Hyogo: 30 years before the Great Hanshin Earthquake: Redevelopment and reconstruction work completed

Yomiuri Shimbun Kobe Mayor, Keizo Hisamoto, speaks at a ceremony held on November 30 in Nagata Ward, Kobe, to celebrate the completion of the reconstruction and redevelopment project.

Written by Daisuke Ito/Writer at Yomiuri Shimbun

10:17 Japan time, December 28, 2024

KOBE — The final reconstruction and redevelopment project in areas of Hyogo Prefecture devastated by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake has finally been completed.

Post-earthquake redevelopment projects in the prefecture have been implemented in six areas in the cities of Kobe, Nishinomiya, and Takarazuka. Everything has been completed, most recently in the area south of JR Shin-Nagata Station in Nagata Ward, Kobe.

Yomiuri Shimbun

The project in Shin Nagata was the largest of the six projects in terms of size, covering an area of ​​19.9 hectares. A total of 44 buildings have been developed, including redevelopment buildings containing floors of both shops and residences. The project cost 227.7 billion yen overall.

The Shin-Nagata project promoted by the Kobe City Government has been completed by constructing education-related facilities on the last remaining plot of land earmarked for redevelopment. This building is a nine-story facility that will house campuses of Hyogo University, Hyogo Teacher Education University, and others.

A ceremony to celebrate the end of the project was held on November 30 in front of Tetsujin 28-go — Iron Man No. 28, also known as “Gigantor” in English — a massive monument towering in front of JR Shin-Nagata Station. Tetsujin 28-Go is a massive robot depicted by the late Kobe-born manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama, and a life-sized monument was installed in 2009 as a symbol of post-earthquake reconstruction.

With Iron Man observing the event, relevant officials and residents celebrated the beginning of a new life for the area.

January 17 marks 30 years since the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Transformed into a commuter town Yomiuri Shimbun This area south of JR Shin-Nagata Station has been transformed, with redevelopment buildings close together.

Before the earthquake, the area south of the station was densely populated with wooden houses and shops. About 80% of them were destroyed, damaged or burned during the earthquake. Two months after the disaster, the Kobe government decided on a redevelopment plan, centered around buildings containing spaces for shops and residences, while a public bath and a hospital are also included.

The project was originally scheduled to be completed in fiscal year 2003. However, significant delays occurred due to difficulties in negotiations to acquire the land. Prospects for finishing became clear in 2020, after the planned redevelopment of one of the plots was abandoned.

Before the earthquake, the area was an industrial area with a thriving trade in chemical shoes – shoes made from artificial leather using resins such as vinyl chloride.

Shops, houses and collapsed electricity poles in the Yomiuri Shimbun after the earthquake on January 17, 1995, near JR Shin Nagata Station.

But in the days following the earthquake, the area turned into a commuter town. The population of the area has risen above what it was before the earthquake. The nighttime population is now 6,140, ​​an increase of about 40% from the pre-earthquake days. The daytime population is also expected to exceed the pre-earthquake level. From next spring onwards, there will be about 1,000 more people as the number of students commuting to schools in the area is expected to rise.

However, the region still faces challenges. According to the municipal government, the size of the project was initially determined based on the wishes of the shop owners. However, many of them could not wait for the project to be completed, so they withdrew their plans to move into the newly developed buildings and left the area.

Thus, about 60% of the 52,000 square meters of commercial floor area in the 25 buildings developed by the city remains unsold. Meanwhile, warehouses are appearing in occupied plots of land, leaving the entire area with closed shopping streets. The municipality suffers from a deficit of about 32.4 billion yen in this project.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances such as falling land prices, we failed to meet the declining demand,” a city official said.

Shopkeepers shape city's future Yomiuri Shimbun restaurant Daisuke Nishimura prepares eel-packed meals.

There is a younger generation of people who find the newly born Shin Nagata attractive. They strive to revitalize the community with their efforts.

An eel shop has moved into the basement of a redeveloped building completed in 2004. In addition to serving grilled eel for takeaway, Nishimura Kawaten also runs an eel restaurant, and prides itself on selling the thick-fleshed fish.

Before the earthquake, an eel shop was located inside the market. Daisuke Nishimura, the store's current boss, 42, was a fifth-grade student at a local elementary school when his father's store at home was damaged by an earthquake in 1995. He was forced to live in an evacuation shelter for a while.

Nishimura began thinking seriously about his city when he was a college student studying architecture. At a class held on the topic “Redevelopment of Shin Nagata District,” he heard a guest speaker from some public offices say that “Shin Nagata District will be reborn as an ‘amazing’ city, different from its past.”

However, this was not the case. There weren't many people walking on the streets, and the eel shop's sales were steadily declining. His father was about to give up.

“I was determined that we would not depend on public administration but build our city ourselves,” Nishimura said.

After graduating from university, he worked in a trading company for three years, then started helping in his father's store. He took over the eel shop 15 years ago. Since then, he has been working to revitalize the community by organizing special fairs and job experience events for kids, and getting neighborhood stores involved as well.

Nishimura has also made efforts to sell packaged bento meals to home delivery and corporate customers. His store's annual sales are now about seven times higher.

The streetscape he has known since childhood has completely changed, but Nishimura is optimistic about the city's future.

“The redevelopment process has been described as a failure, but things are gradually improving, and our city has great potential. We will envision the future of Shin Nagata for ourselves,” Nishimura said.

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