Japan Looks For Ways To Keep Communities Intact

by Jackie Northam, NPR

Japanese officials are experimenting with ways to help people displaced by last year's earthquake and tsunami. One idea is to create parallel towns where everyone from the dog-catcher to the schoolteacher can shift to one town while their old village is being rebuilt. It's a way of keeping communities intact. But after more than a year, many of the affected communities have already scattered.

Broadcast Dates

• All Things Considered, August 15, 2012