Tohoku Update: The ride to recovery
On March 11, 2011, a force-9 earthquake struck the Pacific coast of Japan, setting off a tsunami that swept inland, wiping out villages and towns, and damaging nuclear power plants. It was the world’s fifth strongest earthquake this century, and the most powerful ever on record in Japan.
More than half (4,465) of the 8,000 homes in the beautiful town of Rikuzentakata were either damaged or completely destroyed. So it’s only fitting that this Iwate prefecture spot would be 2013’s host for the Tour de Sanriku Cycling Challenge – the two-wheeled tournament that started in October 2012 in support of recovery efforts.
Standing near the former site of Rikuzentakata station, it is hard to imagine the stores and houses that used to line the streets of this now-derelict town. In their place, here and there, can be seen what remains of the missing buildings’ foundations. But the town’s survivors are determined to return to their former way of life, and the Tour de Sanriku has given them something to focus on.
2013’s event included three special participants: Tokyoite architect Manabu Chiba; American Greg LeMond, three-time winner of the Tour de France; and Shelly Fredrickson, from Alaska, whose younger brother, Monty, lost his life in the disaster. As an assistant language instructor, Monty taught English at elementary schools in Rikuzentakata before the tsunami hit.
Looking out over the town, Shelly says: ‘It’s beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The greenery, farms, ocean, the people in