Formation of Third Place by Evacuees from Nuclear Accident - Case Study of Wide Area Residents’ Association of Tomioka Town, Futaba County, Fukushima Prefecture

Aug 26, 2026

A questionnaire survey examines evacuees from Tomioka Town displaced by the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, focusing on how “wide area residents’ associations” operate as a “Third Place.” The study investigates relationships among neighborhood associations before and after the disaster, neighborhood associations in evacuation districts, and wide area residents’ associations. Results show wide area residents’ associations can function as a relatively stable Third Place due to weaker place-based connections after evacuation while still maintaining strong ties to pre-disaster neighborhood associations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Evacuation background and temporary housing arrangements

Residents’ associations and the need to prevent isolation

Third Place formation through wide area residents’ associations

[https://doi.org/10.20965/jdr.2018.p1142](https://doi.org/10.20965/jdr.2018.p1142) Matsumoto, M. Paper: Formation of Third Place by Evacuees from Nuclear Accident: Case Study of Wide Area Residents’ Association of Tomioka Town, Futaba County, Fukushima Prefecture Michimasa Matsumoto† International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University 6-6-11-901-2 Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan †Corresponding author, [E-mail: matsumoto@irides.tohoku.ac.jp](E-mail: matsumoto@irides.tohoku.ac.jp) [Received May 6, 2018; accepted August 15, 2018] This paper conducted a questionnaire survey of evacuees (residents of public-funded rented housing, home buyers, etc.) from Tomioka Town, who were displaced because of the nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011. It aimed to understand the characteristics of the wide area residents’ associations as the “Third Place” by examining the relationship among the neighborhood association before and after the disaster, the neighborhood association at the evacuation district, and wide area residents’ associations. It was revealed that wide area residents’ associations could function as a relative Third Place, because the evacuees had a weak connection with the places they live in after evacuation, although they continue to have strong links with the neighborhood associations in the places where they lived before the disaster. Keywords: nuclear accident, evacuation, wide area residents’ association, Third Place 1 . Introduction Tomioka Town is located in Hamadori District (coastal areas) in the southern part of Futaba County, Fukushima Prefecture. It has a population of about 16,000 . The Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is located between Tomioka Town and the neighboring Naraha Town in Fukushima. Because of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in March 2011, all the residents of the town had to be evacuated (Table 1) . To accommodate the evacuees, temporary housing was built on three sites in Koriyama City where the town ofﬁce was relocated, on one site in the neighboring Otama Village, on six sites in Miharu Town, and on three sites in Iwaki City. The residents gradually moved into the temporary housing from the summer of 2011 . Many inhabitants in the temporary housing, who had lived in large houses before the disaster, inevitably caused trouble for 1. This paper includes the situation as it was until March 2018 to the situation presented in [1] . others, for example by creating too much noise, because the temporary housing was small and its walls were thin. On the other hand, there were fewer troubles from those who lived in public-funded rented housing or from those who bought new houses. Regarding the acquisition of information on the movements in the town or the compensation offered by the municipalities, the prefecture, and the central government, and the demands for the Town etc., the inhabitants in the temporary housing etc., who “lived together” have an advantage. On the contrary, residents of public-funded rented housing had difﬁculty acquiring information on these matters, although there were not many complaints about the living arrangements.2 In the temporary housing areas, a “residents’ association for temporary housing” was established in each municipality, although there was a difference in the dates of establishment. These residents’ associations functioned as a point of contact within the temporary housing area for the municipality ofﬁces and support groups from outside. In contrast, there was no such contact point for residents of public-funded rented housing and other modes of accommodation for evacuees. Some evacuees considered it necessary to establish an association to prevent isolation, and sought to do so through mutual friendship and sharing of information with other evacuees. The “wide area residents’ association” mentioned and reviewed in this paper was founde

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this paper?

To understand the characteristics of wide area residents’ associations as a “Third Place” by examining links among neighborhood associations before and after the disaster, in evacuation districts, and across wide areas.

Who were the survey participants?

Evacuees from Tomioka Town who were displaced due to the Fukushima nuclear accident, including residents of publicly funded rented housing and home buyers.

What does the study reveal about the role of wide area residents’ associations?

Wide area residents’ associations can function as a relative Third Place because evacuees have weaker connections with their post-evacuation living places, while still retaining strong connections with pre-disaster neighborhood associations.

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Aria Callaghan