagi governor sees different challenges 15 years after Tohoku disaster
“When you get 15 years older, your health conditions and other circumstances change,” said the governor of Miyagi Prefecture, which was affected by the March 2011 disaster.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako wave to well wishers on the emperor's birthday on Monday at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. The couple and their daughter will visit the Tohoku region in March and April.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2026
Emperor and his family to tour Tohoku region 15 years after disaster
During their visit, the imperial family will inspect progress made in reconstruction efforts and meet with people in areas affected by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
A stone monument marking the tsunami’s furthest reach stands beside cherry trees, planted by Sakura Line 311 after the 2011 triple disaster, in full bloom at Jodoji Temple, in the city of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2026
Flowers bloom in Tohoku as symbol of resilience
Colorful seasonal flowers bloom to symbolize the resilience of communities hit hard by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
A Bangladeshi student seeking support from Food Bank Sendai shows the only money he has remaining, in Sendai in December.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Feb 16, 2026
Food bank sees surge in requests for support from foreign students
The organization says such students cannot depend on support from their family back home due to factors such as political instability.
Among the 120 athletes representing Japan at the Milano Cortina Games are competitors raised in some of the country’s snowiest landscapes, as well as others who grew up far from dependable winter conditions.
OLYMPICS
Feb 4, 2026
The regions driving Japan’s Winter Olympic success
Some Japanese Olympians were raised in the country’s snowiest landscapes, while others grew up far from dependable winter conditions.
According to a court ruling, Tomu Fujinuma transported a high school student from Thailand to Myanmar in January 2025 after the boy was kidnapped from Miyagi Prefecture, and forced him to take part in fraud at a scam hub in Myanmar.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 20, 2026
Man found guilty of sending student to Myanmar for fraud
A judge said that transporting the student, including by ship, to a place from which he could not return by himself was “a malicious act.”
The United States has informed Japan that it hopes to expand Marine Corps live-fire training at five Ground Self-Defense Force firing ranges to include the use of heavy weapons such as antitank missiles and rocket launchers.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2025
U.S. hoping to use heavy weapons in training at five GSDF sites
An official from the Defense Ministry said that it plans to allow the use of such weapons after obtaining the understanding of regional communities.
Actor Ken Watanabe responds to customers' requests to take a selfie with him at his cafe called K-port in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2025
Actor Ken Watanabe closes cafe he opened to support Tohoku reconstruction
The actor began visiting evacuation centers in affected areas soon after the March 2011 disaster and opted to open the cafe to offer a place where people could enjoy chatting.
A bear warning sign is displayed in Shirakawa-go, a popular tourist spot in Gifu Prefecture. A town in Miyagi Prefecture has retracted its social media post warning of a bear sighting after discovering an image submitted to it had been generated using artificial intelligence.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 27, 2025
Japan town retracts bear sighting warning sparked by AI image
The town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture issued the warning after receiving the image of a bear in a residential area, but later discovered it was generated using AI.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako plan to visit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures next year, 15 years after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit the region, sources have said.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2025
Imperial couple to visit disaster-hit northeast in 2026
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako plan to visit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima 15 years after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the region.
Moriumius Marine & Food, in the Ogatsucho district in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, on Oct. 19
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2025
New winery aims to revitalize tsunami-hit district in Miyagi
With the district’s population continuing to decline since the disaster, an official said, “We want the winery to become a new engine (for local revitalization).”
Ruka Ogura (from front row left) Mitsuki Komatsu and Yumeto Hirama attend a discussion marking the 10th anniversary of World Tsunami Awareness Day at the U.N. Headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2025
Students from tsunami-hit Sendai speak at U.N. headquarters
The high school students emphasized the significance of disaster prevention education.
Hisako Aihara looks at a photo of central Sendai taken by the U.S. military before the July 1945 air raid on the city, at Sendai's War Reconstruction Memorial Hall.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Nov 3, 2025
How a family in Sendai narrowly escaped a U.S. air raid in 1945
While the city was reduced to ashes, Hisako Aihara and her family managed to evacuate in time thanks to a tipoff from a worker at a military facility.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel unload a box trap during a training exercise on wildlife damage control.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2025
SDF to provide logistical aid for bear capture efforts
There have been over 8,000 reported bear sightings in the prefecture this fiscal year, and 50 people have suffered injuries, including three fatalities.
Yoshihiro Murai, 65, celebrates his victory in the Miyagi gubernatorial election on Sunday night.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 27, 2025
Yoshihiro Murai clinches sixth term as Miyagi governor
Murai had the backing of prefectural assembly members of the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan Innovation Party and Komeito.
A bear was shot dead in the city of Sendai under a revised law allowing city authorities to kill bears in urban areas.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2025
Bear shot in city of Sendai under revised law
The bear appeared near a residential area in Kagitori, Taihaku Ward, in the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture,
People observe a moment of silence on March 11, the 14th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, near the ruins of the former disaster prevention center in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2025
Remains identified as 6-year-old missing after 2011 tsunami
The victim was at home in Iwate Prefecture and was washed away by the tsunami that came following the Great East Japan Earthquake.
A bear warning sign. More and more wild bears have been spotted in Japan in recent years, even in residential areas, due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2025
One dead, one missing in Japan after bear attack
More and more wild bears have been spotted in recent years due to factors including a declining human population and climate change.

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The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival