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Minamisanriku 311 Memorial

Minamisanriku3.11Kengo KumamemorialBoltanski

Miyagi · Minamisanriku

38.6785°N, 141.4479°E

Minamisanriku lost a large part of its town and a large number of its people in March 2011, including staff at the disaster prevention centre who stayed at the microphone broadcasting evacuation warnings until the water took the building. The steel frame of that building still stands in the memorial park, and this interpretive centre opened beside it in October 2022.

It is a Kengo Kuma building, the last of three he designed for the town's rebuilding, and it works differently from most museums: the core is a learning programme in which visitors watch testimony from residents and are then asked what they would have done. Christian Boltanski's work is installed permanently. It is next to the Sansan shopping street, which is where the town's economy restarted.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Closed: Closed Tuesdays and over the New Year

Entrance Fee

Charged by learning programme — confirm before travelling

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

90 minutes – 2 hours

Getting There

Access Information

Shizugawa Itsukamachi 200-1, Minamisanriku, Motoyoshi District, inside the Earthquake Recovery Memorial Park. About 40 minutes by car from Sanriku Expressway exits, or by BRT to Shizugawa. Open 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Closed Tuesdays and over the New Year. Admission is set by the learning programme booked, which varies in length; confirm before travelling. Designed by Kengo Kuma and opened in October 2022, with a permanent installation by Christian Boltanski. The steel frame of the former disaster prevention centre stands in the same park, and the Sansan shopping street is adjacent.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Admission depends on the programme.** The centre charges by the learning session booked rather than a flat ticket. Check what is running on your date. **Watch the testimony and answer the question.** The programme asks visitors what they would have done. It is not a passive museum and that is the design. **Walk out to the disaster prevention centre.** The steel frame in the park is where staff broadcast evacuation warnings until the water reached them. It is the reason the town is known nationally. **Eat at Sansan.** The shopping street next door is where the local economy restarted after 2011 and serves the kaisendon the town is known for. **Closed Tuesdays.** And the BRT, which replaced the railway, runs to its own timetable — check both.

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