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FrancoAngeli Journals

percorsi

No. 111 (2024)

Domestication of the Seawall in the reconstruction territories of the Great East Japan Earthquake

  • Agim Kërçuku
  • Toshihiko Abe
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/TR2024-111017OA
Submitted
aprile 1, 2026
Published
2026-04-27

Abstract

This article is the second in a series examining the relationship between spatial design culture and demographic transition in Japan.2 The first essay appeared in issue 108-109 of this journal (Kërçuku, Murayama, 2025). The investigation here focuses on the consensus-building process of machizukuri in Kesennuma, which enabled the local community – together with designers appointed to mediate with the Miyagi Prefecture – to conceive the coastal protection system, including a seawall, as an integral component of the urban and environmental landscape. Machizukuri is a Japanese term; it has no direct equivalent in English but can be roughly understood as community design and development. This approach contrasts with those adopted in other contexts, where protective barriers have disrupted spatial, visual, and functional relationships with the topography.

References

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