Great East Japan Earthquake Tsunami Memorial Museum reaches 1.5 million visitors

The Great East Japan Earthquake Tsunami Memorial Museum in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, celebrated reaching 1.5 million visitors on September 29, 2026. The milestone ceremony honored the 1.5 millionth visitors, Masanori Goto and Akane Sasaki, who were traveling by motorcycle through the coastal regions.

Opened in September 2019, the prefectural facility documents the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami and tracks the subsequent reconstruction efforts. The museum attracts approximately 200,000 visitors annually, with a growing number of international tourists.

In the Kamaishi region, survivors continue to share personal accounts of the disaster to aid in disaster prevention education. One survivor recounted how the tsunami did not appear as a traditional breaking wave on the horizon but rather as a rapid rise in water levels that overwhelmed sea walls. The survivor emphasized that proactive education and the ability to think and act independently allowed over 90 percent of Kamaishi's students to survive the event.