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# Japanese Tsunami Damages National Treasures
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/japanese-tsunami-national-treasures/
- Published: 2011-03-28T12:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:48:56.000Z
- Description: Beyond a rising death toll of over 10,800, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan has also damaged a current total of 353 Japanese cultural landmarks, including temples, historic sites and iconic landscapes called “places of scenic beauty.” The Matsushima area, north of Sendai, is
- Author: Kyle Chayka
- Tags: News, #image-position-hidden, Disasters, Japan, Japanese Art, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/03/800px-zuigan-ji_matsushima_2006-09-24.jpg)

Zuigan-ji Temple in Matsushima, one of the sites damaged in the 2011 tsunami (image via wikipedia.org)

Beyond a rising death toll of over 10,800, the [2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%5FT%C5%8Dhoku%5Fearthquake%5Fand%5Ftsunami?ref=hyperallergic.com#Damage%5Fand%5Feffects) in northern Japan has also damaged a current total of 353 Japanese cultural landmarks, including temples, historic sites and iconic landscapes called “places of scenic beauty.” The [Matsushima](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsushima?ref=hyperallergic.com) area, north of Sendai, is among the worst hit in terms of cultural damage.

The *LA Times*‘ Culture Monster [describes the area](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/03/japan-tsunami-seriously-damaged-matsushima-cultural-site.html?ref=hyperallergic.com),

> Officially designated as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, in keeping with the nation’s practice of identifying aesthetic marvels in the natural world, Matsushima’s bay is home to a rocky cluster of more than 260 small islands dotted with pines. In a late-19th century woodblock print, Meiji-era artist Yoshu Chikanobu (1838–1912) compared the celebrated view to a beautiful woman.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/03/800px-matsushima_otakamori08dec07.jpg)

A view of Matsushima's landscape (image via wikipedia.org)

According to a recently updated list of [cultural sites damaged by the tsunami](http://www.bunka.go.jp/english/pdf/2011%5FTohoku%5Fver5.pdf?ref=hyperallergic.com) created by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, Matsushima is one of 4 “Special Places of Scenic Beauty” damaged. 12 “Places of Scenic Beauty” are also noted in the list, as is the Matsushima Zuigan-ji Temple, a [National Treasure](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5FNational%5FTreasures%5Fof%5FJapan%5F%28temples%29?ref=hyperallergic.com) (seen above).

These designations are part of the [Monuments of Japan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monuments%5Fof%5FJapan?ref=hyperallergic.com), a government-organized collection of protected sites that are significant to Japan’s cultural heritage, including historical sites, ancient gardens and the habitats of animal and plant life.

The [Zuigan-ji Temple](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuigan-ji?ref=hyperallergic.com) is a Zen Buddhist temple complex founded in 828 but rebuilt and expanded upon in 1604 and onwards. “The earthquake caused some cracks in the walls,” at Zuigan-ji, the Agency for Cultural Affairs list reports, and “caused great damages around Matsushima.”

The three other National Treasure sites damaged by the tsunami follow below, as included in the list:

> **Ōsaki Hachiman Shrine** (大崎八幡宮, Ōsaki Hachiman-gū), Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The earthquake broke the walls, the lacquering and the sculptures slightly.  
>  
> **Amida Hall** (阿弥陀堂, Amida-dō), Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. The earthquake broke the wall slightly.  
>  
> **Buddha Hall of Seihaku Temple** (清白寺仏殿, Seihaku-ji Butsuden), Yamanashi, Yamanashi Prefecture. The earthquake broke the ranma \[carved wooden panel\] (欄間).

Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum and National Museum have not been damaged, but both museums are cutting hours to conserve electricity and resources, [reports Culture Grrl](http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2011/03/japan%5Fwatch%5Ftwo%5Ftokyo%5Fmuseums.html?ref=hyperallergic.com). See below for more images of the sites.

**Resources:**

- The **New York Times** has an [interactive map](http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/newsgraphics/2011/0311-japan-earthquake-map/?ref=hyperallergic.com) of sites damaged in the tsunami, as well as statistics for buildings destroyed and dead or missing.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/03/800px-zuiganji_temple_caves.jpg)

View of Zuigan-ji Temple, including cemetery caves (image via wikipedia.org)

![](http://hyperallergic-newspack.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2011/03/800px-Yōshū_Chikanobu_Matsushima_in_Rikuzen_Province.jpg)

Yōshū Chikanobu, “Matsushima in Rikuzen Province” (1898) (image via wikipedia.org)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/03/800px-osaki-hachiman_jinja.jpg)

Osaki-Hachiman-gu Shinto Shirine of Sendai City, a National Treasure damaged in the tsunami (image via wikipedia.org)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/03/kamakura-hasedera-amida-do-hall-big.jpg)

Japan's Amida Hall, one of the National Treasures damaged (image via muza-chan.net)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/03/seihakuji_temple-01.jpg)

Buddha hall of Seihaku Temple, a National Treasure damaged in the earthquake (image via wikipedia.org)