Iwate is the prefecture with the largest number of natural disaster monuments. We meet people who pass on the lessons of past disasters in this region that was devastated by the 2011 tsunami.
Are you ready if disaster strikes?
Find out what you need to do by watching this program.
BOSAI: Be Prepared.
The topic this time is: "Disaster Reminders From the Past."
Do you know what the symbols on this map of Japan mean?
They indicate the locations of "Natural Disasters Monuments" that remind us of past events.
Currently, there are 1,402 of them nationwide.
Hi, I'm Bobby Judo, and today I'm on my way to Iwate Prefecture, the prefecture with the most natural disaster monuments in all of Japan.
I'm hoping to get a look at the real conditions of some of Japan's past disasters, as well as how the lessons learned from them are being passed on.
Bobby is visiting Rikuzentakata on the shore of the Pacific Ocean.
It was severely damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11th, 2011.
In fact, this area had been hit by tsunamis many times in the past.
He will visit disaster monuments guided by Kono Masayoshi of the Rikuzentakata Tourist Guide Group.
I'm a guide at the Earthquake memorial facility and other sites.
Kono's family has lived in this area for many generations, and he himself suffered greatly in the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Kono first takes Bobby to see the monument to the 1933 tsunami.
What does this say?
"Be constantly prepared for an unexpected tsunami."
And, "If you hear a bang after an earthquake, regard it as a tsunami," meaning that a tsunami makes a loud banging noise.
It also says, "A tsunami will come again in three or four decades."
In 1933, a powerful tsunami struck following the Showa Sanriku Earthquake.
Before that, in 1896, there was one generated by the Meiji Sanriku earthquake.
The interval between them was 37 years.
The next one after 1933 was generated by the Great Chilean Earthquake of 1960.
And then, in 2011, about 50 years later, we were hit by another tremendously big one.
So, people have known here for a long time that tsunamis can occur here so frequently?
Yes.
After a tsunami, we always erect a monument to warn people about tsunami...
but, they forget about it.
The Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum, which opened in 2019, was also built to pass on the memory and record of the tsunami to future generations.
What do we have here?
This is part of a bridge girder of the Kesen Ohashi Bridge, which was in use right up to the earthquake.
The bridge was straight and approximately 180 meters long.
It was knocked down by the tsunami and transformed into this shape when it was found 300 meters upstream.
Wow, it's bent way out shape.
With a magnitude of 9.0, the Great East Japan Earthquake was one of the largest ever recorded.
Many people were swept away by the tsunami.
15,900 people died, and 2,523 people are still missing.
The disaster has made people reevaluate the words that have been handed down in this region since ancient times.
A phrase which has long been handed down along the Sanriku Coast is "Tsunami Tendenko."
"Tendenko" means "individually."
When a tsunami comes, you should look after yourself and escape, rather than going to pick up your family or other people.
That's what it means.
The phrase also includes the need to discuss evacuation with family members in advance, so that even if you are in different places,
you believe each one of you will run for safety: so, "Escape without hesitation."
In order to pass on a disaster record and memories, some buildings in Rikuzentakata that were damaged by the tsunami have been preserved as they are.
These buildings are called "Earthquake memorial facilities."
Kono guides us to an earthquake memorial facility on the banks of the Kesen River, which is separated from the sea by a floodgate.
It was a junior high school.
I graduated from here 50 years ago.
So this is your alma mater?
Yes.
If you look at that tsunami sign, you can see it was completely underwater.
The tsunami reached 14.2 meters, higher than the school's rooftop.
But all the students and teachers were saved.
Where did they evacuate to?
Just before a big tsunami hits, the water usually recedes at great speed, so you can see the bottom of the river and the sea, which is usually invisible.
When they saw this, they knew that they'd be in trouble, so they all ran to the hillside over there.
And... that's how they all survived.
The next place we visit is a former roadside market.
It was a sightseeing spot, with an observatory overlooking the ocean and pine forest.
Takatamatsubara was the city's most important tourist resource.
It was like this.
Wow, the pine trees are massive, and it was beautiful.
That's right.
The local people started planting the pine forest about 350 years ago.
But the tsunami destroyed Rikuzentakata, including the entire pine forest.
Kono's home and the house where he was born were both washed away.
One of my sisters is still missing.
She evacuated to a shelter, but, the shelter itself was swept away with her inside it.
In areas where a tsunami could hit at any time, people are advised to build houses in higher places,
but since a tsunami only hits once every few decades, people forget about it in the meantime.
I'm embarrassed to say I, too, forgot about it.
Finally, Kono takes us to...
This is one of the places I especially wanted to show you.
The owner of this building has left it as it was at his own expense.
People were saved right at the top of the vent, where the flag is flying.
It's about 1.5 kilometers from the sea.
Despite such a location, you can see that the tsunami reached that high.
So not only was it still that high, it also washed away everything here, even as far inland as we are here?
That's right.
It's all wide open and empty space now, but what was it like before?
It was the city center.
It was like this...
And where was this building?
This is it, here.
All the other buildings were destroyed?
This building, the community center, survived the quake.
It was designated as a shelter.
And... even the shelter was washed away...
Yes, it was.
It's estimated that 130 to 170 people died here.
This place holds so many painful memories for you...
I imagine it must be hard as a guide, having to relive that just to pass on the story of what happened here.
Where do you find the motivation to keep doing it?
Well, I'm just hoping that people will learn the facts about what has happened here in the past, and they will find that information useful as preparation for future disasters.
If those who have never experienced such a disaster could also understand what happens, then I think it will be of some use when this kind of tsunami or natural disaster occurs in the future,
such as making them aware of how they should evacuate.
I want to share our experience in order for them to get a real sense of what it's like.