Japan Mulls 'Future Cities' for Devastated Communities

This picture taken on March 11, 2011 shows tsunami waves hitting the coast of Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture. The number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing in Japan neared 22,000, 10 days after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the co

Two women cry with one another while waiting for water at a distribution point in Ofunato five days after the devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami, March 16, 2011. (AFP)

A young boy (C) reads a newspaper reporting on the earthquake at a shelter for evacuees in the town of Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture a day after an 8.9 magnitude quake and tsunami devastated the region, March 12, 2011. (AFP)

A yacht lies beside a building in the devastated city of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture as the country struggles to cope following the earthquake and tsunami disasters, March 15, 2011. (AFP)

A restaurant owner (L) and her employee walk on the debris where their restaurant stood before the tsunami devastated the area, at Ofunato city in Iwate prefecture on March 22, 2011, (AFP)

A general view shows tsunami damage in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture, April 4, 2011. (AFP)

A team member from NPO Japan Rescue Dog Association and his dog search for victims during a joint operation with the Metropolitan Police Department in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi prefecture. Residents of towns surrounding a crippled nuclear plant are regularly

Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers remove debris and searches for people missing since the March 11 tsunami in the city of Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture, May 2, 2011. (AFP)

The 12-metre-tall breakwater is seen broken and nearly collapsed by the March 11 tsunami in the Toni area of the tsunami-devastated city of Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture. Some 10,808 people were still listed as missing as of May 2, with 14,728 confirmed dead

A car passes in front of tsunami debris piled up on the wharf in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture nearly one year after the March 11 tsunami devastated the area, January 15, 2012 (AFP)

This combination of pictures shows a ship called Asia Sympathy run aground by the March 11 tsunami in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom). (AFP)

This combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami hit area of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and as the scene appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom). (AFP)

This combination of pictures shows a tsunami hit area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture on March 22, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 15, 2012 (bottom). (AFP)

This combination of pictures shows local residents looking at a tsunami hit area of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture on March 12, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 11, 2012 (bottom). (AFP)

This combination of pictures shows a ship called Asia Sympathy run aground by the March 11 tsunami in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom). (AFP)

This combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami-hit area of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and as the scene appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom). (AFP)