This study regards the reconstruction planning as a conflict between the plan for the future and the recovery of people's livelihood, and reviews the process of reconstruction after the 1976 SAKATA Big Fire in detail. This viewpoint is very important to make good use of the experience. Generally, the process of past reconstruction planning was not clear because the viewpoint was ambiguous and the reconstruction report only scratched the surface of the process. SAKATA Big Fire is a quite recent example of fire disaster, and therefore we were able to interview directly the planners of the reconstruction and review the report carefully from this viewpoint.
As a result of this study, we were able to clarify that the planners put a lot of stress on the plan for the future in the reconstruction planning, and that they considered the recovery of people's livelihood the key to rapid reconstruction. Urban planners in Sakata city had a future vision before the occurrence of SAKATA Big Fire and they lead the project team consisting of officials of the Ministry of Construction, Yamagata Prefecture, and Sakata city. They made a lot of effort for the realization of rapid reconstruction, and this rapidness minimized the conflict.