The largest wildfire in Japan in over three decades has been devastating a forested area in the coastal city of Ofunato, situated on the east coast of Japan’s main island, approximately 300 miles northeast of Tokyo. As of Sunday, the fire, which spans a considerable 1,800 hectares (4,500 acres), has claimed at least one life, damaged numerous homes, and forced thousands of residents into evacuation. The blaze, which has expanded by 400 hectares since Saturday, first came to the attention of Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency on Wednesday afternoon, with at least 84 homes damaged by Wednesday night.

Following the discovery of a man’s body near the area on Thursday, local authorities confirmed the fatality but withheld further details. The government swiftly issued evacuation orders affecting around 4,600 residents, with over 1,200 seeking refuge in shelters by Sunday morning. Nearly 1,700 firefighters have been deployed from across 14 prefectures to combat the fire. Videos from NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, depicted firefighting aircraft circling above dense smoke plumes and vivid flames surging through the forest, though the extent of progress in containing the blaze and potential additional damage since Wednesday remained unclear.

Investigations into the cause of the fire were underway, with the fire agency unable to provide further comment. The last forest fire of such magnitude in Japan occurred in 1992 on Hokkaido, a northern island, where it consumed over 1,000 hectares. Ofunato experiences its driest season from January to March, with February 2023 marking the driest month in over two decades, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

In addition to the significant blaze in Ofunato, fire officials are also tackling two smaller wildfires on Sunday. The first, located in Yamanashi prefecture to the west of Tokyo, started on Wednesday and grew to 120 hectares by Saturday. The second, in Nagano prefecture in the north, began on Friday and had spread to 100 hectares by Sunday.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/world/asia/japan-fights-its-largest-wildfire-in-more-than-30-years.html