# Tsunami Memorial Museum and Michi-no-Eki Takata Matsubara

> A combined roadside station and free memorial museum in the Takata Matsubara Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Park, telling the story of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, with a local-products shop, a restaurant, and a short walk to the Miracle Lone Pine.

- Prefecture: Iwate
- Type: Museum
- Address: Rikuzentakata, Iwate, Japan
- Opening hours: Mo-Su 09:00-17:00
- Admission: Free
- Official site: https://iwate-tsunami-memorial.jp/

The Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum (also called Iwate Tsunami Memorial) stands in the Takata Matsubara Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Park in Rikuzentakata, one of the towns worst hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Opened in 2019, the museum is free to enter and uses films, salvaged objects and survivor accounts to record what happened, honour the lives lost, and pass on lessons in disaster prevention. It shares a building with Michi-no-Eki Takata Matsubara, a roadside station with a shop of local Rikuzentakata and Sanriku products and a restaurant, so a single stop serves both remembrance and a rest on the coastal drive. From the park it is a short walk to the Miracle Lone Pine, the one tree that survived the tsunami.

## FAQ

### Is the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum free, and what will I see?

Yes, admission is free. Opened in 2019, the museum records the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami through films, salvaged objects and survivor testimony, with a strong focus on remembrance and disaster-prevention lessons. It is open 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30); check the official site for closed days. It shares a building with Michi-no-Eki Takata Matsubara, which has a shop and restaurant.

### How do I get there, and how far is the Miracle Lone Pine?

It sits in the Takata Matsubara Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Park on the Rikuzentakata coast, with parking on site; a car is easiest, though the JR Ofunato Line BRT stops at Kiseki-no-Ipponmatsu station nearby. The Miracle Lone Pine stands in the same park, about a 450-metre walk toward the shore, so most visitors see the museum and the pine on one stop.

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Source: Tsunami Memorial Museum and Michi-no-Eki Takata Matsubara — Japan Voyage