Municipal Museum Destroyed By 2011 Disaster Reopens In Northeastern Japan
A municipal museum in northeastern Japan has been rebuilt and reopened to the public nearly 12 years after it was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Saturday's reopening of the Rikuzentakata City Museum in Iwate Prefecture was celebrated by a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The new facility is integrated with the city's sea and shell museum which was also damaged in the disaster.
The two-story building has about 2,800 square meters of floor space.
About 7,300 items are on display. They include the world's only stuffed specimen of a Baird's beaked whale and a clock taken from a gymnasium damaged in the disaster.
One section shows how the items on display were restored with help from other museums around the country.
A visitor said he had gone to the museum with his children before the disaster. He said he is glad it was rebuilt because he felt the disaster had broken the succession of local history.
The museum is the last of the city's public facilities to be restored after the disaster.