TRAVEL

The Bank of Iwate's Nakanohashi main building, built over 100 years ago and the nation's only remaining active bank designated as an important cultural asset, will close in June, it has been learned. The decision was made because the Great East Japan Earthquake created large cracks in a corridor connecting the bank's main building and an annex. The building has also aged. The bank's functions will be moved to new premises and the building will be examined for repairs and renovated over a two-year period. There are plans for it to reopen as a public memorial hall. Originally serving as the headquarters of the former Morioka Bank, the building was built in 1911 to the specifications of main architect and designer Kingo Tatsuno (1854-1919). Tatsuno also designed the three-story JR Tokyo Station, which is now being renovated. Featuring red brick structures, domed roofs and white horizontal accents, both buildings are emblematic of the "Tatsuno style." (Yomiuri)

Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso, backed by the Democratic Party of Japan, won re-election to a second term by a large margin Sunday. "To the best of my ability, I will do everything to support those affected by the disasters and proceed with reconstruction work," Tasso, 47, said in a victory speech at his campaign office in Morioka. He defeated three opponents after leading reconstruction work in the prefecture after the March 11 disasters. (Japan Times)

A local train in Iwate Prefecture collided with a bear Saturday morning and, after restarting, ploughed into a serow goat, East Japan Railway Co.'s Morioka office said. No passengers were injured, but the accidents proved fatal for the two animals, the JR East office said. The disruption to services caused two rapid trains on the line to be canceled, affecting about 220 passengers, it said. (Japan Times)

A 100-meter-long freighter sitting on a pier, a crumbled seawall once dubbed the Great Wall, and the sole surviving pine tree out of 70,000 are some of the remnants of the March tsunami in Iwate Prefecture drawing visitors this summer vacation season.

"I wanted to let my kid know the dangers of tsunami," said Seiko Obara, a 48-year-old company employee from Tokyo who came to see the 4,724-ton Asian Symphony on the pier in Kamaishi with his 9-year-old son, Taichi, during their visit to his parents' home in Hanamaki, also in Iwate.

"I think reconstruction will continue until the time of our children's generation. So I want him to remember (the harm) by actually seeing it with his own eyes," Obara said.

"The power of the tsunami is unbelievable," the son said.

Another visitor was a 32-year-old woman from Morioka, the prefectural capital, who lost 13 relatives in the March 11 tsunami.

"Until now, I was too scared to come to this place," she said. "I came here for Bon (the Buddhist festival for honoring the spirits of the dead), but I can't compose myself. I think many people still can't look at the sea." (Japan Times)

Areas in northeastern Japan hard hit by the March 11 mega earthquake and ensuing tsunami were jolted again Sunday morning by a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the 9:57 a.m. quake, which registered 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in parts of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures including an area in the Iwate capital of Morioka. A warning for tsunami of up to 50 cm was issued for Pacific coastal areas of the three prefectures immediately after the quake, but was lifted at 11:45 a.m. after 10-cm tsunami waves were observed at Ofunato port in Iwate at 10:44 a.m. (Japan Times)

More than 2.4 billion yen in bills and coins soiled or damaged by the March 11 tsunami has been brought to Bank of Japan branches in the hard-hit Tohoku region to be replaced, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. This figure is triple the 800 million yen exchanged for undamaged currency in the six months after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake--an indication of the sheer extent of the damage wrought by the March 11 disaster. As of last Tuesday, 320,000 damaged banknotes and 930,000 coins had been brought to Bank of Japan branches in Sendai, Fukushima, Aomori and Akita, and a temporary branch set up in Morioka. (Yomiuri)

Iwate Prefecture's coast suffered some of the most severe damage in the March 11 quake and towering tsunami, where more than 4,500 people have been confirmed killed and 2,700 are still missing. But only about two hours by car inland, Morioka, the prefecture's capital, was barely damaged by the 9-magnitude temblor. Residents only had to deal with a two-day power outage and a gas and supply shortage that lasted a few weeks, according to Amanda Krips, 24, an American who works for the prefectural government. (Japan Times)