Earthquake survivors in northeastern Japan shifting to new phase with refined memories (1)

[Tsunami-hit areas in northeastern Japan region revisited] 1st of 3-part series 

August 30, 2023

Earthquake survivors in northeastern Japan shifting to new phase with refined memories (1)

Those who visit the central part of Ishinomaki, a northeastern Japan city extensively damaged by the devastating earthquake of March 2011, can see two impressive objects set up or preserved in memory of the mishap; one of them is a huge one, actually a school building destroyed by a fire which occurred following the earthquake-triggered tsunami wave, while the other one is a small stone monument dedicated to the souls of five kindergarten kids killed in the disaster.

The two structures stand in the city's tsunami memorial park expanding on a 38.8-hectare site in the Kadonowaki-Minamihama area, which used to be alive with about 3,000 houses built and residents busily passing by. 

Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, hosts a major fishing port facing the Pacific, but the earthquake and the ensuing killer tsunami wave left some 3,600 people dead or missing in the city, the municipality-specific heaviest damage across the country. 

The figure compared with its population of 162,000 at the time of the disaster. Of the victims, over 500 people were killed by the onslaught of the earthquake and the wave in the seaside area. 

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Those who survived the earthquake, which jolted the northeastern part of Japan on March 11, 2011, have spent their time in various ways since then. Some lawsuits were filed for damages by bereaved families, while debates occurred among citizens in some cities over whether the damaged structures and other objects must be preserved as earthquake ruins to keep the memories for the future generation.

The disaster, which claimed more than 20,000 lives in widely scattered regions on the Pacific coasts, led Japanese people to look back at their daily life, individual and social. They also came to realize the importance of their family bonds. 

Overall, people in the affected regions appear to be shifting from the initial days for rehabilitation and fact-finding to a new phase to pass their refined memories down to the generation to come. 

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The reader may be recommended to refer to the related articles posted on this blogsite between March 7 and March 13, 2012, based on the author's tour of the affected regions. They can be found in the archives column for the year of 2012.