Japan’s Great Wall: Can It Stop A Tsunami? | Foreign Correspondent

When a massive tsunami engulfed the north-eastern coastline of Japan a decade ago, it wiped out everything in its path, flattening villages, killing nearly 20,000 people and triggering a nuclear meltdown. The old seawalls which had been built along the coastline to protect villages and infrastructure offered little protection. Today, the government’s solution to a future tsunami is to build an even bigger and longer seawall to protect Japan’s coastal communities. Up to 14 metres high and 400 kilometres long, the new seawall is dividing communities, and some fear, placing them in greater danger.