KAMAISHI, Iwate -- Store owners in this tsunami-devastated city have been left with an uncertain future as the municipal government mulls remodeling the city to boost protection against future natural disasters.
Many store owners in coastal regions of the city -- once known as a thriving manufacturer of steel -- want to quickly restart their businesses. But city officials are considering moving parts of the town during restoration work to improve the city's ability to withstand a tsunami. At the same time, the removal of rubble and construction of temporary housing has been given priority, and the restoration project appears unlikely to go ahead anytime soon, leaving store owners unsure what to do.
For the time being, those in commercial districts are continuing to clear mud and rubble.
"Everyone wants to stay," commented the 62-year-old head of a Chinese restaurant in the city. "But it will be no good for people to renovate their stores only to be asked to move them. People aren't sure if it's all right to reopen, and without an income, there will probably be many who can't endure and end up leaving the shopping district."
Kunihiro Narumi, a professor emeritus at Osaka University who participated in the rebuilding of Kobe after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, said the issue needed to be addressed quickly.
"If officials don't start quickly forming plans to restore the town, the store owners won't be able to hold out and will start leaving. The central and prefectural governments should quickly provide human resources and other support to enable the city, which is busy supporting the lives of its residents, to act quickly," he said.
At the time of the March 11 quake and tsunami, about 270 restaurants, hotels and other businesses lined the streets of a shopping district near Kamaishi Port. Many of the stores near the port were completely wiped out. Others that survived had their first floors filled with muddy water.
The Kamaishi Municipal Government has been considering moving urban and residential districts in the city to improve its ability to withstand tsunamis. But a representative of the city's disaster restoration project promotion headquarters said efforts to restore people's lives were taking priority.
"The reconstruction of people's lives, involving the removal of rubble and the building of temporary housing, takes priority, and we have not got as far as city planning," the representative said.
(Mainichi Japan) April 8, 2011
東日本大震災：復旧か移転か「鉄の街」商店主苦悩 岩手
津波でめちゃくちゃに壊された店内のがれきを撤去する市民＝岩手県釜石市で２０１１年４月５日、阿部弘賢撮影
「鉄の街」として栄えた岩手県釜石市で、被災した沿岸部の商店主たちが頭を抱えている。多くの人が元の場所での早期開店を望んでいるが、市は「津波に強い街」をつくろうと、移転を含めた復興計画を作る検討をしているからだ。ただ、がれき撤去や仮設住宅建設に追われ、計画策定のめどは立っていない。「店の再建後に『移転しろ』と言われても困る」。このままだと、無収入の商店主たちが街を出ていきかねない。
釜石港近くの東西約１キロにわたる商店街周辺は震災前、飲食店やホテルなど約２７０店が軒を連ねていた。津波で港に近かった店舗の多くが全壊。被害の少なかった店舗も１階部分が濁流にのまれた。
釜石市によると、市の人口はピーク時の１９６３年は現在の２倍以上の約９万２０００人で、国内外からビジネス客や船員たちが訪れた。中心部の近くに新日鉄釜石工場があり、日本リーグ７連覇を果たし「北の鉄人」と呼ばれた同社のラグビー選手たちも、たびたび店を訪れた。
市は津波による被害が大きかった市街地や住宅地について、津波に強い街をつくるため移転を含めた計画を作る見通しだ。しかし「がれき撤去や仮設住宅など住民生活の再建が最優先で、都市計画まで手が回らない」（市災害復興プロジェクト推進本部）と策定時期のめどは立っていない。
商店街の各店舗は、店内の汚泥やがれきの撤去を続けている。中華料理店の男性店主（６２）は「みんな残りたい。しかし、店舗を改修してから移転してくれと言われても困る。店を再開していいのか分からず無収入のままだと、我慢しきれず商店街を出ていく店もたくさん出るだろう」と話す。
阪神大震災で神戸市などのまちづくり計画策定に携わった大阪大の鳴海邦碩（くにひろ）名誉教授（都市計画）は「街の復興計画作りに早く取りかからないと、商店主らも耐えかねて外へ流出してしまう。市民の生活支援に追われる市が素早く動けるよう、国や県が早急に人材派遣などの支援をすべきだ」と指摘している。【阿部弘賢、松井聡】
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