2022-12-20
In November 2022, Chargé d’affaires Peter Roberts visited the town of Minami Sanriku in Miyagi, part of Japan’s Tohoku region. Mr Roberts worked at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo from 2009 to 2012 as Political Counsellor, and in March 2011, he worked alongside the Australian Search and Rescue team that was deployed to Minami Sanriku following the Great East Japan Earthquake. This was Mr Roberts’ first visit to the town in eleven years, and his first visit to one of the disaster-affected regions in Tohoku since he assumed his current role.
During the visit, Mr Roberts was taken around the restored town by Mr Jin Sato, Mayor of Minami Sanriku. He visited the Australia Friendship Learning Centre (affectionately known as Koala House) which was built with funds donated by the ANZ Bank. This was the first permanent building built after the disaster. He then visited the LendLease Terrace, which was a gift to the town from LendLease Japan on the 10th anniversary of the disaster. Mr Roberts then visited the Disaster Memorial Park where he laid flowers on the memorial for the victims of the disaster.
Mr Roberts also visited the Minami Sanriku 311 Memorial Museum which opened in October 2022 as the last official building in the town’s reconstruction. On display in the Museum are photos of the then-Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s visit to the town one month after the disaster, along with information about the assistance Australia has provided over the years.
This Memorial Museum serves an important role in building awareness about disaster risk reduction, and Mr Roberts participated in a learning program which involved direct testimony from disaster victims.
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Chargé d’affaires Peter Roberts presenting a 'Koala' to Mayor Jin Sato in the Koala House
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Laying flowers at the Memorial Park in Minami Sanriku