FUKUSHIMA -- Prefectural authorities here have released a smartphone and tablet app showing the recovery steps the area has taken since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, in hopes to remind visitors of the disaster and attract more tourists there.

The app -- called "Fukushima Memory and Future Experiential App" -- employs augmented reality (AR) functions and can display movies and still images of scenes such as tsunami that hit local beaches and the sight of reconstruction work when people visit 27 locations in Minamisoma and two other municipalities in the prefecture.

One part of the footage shown by the app portrays fishermen affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster struggling to resume operations through the test fishing of whitebait.

"We want to let visitors know about Fukushima people's efforts in overcoming the quake disaster and looking toward the future," said a prefectural government official.

The free app can be downloaded from App Store or Google Play by entering the words "Fukushima taiken" in Japanese ("Fukushima" in hiragana and "taiken" (experience) in kanji).

(Related link)

http://www.pref.fukushima.lg.jp/site/portal/arfukushimakiokutomiraitaikenn.html