The epicenter of Great East Japan Earthquake. Ishinomaki. Sendai. Higashimatsushima. The scenery of Ishinomaki right after the earthquake

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1 December, 2017 The epicenter of Great East Japan Earthquake The location of Ishinomaki City & Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi Sendai Ishinomaki Higashimatsushima A big earthquake happened at 2:46 pm on Friday, March 11th, It caused serious damage in eastern Japan. The magnitude of the earthquake was estimated to 9.0. It was the biggest earthquake that Japan had ever experienced. Tsunami reaching the Pacific Coast also caused a large amount of damage. The number of fatalities from the earthquake reached 15,893 and the number of the missing was 2,553 on March, Many buildings were broken and trains had stopped for a long time due to the big swing and tsunami. People who lost their own house had to endure hunger, hard floor and cold temperature right after the earthquake. They couldn t take a bath and eat enough meal. The cruel situation must have been more difficult and horrible than we had expected. Now, the town has been more beautiful than what it used to be six years ago. For example, the new houses have been built one after another, having cleaned debris. However, there are still many people who have to live in temporary housing. So, the reconstruction hasn t finished yet. It is considered that the second step of the reconstruction has already started. For example, as the second step, we need to try to solve the problems, such as improving the people s life style from temporary housing and keeping the relationship with the victims. The scenery of Ishinomaki before the earthquake The scenery of Ishinomaki right after the earthquake page 1

2 The recovery of tourism and products We visited Ms. Ayumi Ono who works for tourism and product association of Higashi-Matsushima city, and listened to a story about the recovery of tourism and products. Tohoku, in the part of eastern Japan, was popular as one of the destination for school trips. However, because of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the number of people who came there decreased. The big reasons were that the image of Tohoku is dangerous spread around Japan and the world, and the accommodations such as hotels and tourist homes could no longer be managed. Government gave the assistant money to the manager of the damaged accommodation, but it can t be used to rebuild their own houses. So, the managers of tourist homes couldn t rebuild their tourist homes with the money because they are combined with their own houses. As a result, it led to the decrease of accommodations. Now Value the Hotel which we stayed is the only hotel that many people can stay in this area. But, even this biggest hotel is still temporary and its walls were thin, and we could hear voices and sounds of neighbors easily. Also, it was one of the reasons that the events to promote Tohoku could no longer be held, because temporary housings were built on the lands that the events had been held before. Moreover, people in Tohoku couldn t afford to hold the events by the effect of the disaster. Because of these reasons, Tohoku which had been a popular sightseeing spot has become a solitary area. On the other hand, there was not only what they lost but also what they gained through this disaster. First one was the cooperation among people. The self-employed business owners also had a difficulty in paying the costs for restarting their business after the disaster like those who ran accommodations. So, they made up a big group with other owners in the same situation and received the assistant money from the government as one group. When their situation gets better, they leave the group and switch to self-employed again. Many farmers and fishers used this system because they can also share machines. Also, Tohoku could get the cooperation from people in other areas. People who had been to Tohoku as dispatched workers or volunteer staffs visited it again to see how much it has recovered now. Many people started to come to Tohoku again to join sports events, to visit their relatives in commemoration of house rebuilding, and for the sightseeing. And there are about 7,000~8,000 Kataribe now, who listen to stories from earthquake victims and then go back their home town and tell people there about it. The recovery of sightseeing has been advancing smoothly. The second one is about the work to spread the products of Tohoku. Tohoku got a good relationship with other prefectures by visiting other prefectures to sell the products of Tohoku and inviting people from other prefectures to have them sell their own products in Tohoku. Like this, Tohoku lost many things but also gained some things through this disaster. She also told us about her own experience of this earthquake. Before the earthquake, she had lived a peaceful life with her husband, son, and daughter in Tohoku. Her family had run a tourist home. However, her life had been changed because of the earthquake. When the earthquake occurred, her son was in driving school, her daughter was in elementary school, and she was in workplace. They were not together. She looked for her family with the little information and finally she could contact with them except her father. She couldn t go to her parents house because her car was broken. Ten days later she could meet him, but he was dead. We felt her pain with our own heart. The experiences that we had heard before we visited her were just somebody s ones. But now, it was Ms. Ono s one. We felt like we had the same experience with her. We were full with our thanks to her who told us about a grievous happening of parting with her father. Six years have passed from the tragic day, March 11th in People who live in Tohoku have made efforts to recover from the day. As a result, the chance that we watch the news about this disaster on the TV has decreased, but Tohoku hasn t recovered completely yet. We would like to tell many people about what we ve learned in Tohoku and recommend them to visit Tohoku. page 2

3 Tsunami ~The experience of Ms. Koyama~ We visited the municipal office of Higashimatsushima and interviewed Ms. Aya Koyama. She works in the Welfare Division. Her family produced rice named Hitomebore at home. She told us about the situation in Higashimatsushima when the earthquake disaster happened. It snowed there on March 11 th, Before then, Miyagi had had a lot of earthquake, so there were many earthquake-resistant equipment. Also, people there were used to it. Ms. Koyama was taught from early childhood that the tsunami comes after the earthquake happens, but she had never seen that. However, the tremor at that time was much bigger than usual and continued for a while. She thought, I may be not able to go back to home, because of the unusual tremor. She worried about her children who go to Nobiru elementary school. She tried to call the school, but the phone was dead. After the tremor stopped, she and staffs evacuated the outside. Then, citizens also evacuated to the city hall to get supplies. Among them, there was a couple who held their baby who was already dead. The tsunami warning was issued at that time. However, Ms. Koyama thought that the tsunami wouldn t come to Nobiru elementary school. After that, when she had a meeting, she knew that the tsunami came to Nobiru elementary school and it was completely destroyed. The news filled her with the anxiety about her children, but she thought that she is a staff of this city hall and she continued her work. At the night, her husband came to pick her up and told her that their children were fine. When he went to Nobiru elementary school, he saw it flooded to ceiling of the first floor and there were many corpses in front of the school. His children waited for help at the second floor. In the gym of the school, the tsunami swirled around and people in the second floor tried to help people who were drowning in the tsunami. Also, the tsunami destroyed the wall of the gym and many people were washed away by it. There were some people who could survive miraculously, but under such a situation, they couldn t be happy frankly with their family. Mr. and Mrs. Koyama made eye contact each other and said in their heart, thank you for being alive. After the earthquake, they led a life in the gym which was used as the shelter for a while. About 40 families also spent the time together in the gym while there were still the aftershocks. Her children loved studying with their friends at school. However, they couldn t use the school due to the earthquake disaster, so they studied in the city hall instead. There were a lot of unnatural things that they had thought they were natural before the disaster. However, even under such a severe environment, people there helped each other and it was a big support for her. She told us that she wants us to remember and practice self-help, mutual assistance and public assistance because it will be very important when something happens. We also want to tell many people the things we learned from her there. page 3

4 The Interview to Ms. Daimaru We listened to the story about the Great East Japan Earthquake from Ms. Daimaru, who works at the municipal office in Higashimatsushima. The day when the earthquake occurred, on March 11 th, 2011, was a very cold day. Suddenly, she felt the ground shaking side-to-side at 2:46 in the afternoon. After the earthquake subsided, the temperature gradually went down. So, some people were hypothermic in the shelter. Her colleagues were all safe miraculously and first she tried to collect the supplies with them for the people in the shelter. She could collect the supplies at a supermarket and store near the shelter. However, the supplies were not enough. At first, they didn t have enough blankets, and the refugees huddled against each other for warmth while sleeping. After that, more supplies gradually started to arrive at the shelter, but the things they need such as the battery, underwear and shampoo increased as time went on. She said it was hard to collect them. After the earthquake, she couldn t go home because she had to work as a city official in the shelter, but finally she could have the time to go home. She walked on the street without street lamps. When she found her house in the dark, she felt relieved so much. Miraculously, the supply of the electricity and water didn t stop in Higashimatsushima, and she could take a bath after the long time. Then she felt very comfortable and happy. Also, she felt thanks for living in the house when she could sleep on the soft futon because she was sleeping on the hard floor in the shelter. When she went home once, she cooked a lot of rice balls and she served them to her neighborhood. We thought that she is very kind and a great person because she worked very hard for other people although she was also in a serious situation. When Ms. Daimaru accepted refugees at the shelter, the mother holding a baby who was 0 years old came there. When she saw them, she thought the baby was asleep at first. However, the mother told her that the baby had already died and the mother asked her, What should I do for my dead baby? Ms. Daimaru suffered from a big shock. When she told us this story, her eyes looked watery. There were as much as 15,185 refugees in the shelter in Higashimatsushima and they couldn t get enough supplies. But, the number of refugees increased because people who were at home couldn t be served the supplies at all and came to the shelter to get them. Ms. Daimaru also had the experience to get calls to criticize her from refugees who couldn t rely on anybody. It seemed that they needed to reduce their stress by doing that. The role to accept the feelings of the earthquake victims was necessary. She experienced other hard works, but the hardest one was the one at the morgue. When the city gym was used as the morgue, Ms. Daimaru worked there. Many people came there and looked for their family. If they couldn t find their family, they went to the next morgue. It was so painful for her to see those people. The number of the population of Higashimatsushima decreased suddenly and also there were some problems because of the earthquake. For example, some people tried to kill themselves and the lack of exercise affected the health of children. But now, the town is slowly recovering. The temporary school building was built and the new school will also be built soon. The bridge between the main island and islets was repaired and Ms. Daimaru wants to invite many tourists again. But everything has not been recovered yet and more support is needed. Ms. Daimaru said, We have to work much harder for the recovery. Also, she felt the importance to set the disaster countermeasures headquarters even at normal time. Listening to her story, we could understand that the things we can t imagine actually happened in Higashimatsushima and we thought that we must not forget it. We felt Ms. Daimaru is a so great person who always thinks about other people and works for them even when she is in a painful situation. page 4

5 The things we learned from the earthquake We visited the municipal office of Higashimatsushima and listened to the story from Mr. Masanobu Ohisa who works at the Commerce and Tourism Department. He told us about the experiences and feelings that he had as a staff of Higashimatsushima when the earthquake occurred. Also, we could know the circumstances in Higashimatsushima then from his story. In March 11 th in 2011, when the earthquake occurred, he was in the municipal office. He saw the power pole shook like a fishing rod, and the ground kept shaking for three minutes. He tried to go to see around the town, but the town was already in confusion. The traffic signals were destroyed and the street was clotted with traffic. And the tsunami in the coast area was six meters high and it came to near the municipal office. He said that the tsunami was dark and looked like a wall. After the tsunami left, there was filled with a bad smell and he had to wear a gas mask. There were piles of debris around the municipal office and a hazy sky looked green. The color of the sky can be seen when the dry sludge flew up in the sky. Also, there was an extreme shortage of food right after the earthquake. The Japanese Self- Defense Forces and volunteers came to support them a few days later, but the severe situation was not changed and people shared the bottled water of 2L and each person drunk only a bottle cap of water. I heard that people fought for foods although they had been usually kind and made small children eat the foods first. Mr. Ohisa told us that the earthquake victims couldn t care other things and also had bad mental conditions. Some people experienced a flashback and remembered the hard days of the earthquake. They didn t feel like doing anything again. He said that people were struggling to live the day at that time. There were other problems after the earthquake. First one was the problem about the economy. A municipal budget in Higashimatsushima had been fifteen billion yen before the earthquake, but it rose to seventeen billion yen because the money for the recovery was needed. Also, the number of tourists greatly decreased because of the earthquake, which gave an influence on the economy of Higashimatsushima. Moreover, the earthquake had an influence on the students in Higashimatsushima. After the earthquake, the percentage of students advancing to higher education in Higashimatsushima became the lowest in Miyagi prefecture. They suffered from many things and it s harder than we had thought. For example, some of them can t concentrate on studying because of the flashback by the earthquake, and others felt lethargic and left school even if they entered school. Under those situations, Mr.Ohisa and other staffs of Higashimatsushima city continued to work together for the recovery with the hope that they want to cheer the people in Higashimatsushima up. Mr.Ohisa told us Even the rubble can be useful for the recovery. It can be used as the materials to rebuild houses. We felt their passion that they want to reconstruct their town before the earthquake by using things which was destroyed by earthquake. At the end of the interview, we asked Mr.Ohisa Do you have anything you felt afresh through this disaster? He said Gratitude. He feels thankful to the residents and supporters deeply. We felt that not only the staffs but also the residents and supporters created the present Higashimatsushima. Also, we thought that we should hand down the fear of the earthquake that we ve learned to the next generation. And we want to live our lives with feeling the gratitude that we can live now and we are supported by many people. page 5

6 MIRACLE If something was different We visited Ushiami nursery school in Higashimastushima on August 25 th and listened to the story from Ms. Seiko Goto who had worked at Nobiru nursery school. The list 1 shows the situation at Nobiru nursery school when the earthquake occurred. The list 2 shows what happened at that time in chronograph order. [ List1] Enrollment Attendance Left early The number of people who were present when the earthquake occurred. The number of children The number of teachers [ List2] Time Events A member of the municipal assembly proposed to reconsider the evacuation spot. Before In May, 2010, the evacuation spot was changed from Kanpo no Yado to Nobiru the earthquake elementary school because the evacuation spot had been near the sea and it had taken a long time to get there. 2:46 P.M. The earthquake occurred with a strong shock. 2:49 P.M. 3:05 P.M. 3:30 P.M. 3:52 P.M A major tsunami warning was issued. Some parents started to pick up children. 41 children of 70 went home. Some children had a nap then, but teachers woke them up and got ready to evacuate quickly. 0~2 years old children moved to the evacuation spot by car. At first, 3 years old children walked to it, but they were picked up by their parent s car or teacher s car on the way to it. They got traffic jam in front of the school, but Ms. Goto got out of the car to check the circumstances and some parents guided them. Then all children could arrive at the evacuation spot. 12 children of 29 were with Ms. Goto at that time. Also, 17 children could meet their parents or their grandparents at the gym. She heard someone shout Tsunami is coming! and she escaped on the stage in the gym. Then she saw the debris came into the gym at a stretch. After that, teachers and children were separated. Some children could escape onto the second floor and other children could be found floating and helped by adults although they nearly drowned. After all, all teachers and children could survive. It was miracle. 10:30 P.M. They moved to the school building and waited for children s parents. page 6

7 On the way to the evacuation spot, Nobiru elementary school, they could have a ride on parent s cars. If they had walked to the school, all of them might have died. Also, Tsunami was 2.75M high and the situation inside of gym was like a washing machine. 13 people were dead in the gym. Many miracles happened and all children survived in such a situation. Ms. Goto said If something was different, the worst case might have happened. The influence of March 11 th When the earthquake occurred, half of the children and parents who go to Nobiru nursery school were swallowed up by the tsunami and saw the tsunami. Three mothers and six children died due to the tsunami. Therefore, there were many things to be worried about children s behavior after the earthquake. Some children played tsunami and earthquake right after the earthquake and other children were afraid of water extremely. As time went on, some children began to calm down and they could take a bath. However, although 1 year passed, some children couldn t recover from the disaster and only 4 years old child murmured I want to meet my family who died. This earthquake left such a big damage on even children. In Nobiru nursery school, many staffs and children became the disaster victims, but even under such a situation, staffs had to take care of children. A Staff who experienced this disaster said, It was hard to live every day. But, I think staffs and children could understand each other because we experienced the same disaster. Also, we were moved to know that staffs worked hard for children after the earthquake, for example they held a lecture about children s care and they gave a letter every month to tell parents that if you are in trouble or you find something is wrong about your child, please tell staffs immediately. Now, six years have passed since this earthquake, and the reconstruction of buildings is proceeding properly. But we listened to her story and felt the most important thing for the restoration of the Tohoku region could be restoration of their heart. page 7

8 Okawa Elementary School We visited Okawa elementary school in Ishinomaki on August 23rd. It is located in the area called Kamaya, Ishinomaki Kawakita-cho which is four kilometers above the sea. Okawa elementary school had 108 children, but 74 students of them and 10 teachers died by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th in Also 83 percent of the residents of this area died from the tsunami and there is no house left. When the earthquake occurred, many residents were evacuated to Okawa elementary school. And, it is said that the reason most of them died is that they had assumed the tsunami hadn t come up to the school and stayed in the school yard for about 50 minutes after the earthquake without running away to the hill behind the elementary school. Okawa elementary school is a two-story building made of concrete. However, the wall of the building was peeled off by the tsunami and the passageway on the second floor was screwed down. Classrooms lost walls and the inside of them can be seen from the outside. The clock in the classroom were broken and stopped on the time the tsunami reached. When we saw it, we were very shocked. While the building was terribly damaged, we found beautiful sunflowers blooming in the school yard. Sunflower is a very strong flower. We could hear the story that the seeds carried from somewhere by the tsunami grew under the rubble. Now People in Ishinomaki try to preserve Okawa elementary school which had been damaged as earthquake remains and appeal the horribleness of the tsunami with strong will like sunflowers. We thought the sunflower is suitable for a symbol of recovery of Ishinomaki. page 8

9 Nikkori Temporary Housing We visited Nikkori temporary housing in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, and listened to a story from rsidents about the problems they had right after the earthquake and now. First, there were 134 temporary housing complex and 7000 families, people lived there, but now a lot of people moved to restoration public housings and the occupancy rate of temporary housings is down to about 20%. The problems about temporary housings such as condensation and thinness of the wall has improved considerably. However, new problems are coming out now. It is mental suffering that people living in temporary housings have. Residents we met are friendly and bright, but when we talked with them, they said we feel lonely. Ishinomaki is advancing to the reconstruction and a lot of people moved to restoration public housings, so people who still live in temporary housings feel impatient, worried, and sad. However, little attention is paid to such emotional wounds by the disaster. We thought it is very important to provide mental care for these people. We want to tell many people that there are a lot of people who still cannot heal a broken heart even if the town has been reconstructed, and that this earthquake must not be forgotten. Higashi-Matsushima Sum We participated in Higashi-Matsushima Festival 2017 as a volunteer staff. We did some volunteer activities such as separating the garbage, handing out tickets for a lot, putting up a tent and so on. Higashi-Matsushima Summer Festival is a festival which is held in the city center of Higashi-Matsushima once a year and it has a lot of interesting show like a parade. Also we can see the performance of Blue Impulse there, which is the pride of Higashi-Matsushima. When we saw it for the first time, we were impressed and thought we ve never seen such a beautiful thing. It s impossible to do such a performance in the sky! Blue Impulse is the special team that perform an elegant acrobatic flying to let many people know the existence of Air Self- Defense Force. The performance in this festival could be seen after seven years because of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The motto of the team is Try for creations. We heard that the pilots of Blue Impulse fly for more than two hundreds hours a year. We thought such their efforts must create a beautiful performance like the one in the festival. page 9

10 Cheer up! Ishinomaki We saw the board of Cheer up! Ishinomaki in Minamihama area. The Cheer up! Ishinomaki was first made of the debris after the earthquake. It was raining when we visited it, so we offered a silent prayer for the dead in our bus. There were many sunflowers around the board. Those sunflowers are called Dokonjou sunflower. Dokonjou means guts. Also, those sunflowers are planted as a symbol of the revival of Ishinomaki. When the earthquake occurred, the seeds of sunflowers came floated from somewhere by the tsunami and were in full bloom around the board miraculously even among a lot of debris. Mr. Kurosawa was moved to see it and decided to work for increasing the sunflowers. He presents the seeds of Dokonjou sunflower to people who made a donation to his action. Also, the earthquake commemorative park will be built at Minamihama area. Citizens will plant 100,000 trees in this area. First, they will start from planting 3,000 trees and this planning trees will be completed in 2021, which is a turning point of 10 years after the earthquake. It will be also the time when people began to forget about the earthquake, so people who are building this park have the hope that the earthquake will be remembered by the park. The board of Cheer up! Ishinomaki is maintained by the citizens every day. Also, we found a small museum next to the board. The event to prevent the memory of the earthquake from fading away is held there. For example, they hold the memorial service of lighting about 3,500 garden lanterns at every turning point such as 1,000 days and 2,000 days after the earthquake, and 3,500 is the number of the dead people in this area. Many volunteers make garden lanterns for this event outside in a very cold weather every March. A Miracle Laver ~Laver Studio YAMOTO~ We visited Laver Studio YAMOTO in Higashimatsushima. Their laver had been chosen as a special product to offer to the Emperor. Unfortunately, however, the studio was completely destroyed due to the earthquake disaster, in The tsunami swamped away the studio and they could find a part of the building in the rice field later, which is several hundred meters away. The electricity, gas and water were shut off and they lost all tools for the laver farming. Also, it was the harvest season of the laver, but all lavers which they had already harvested were drained away by the tsunami. It was a hard situation to reopen the studio. Although they thought they lost all lavers, the laver was found in a car miraculously. Almost all companies were forced to be closed or give up their business, but Laver Studio Yamoto was reopened in May When we ate their laver, we thought that their laver is totally different from the laver we usually eat. Their laver had an elegant taste. Ms. Kiyomi Tuda who was the owner of this studio said, Our laver is soft and melts away in our mouth, but we could find it true when we ate it. We really hope that more and more people will know the laver of this studio and enjoy eating it. page 10

11 We visited the old Nobiru station and the Earthquake Disaster Tradition Museum. When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, the old Nobiru station building was damaged by the tsunami of 3.7 meters high. After the earthquake, the station building was rebuilt and now is used as Higashimatsushima Earthquake Disaster Tradition Museum. Also, the old Nobiru station was filled with the rubble when the earthquake occurred, but now it is being reconstructed and will be preserved as the earthquake ruins. Because of the experience of this earthquake, the new Nobiru station was built on the hill, which is about 500m farther than old Nibiru station from the sea, and already resumed the service. In the museum, we could see the ticket machine which had been used at the old Nobiru station before the earthquake was exhibited. But a lot of sand had been packed in it. The clock which was used at Nobiru elementary school was also exhibited. It stopped at 2:48. The earthquake occurred at 2:46, so we can understand that tremor was very long. Moreover, the pictures of the station and the area around it before and after the earthquake were exhibited. There were a lot of tragic pictures, and we felt the strength of the tsunami and shaking of the earthquake. The staff showed us the story on video, which was about a couple. The couple ran away to the shelter together when the earthquake occurred. After that, however, the wife went back to home to help a dog that had been left in the house. She was swallowed up by the tsunami and died. The husband regretted that he hadn t prevented his wife at that time. We had very painful feelings to see the husband shedding tears in his interview. page 11

12 I will do what I can do. The story spoken by Akiko Iwamoto who is the chief editor. We listened to the story at Ishinomaki Sensyu University. The story was spoken by Akiko Iwamoto who is the chief editor of KIZUNA Newspaper. She has helped Ishinomaki recover since the earthquake occurred. It occurred on March 11th, 2011 and she knew the damage on television. She thought, I hope to help the people at the disaster area with taking a long time. and decided to take part in volunteer work in Ishinomaki. The first one she joined was the work to remove mud which was brought by the tsunami. She said, It was hard for my body, but my heart was satisfied. After a half year, mud and driftwood disappeared from the city, which had been filled with them. After the experiences of these volunteer works, she assumed the chief editor of the newspaper whose name is Kasetsu Kizuna Shinbun. They are delivered to people who live in temporary housings. Ms. Iwamoto hands newspapers to residents and enjoy talking with them. The name of Kasetsu Kizuna Shinbun was changed into Ishinomaki Fukko Kizuna Shinbun. Although she had some problems such as suspending publication, she got over them and the newspapers still continue to be handed to people who live in temporary housings and restoration public housings. She said, The number of people who leave temporary housings has been increasing. This is good. But this situation makes some serious problems. For example, we have 5 problems; ①The breakup of Local government, the deterioration of the public order in the community and the impatience and anxiety that people who still live in temporary housings have ②Securing financial and human resources to keep making newspapers ③Isolation after moving to restoration public housings ④Concern about memories of the earthquake fading ⑤The problem that issues about temporary housings are not revealed Especially ⑤ is a serious problem, because there is a big difference between the problems people who live in temporary housings have and the problems people who live in other places in Ishinomaki have. Actually, some people think people who live in temporary housings are not independent, depend on the government and stay on temporary housings. She said sadly. But I will do what I can do. We felt her strong spirit from her lecture. page 12

13 The story which should be handed down ~ What we have to think about ~ We listened to the story about the disaster experiences from Mr. Takuya Hatakeyama who is a former principal of Kitakami junior high school. We were given the paper and told to read it before his speech. There were some stories and words written by earthquake victims who lost a person close to them on it. We were very impressed by them and would like to introduce three of them. First one is the word, Thank you mom. I love you so much. This word was said by a girl to her mother. When the earthquake occurred, the tsunami inundated her house, but her mother was caught in debris and couldn't move. Then, her mother said, Don t leave me. Stay with me. But she said this word and left her mother there. She swam away to the roof of Okawa elementary school alone and survived. Mr. Hatakeyama said, Your own life is more important than any other life. Also, the life of children is more important than that of parents because we must pass the baton of life to the next generation. We could learn the importance of the baton of life. Next one is the poem, The voice is still now. written by Ms. Rumiko Takara. This poem was written for Ms. Miki Endo employed by the town s Crisis Management Department in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture. Ms. Endo continued to broadcast warnings and alerts over the community loudspeaker system, in the Crisis Management Department s building, as the tsunami overwhelmed it. Her voice is called Angel s Voice. We were moved by her brave act to sacrifice herself for many lives. Lastly, the most impressed one is the story, There are many survivors who blame themselves for surviving while many people died. Mr. Hatakeyama told us that survivor s guilt is the most terrible problem for people who are closely related. Survivor s guilt means that survivors feel a pang of guilt about surviving. He said, We don't have to feel guilty to survive. It`s more important to have the idea to live for the dead people. We learned the most important thing is life from his speech. Life is the big problem that we must think about in our lifetime. page 13

14 We had an opportunity to visit the fish market ISHINOMAKI UOICHIBA in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. ISHINOMAKI UOICHIBA is the fish market in the coast area named KINKAZAN, Sanriku, which is one of the biggest fish markets in the world. It has a saw-toothed coastline and the great fishing ground where a warm current and cold current cross, and more than 200 kinds of fishes could be caught there before the earthquake. But the fish market was destroyed by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake in As much as 2585 ships were damaged in Ishinomaki. However, the people in Ishinomaki started to work together for reopening the fish market soon. They disposed about 5 tons of the dead fish. Only 4 months after the earthquake, they restarted to catch fish and in the following August, they began to rebuild the fish market. In 2015 the present UOICHIBA was completed and it is 1.4 times bigger than before. Now, ISHINOMAKI UOICHIBA owns 4000 ships and is ranked on the 6 th place in the catch of fish in 2017 although it was on the 7 th place before the earthquake. Moreover, to relieve consumer s fear, the fishers developed a radiograph test equipment with Tohoku university. They sort out fish into the one of less than 65 Becquerels or not and ship the safe fish. About 1200 fish can be tested in 1 hour with this equipment. But the fishers sleep around 6:00 in the evening and wake up at 1:00 in the midnight to finish this test by 6:00 in the morning every day. We could find the passion that they would like many people to eat the fish caught in Ishinomaki with security from their attitude toward the work. Also, we saw the moment of landing fish and experienced the world of -59 degrees in the fridge to keep fish fresh. When we turned the towel in the fridge, it got frozen immediately, and we drove a nail into wood with a frozen bonito. Through these various experiences at UOICHIBA, we could know the tracks to the revival of UOICHIBA, and how safe and rich the fish of Ishinomaki is. And we could have more gratitude to the fact that we can eat the fish safety and deliciously. Page 14

15 On the last day, we got on a pleasure boat and saw the beautiful scenery at Matsushima gulf. It is one of the most famous view spots in Japan. The boatman showed us around Matsushima gulf slowly. The scenery had been registered as a cultural property, but a part of it was destroyed by the tsunami. However, there were still a wonderful sight that we can t usually see. It caught our eyes for a long time. Also, we could enjoy seeing many sea birds, such as seagull and black-tailed gull. It was a very good weather and the wave and wind were calm and comfortable. We couldn t believe that the big tsunami came to this calm gulf. After getting off a pleasure boat, we climbed Mt. Otakamori. We could see Sendai gulf, Matsushima gulf, Zao peaks, Mt.Kurikoma from top of the mountain. We were fascinated with the beautiful sunset reflected in Matsushima gulf. Many Kinds of meals in Miyagi We introduce the meals we had in Ishinomaki and Higashimatsushima. As the lunch of the first day, we had breads made from a local grain of rice, Komeko bread. There were three kinds of breads, bean-jam buns, hot dogs and cheese breads. The texture was soft and chewy, and they were very delicious. As the lunch of the second day, we had a bowl of rice topped with fresh seafood. We had a lot of sashimi, sliced raw fish caught in Ishinomaki and they were very fresh. From the kindness of the staffs at the restaurant, we could eat many sea urchins. Some of us tried them for the first time, but they liked them soon. As the dinner, we went to the restaurant named Agora and we ate Combination meal with Egoma pork. Egoma pork is a pig which is raised in Miyagi and eats the food including the sesame from Shikamacho in Miyagi. The grilled Egoma pork was very chewy and the local rice was very delicious, too. As the lunch of the third day, we went to the one-pot cooking restaurant named Haginoi and ate Nori-Udon. It was invented by Mr. Nobukatsu Omori, who was the sumo wrestler and now is the owner of the restaurant. It looks like Japanese soba, but it is a noodle used laver powder to make. Every time we bit it, the taste of laver spread in our mouth and we felt like eating more. Also, we had many kinds of tempura with it and they were very delicious. On the last day, we all bought Nori-Udon for our family as a souvenir. page 15

16 Ishinomaki Community & Info Center We visited Ishinomaki Community & Info Center and listened to the lecture of Mr.Richard, who is from the U.K, but moved to Ishinomaki before the earthquake and has lived there. On March 11, 2011, the day when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, 3329 people were dead in Ishinomaki and 420 people are still missing. After that, some earthquake victims left Ishinomaki and moved to another place. Now the population of Ishinomaki is about , which is less than that before the earthquake. Also, Tsunami damaged the finance of Ishinomaki and the damage amounted to 262,115 million yen. Six years have passed after the earthquake, and now people work for not only recovery of Ishinomaki but also creating a new disasterresistant town under the experience of the earthquake. They plan to build houses that are strong against earthquakes instead of houses that were destroyed by the earthquake. Also, they plan to make a new big park in the coast area where they had a big damage by tsunami. The hospital which had stood near the sea before the earthquake was moved to the area which is far from the sea and high above sea level. Building the double embankment is also planned. The new park will be completed in New Ishinomaki is being created. Immediately after the earthquake, the U.K. embassy told Mr.Richard to return to the U.K., but he decided to stay in Ishinomaki. Now, he is the director of Ishinomaki Community & Info Center. He said, I want people all over the world to know about the Great East Japan Earthquake and Ishinomaki. We found the pamphlets in English there and understood his deep thought for Ishinoamki. Editors Postscript From August 23, 2017 until August 26, 2017, the 20 students, who belong to the global course at Urawagakuin High School, took part in the summer school program carried out in Ishinomaki city & Higasimatsushima city, Miyagi prefecture, where are the seriously affected areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake. There are two main purposes of this program. One is the student s understanding not only their own country well, but also an unprecedented disaster in Japan, the Great East Japan Earthquake deeply as a Japanese person. The other is their telling people in the world this experience and the current recovery and reconstruction from the disaster where they study abroad in Canada and Australia next year. Therefore, the 20 students made this English newspaper. page 16