Vital Demographic Changes in the Tohoku Region Due to the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster

In this chapter, we examine the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster on population change in the Tohoku Region by analyzing the demographic factors behind the geographical differences in human suffering. Using official statistics, we provide an overview of the short-term impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster on population changes in the Tohoku Region. For Yamada Town, Iwate Prefecture, where detailed addresses of tsunami victims were available, we clarified the relationship between housing damage and human losses, and for Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, we clarified the relationship between the behavior of tsunami victims during disasters and their home locations. For Ofunato City and Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, and Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, we used the Zenrin Denshi Residential Map, Google Earth, and the national census to obtain small area damage rates by age class and sex. No correlation was found between the level of dependence on fishing and the damage rates in small coastal communities. However, the damage rate was higher in areas where residential land development had progressed, owing to recent railroad construction and coastal land reclamation. Furthermore, using former municipalities as a geographical unit, for these three cities, simple regression analyses were conducted on the relationship between the housing damage and death rates by age class, and sex, revealing that the correlation was highest for the age class of 65 years and older.