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Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum

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Fukushima · Futaba

37.4554°N, 141.0209°E

Futaba is the town the Fukushima Daiichi plant stands in. It was evacuated entirely in March 2011 and remained closed for over a decade; parts of it are still restricted. The prefecture built this museum here, on the coast, rather than somewhere easier to reach, and that decision is the first thing the building says.

Inside are around two hundred objects — a fire engine crushed by the tsunami, a detailed model of the reactor buildings, documents from the evacuation — arranged to hold three disasters at once: earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, which happened to the same people in the same week. Storytellers who lived through it give talks, and field trips by bus visit Futaba and Namie. It opened in September 2020 and had passed 350,000 visitors by early 2025.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Set by the museum — confirm before travelling

Closed: Confirm rest days before travelling

Entrance Fee

Admission set by the museum — confirm before travelling | Storyteller talks and field trips booked separately

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

2–3 hours | Longer with a field trip

Getting There

Access Information

Nakano, Futaba, Futaba District, on the coast. About 6 minutes by shuttle bus from JR Futaba Station on the Joban Line; the station is reachable by train from Iwaki or Sendai. The museum displays around 200 items and offers talks by storytellers who experienced the disaster and bus field trips to Futaba and Namie. Admission and opening hours are set by the museum — confirm before travelling, and book storyteller sessions and field trips in advance.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Book the storyteller session.** The talks by people who lived through the evacuation are the part of the museum that the exhibits cannot do, and they need arranging in advance. **Take the field trip if you have the time.** The bus goes into Futaba and Namie. Seeing the museum without seeing the town around it gives only half of what the site is for. **Restricted areas still exist nearby.** Some zones remain closed and others were only reopened recently. Follow signage exactly and do not enter areas that are marked. **Three disasters, one week.** The exhibits are arranged to keep earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident together rather than separating them, because that is how they were experienced. **It is a long way from anywhere.** The Joban Line runs infrequently and the coast is thinly served. Plan the day around the timetable rather than the museum's hours.

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