Elementary school ruins in northeastern Japan restored as disaster memorial park (1)

 

[Tsunami-hit areas in northeastern Japan region revisited] 2nd of 3-part series

September 11, 2023

Elementary school ruins in northeastern Japan restored as disaster memorial park 

The red school bag is displayed as part of tsunami disaster-related items at a memorial facility built near the Okawa Elementary School ruins in Kamaya, Ishinomaki City, northeastern Japan. The school bag was a belonging of Hana Suzuki, who was a fourth grader at the school, and it can be easily found as it is placed in a glass case at the entrance room of the Okawa Tsunami Memorial Hall.

The facility was opened in July 2021, 10 years and four months after the devastating earthquake and the ensuing tsunami waves hit widely scattered areas facing the Pacific in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011.

The schoolchild's bag, to be more precise, is a satchel to be strapped to the back. The bag, with textbooks, notebooks and utensils contained inside, was found from among the debris a few days after the school was engulfed and inundated by the tsunami, but the girl, its owner, was unaccounted for.

<Schoolgirl's belonging hoped to demonstrate importance of life>

Displayed along with the bag is a copy of a newspaper periodically issued for elementary school students, which contains a picture of a smiling Hana. 

Devoting its headline story to discussing her fate, the June 27, 2022, edition of the newspaper reports, "Here is a red satchel waiting for the return of its owner since that day 11 years ago." 

The bag had also contained a copy of a school schedule for March, the final month of the school year. The column of the eighth day in the schedule for March indicated the Okawa Elementary pupils had a meeting to see graduating sixth graders off that day. Hana's life was terminated three days later.  

Of the 108 pupils who were attending the school at that time, 70 children were killed and four others missing. The girl who owned the satchel was one of the four missing pupils. The tsunami also claimed the lives of 10 teachers and other school staffers.

The Suzukis, Hana's parents, had kept her satchel carefully, but as the disaster memorial hall was built, they decided to offer the item for display there, hoping that it will help remind visitors of the importance of life.

The site of the sad incident was restored as a disaster memorial park in a city-sponsored project launched in 2019. In the 3.3-hectare park, which is open throughout the year, visitors can see the ruins of unique school facilities such as round classrooms in the two-story building, a cylindrical multi-use assembly hall and an outdoor stage. 

Guided tour services, regularly or on demand, are provided by a group of bereaved families and a few citizens' groups. 

The Okawa Elementary pupils who survived the disaster moved to a makeshift school at a different school's grounds the following year. Then, Okawa Elementary was officially closed in 2018. 

For people hoping to reach Kamaya, where Okawa Elementary was located, a convenient public transportation service is not available. The nearest railway station is about 15 kilometers away. 

Kamaya, which is in the northeastern part of Miyagi Prefecture, appears to be a poorly populated community. So, a question frequently asked by visitors is why so fully furnished a school had been built there. 

Kamaya was a calm community, but the town was home to 496 people of 139 families, who had a lively time together whenever traditional seasonal events were held. That may be an answer to the frequently asked question. 

Pictures of the Kamaya community before and after the disaster are displayed along with other items and materials at the memorial hall.

Seen in the lower part of the two pictures taken around the disaster is a long bridge spanning Kitakami River flowing eastward (upward in the pictures) to the Pacific. 

The red, round building of Okawa Elementary is seen near the southern end of the bridge in the older picture, while the newer picture shows no building left in the area. 

The picture taken after the disaster shows the 560-meter-long truss bridge chopped halfway, indicating the strong power of the tsunami.

   

A main road in front of the school used to be lined by a post office, a clinic, a police box and many shops. But buildings and houses in Kamaya were completely washed away by the tsunami.