Decline of Working-Age Population Continues in 42 Coastal Municipalities across Mainly Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima Prefs. in Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:45 JST, March 11, 2026

Wednesday marked 15 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. In 42 municipalities, mainly along the coasts of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the working-age population — those ages 15 to 64 — has declined. The rate of decline compared to pre-disaster levels has reached 17%, nearly double the national average.

While infrastructure has been rebuilt through reconstruction projects costing ¥42 trillion, residents have not returned, making regional sustainability a challenge.

The government’s reconstruction efforts from April will focus on Fukushima Prefecture, where the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant occurred, but the paths for decommissioning the plant and final disposal of soil removed from the contaminated areas remain unclear.

According to basic resident registers for January to February and other data, the total population across 42 municipalities, including areas near the nuclear plant, was about 2.3 million. This represents a decrease of roughly 264,100 people, or 11%, from pre-disaster levels.

The working-age population declined in all municipalities except Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, while the population age 65 and over increased by nearly 20% across all 42 municipalities. Primarily in Fukushima Prefecture, where difficult-to-return zones still exist, 26,281 people still remain evacuated.

The special demand created by the reconstruction efforts has ended, and industries like construction suffer from declining orders. The fishing industry, a key local industry, has not returned to pre-disaster levels. According to Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd., disaster-related bankruptcies in the three prefectures exceed 430 cases.

Amid the ongoing population decline, maintaining infrastructure has become a heavy burden for municipalities. An official of Kesennuma city government in Miyagi Prefecture, which has about 2,000 public housing units for disaster victims, said, “We may need to consider consolidation or selling them to the private sector in the future.”

The government will focus intensively on Fukushima’s recovery during the five-year period from April. However, progress remains slow on retrieving the estimated 880 tons of nuclear fuel debris generated by the nuclear accident.

In addition, no final disposal plan has been established for the approximately 14 million cubic meters of soil removed from the contaminated areas currently being stored.