Destroyed by Tsunami, Small Village Considers Move

"The tsunami flattened Koizumi, a district of Kesennuma city, destroying 266 of its 518 households and damaging or flooding 42 more -- affecting 60 percent of the community's households. It also killed about 30 of its estimated 1,800 residents, including Haga's 87-year-old mother, and left survivors in a shelter in a local school or living with relatives. That led to them to contemplate something that would have been unthinkable three months ago.

Shortly after the disaster, Haga, a member of the district committee, and others in the evacuation center saw a news report about another community that wanted to stay together after the tsunami and was trying to relocate. That gave them the idea that the people of Koizumi could do the same."

They've already identified a site for the new village, and hope to push plans forward to enable everyone in the village to move.