Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Colossal On March 11, 2011, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sendai sent a catastrophic tsunami crashing into the island Waves towering 40 meters high ripped across the region killing 15,500 people and destroying the homes of more than 450,000 When the tsunami reached the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant it caused three nuclear reactors to melt down and spewed radioactive materials into the environment Garden designer Itaru Sasaki lost his cousin to cancer just months before the tragedy devastated his town he decided to create a space for mourning in his backyard one that would offer quiet and a symbolic connection to his loved one glass-paned booth with a seat and built-in desk holding a notebook The vintage device isn’t tethered to any service line a severing that provides the space its name: Kaze no denwa or the “Phone of the Wind,” a nod to the idea that whatever is spoken into the receivers will be carried only through the air Given its location in a place indelibly impacted by mass casualty Sasaki’s booth quickly became a useful intervention for mourning families—Otsuchi lost about 10 percent of its population in the disaster a third of whose bodies have never been identified or found The designer eventually opened the space to visitors tens of thousands of people began making the pilgrimage to his garden Sasaki told Tessa Fontaine writing for The Believer in 2018: But death is something that goes on much longer both for the person who has died and also for the survivors who must find a way to feel connected to the dead All the people who are left afterward are still figuring out what to do about it the “Phone of the Wind” is a physical acknowledgment that grief endures that life never really returns to “normal” after loss Amy Dawson’s daughter Emily died following a long illness As she dealt with her own loss and studied to become a grief coach Dawson discovered Sasaki’s “Phone of the Wind.” She felt an affinity with the idea and through additional research bereavement is allotted a handful of days off of work followed by a painful and often isolating period of grief relegated to the shadows Dawson continually strives to remedy this social stigma and as part of her work, began cataloging the phone booths and their locations, which she eventually compiled into a vast directory called My Wind Phone Containing photos and stories from the creators the searchable map tracks more than 300 “Wind Phones” around the globe each individually installed and maintained is no doubt a contributor to the popularity of My Wind Phone in the States although the abundance of designs also points to a profound reality: people are hungry for space to process their heartbreak and for greater recognition that mourning doesn’t end with a funeral or once cleanup from a natural disaster is finished “I get a ton of communication from people who are feeling or feel like they can take the next step forward because they feel like they can make a phone call say what they need to say,” Dawson shares Encounters with “Wind Phones” in the wild are sometimes intentional and others a welcome surprise “I stumbled upon the ‘Wind Phone’ and felt a bit crazy dialing my mom until I didn’t and I got to tell her I love her,” a woman named Marlene shared with Dawson “I haven’t felt connected to her since she died in 2016 like I did today.” is similar: “I think the ‘Wind Phones’ that are showing up in the world are teaching us all that it’s okay to grieve and that pain and loss are real I’ve never ‘gotten over’ or ‘moved on’ from my mother’s loss and I know now that’s okay. I’ll keep calling her until the day I die.” In the decade since Sasaki created the “Phone of the Wind,” the project has turned into a movement with broad cultural implications. In 2019, writer and director Kristen Gerweck released a highly lauded short film fictionalizing a story about seven strangers connected by a cliff-side phone Saski himself wrote a now out-of-print book about the experience which also inspired at least two novels from North American writers the movement is largely decentralized: anyone with space and the desire can create a “Wind Phone.” This means that designs and no one is quite sure who created the second or third phone or exactly how the designs have multiplied so rapidly and another in Amsterdam—utilize the iconic British booth painted in bright red Others are humble wooden boxes affixed to trees and benches or a single phone nested into a rock as in the island village of Rhoscolyn “Wind Phones” take different shapes and forms for different people As the project grows and we collectively destigmatize loss Dawson hopes people remember that loss is broad and death isn’t the only reason someone might be experiencing sorrow all the millions of ways that people grieve,” she adds “People are going to ‘Wind Phones’ for more than just death Visit My Wind Phone to find one in your area Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member now Join more than 200,000 subscribers and get the best of art and visual culture from Colossal Copyright © 2025 Colossal. See our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Sneakers decorated with an embroidery technique called sashiko in a style particular to Otsuchi create a variety of impressions on people: to some they seem innovative; to others they appear rustic not only through Japan but to other countries as well.Sashiko is a technique involving stitching together layers of cloth that has been passed down across many generations in Japan’s Tohoku region several women are using the Otsuchi style of sashiko to give new life to old sneakers part of a project that originally began with the aim of helping women affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake to rebuild their lives.A group of 15 women began working in March last year to decorate sneakers with Otsuchi sashiko embroidery who were in their 40s to 70s as of last December “Sashiko Gals” for their cheerful and positive demeanor please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent By Rie Hayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer not only through Japan but to other countries as well Sashiko is a technique involving stitching together layers of cloth that has been passed down across many generations in Japan’s Tohoku region part of a project that originally began with the aim of helping women affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake to rebuild their lives A group of 15 women began working in March last year to decorate sneakers with Otsuchi sashiko embroidery One Sashiko Gals Project member in her 40s said the work helped calm her overactive mind after the quake “Now I’m having fun working on the sneakers thinking about designs and imagining what the pieces will look like when they’re done,” she said Most of the sneakers used in the project are secondhand Layers of old cloth are stitched onto the tops The workers also sew colorful threads onto them in various patterns The technique involved is as precise as that of machine stitching but Sashiko Gals Project members deliberately give their work a “handmade feeling” by making stitches of different lengths and at different angles The warmth that only hand-stitched work can provide is also believed to be a secret to the popularity of the products The work requires a high level of concentration and the members said they can work on the sashiko sneakers for no more than two to three hours a day It takes the Gals about two to three weeks to complete a pair of shoes customers are said to sometimes have to wait for four months or more to receive items they have ordered The group’s sustainable practice of transforming old things into valuable products is no doubt part of an international trend Through overseas media reports on the group and their products the Sashiko Gals Project has been attracting fans worldwide Some people reportedly even enjoy displaying the shoes as works of art we’re also happy to have people wearing them,” Fujiwara said Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report Iwate Prefecture--As the massive tsunami surged over a 6.4-meter seawall took the image from a hill near her home in the Ando district of Otsuchi town about 10 kilometers away at a steel plant in Kamaishi in the prefecture The tsunami wrecked coal conveyor belts and piers at the plant who was a junior high school student at the time “Maybe the house is just flooded up to the floorboards.” Keiichi took a mountain route and finally reached Otsuchi on the evening of March 12 It was only when he looked out from there that he fully grasped the extent of the devastation―the tsunami had completely destroyed his hometown “I actually took this,” displaying the photo The photograph captured the moment the massive wave surged over the seawall while people were being swept away,” Miyoko told him neighbors rushed to the yard of the Sasaki’s home which was on slightly higher ground than the town center Miyoko handed out blankets and helped care for others before climbing a staircase of about 40 steps to Daitokuin temple to check on Ikumi but the third showed the tsunami pouring over the seawall as people ran for their lives The giant wave reached halfway up the staircase engulfing Sasaki’s home and the people who had evacuated to its yard “My wife and daughter must have seen people being swept away by the tsunami and heard their screams,” Keiichi said “Miyoko struggled with whether it was right to take that photo.” Miyoko and Ikumi stopped talking about the tsunami Keiichi still feels a deep sense of regret The Ando district had long been disaster-conscious around 20 houses stood along “temple street” near Sasaki’s home many of them housing elderly residents who required assistance along with town assembly members and the town association leader requested the town government to create an evacuation route beside the stairs leading to Daitokuin temple―one that wheelchair users could also use Budget constraints and the presence of the seawall stalled the plan the town association identified residents in need of assistance and planned group-based sessions to help coordinate their evacuation But just a few days before they could hold the first session More than 10 percent of the district’s residents died “A tsunami is a natural disaster―we can’t stop it “There were lives that could have been saved that day.” “What happened during the earthquake and the tsunami―we have a duty to pass that on to future generations,” Keiichi said He also continued documenting the aftermath of the disaster Miyoko’s photo was displayed alongside those of other local photographers at the “Remember Otsuchi” photo exhibition in Tokyo the town avoided staging a photo exhibition―until one was finally held in Otsuchi in 2023 passing on these memories to younger generations has become a challenge Junior high school students were born after the tsunami and many high schoolers were too young at the time to remember it Ando’s town association conducts annual evacuation drills in early March using collapsible carts to transport people who need assistance a wooden monument dedicated to the tragedy is rebuilt every four years rather than installing a stone monument the inscription on its side is decided through discussions between the residents and students local high school students will visit the site of the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred on Jan to study disaster preparedness and the importance of passing down these lessons 2 newspapers founded in 3/11 aftermath print final editions Post office in Fukushima open again 13 years after disaster Residents lose coastal vistas to fortress-like tsunami walls Mourners mark 10 years since 2011 earthquake and tsunami Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission please click the box below to let us know you're not a robot Get the most important global markets news at your fingertips with a Bloomberg.com subscription was probably the worst destroyed by the tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 roughly ten percent of the population was killed or went missing and sixty percent of residential buildings sustained damaged This project connects images of inhabitants of Otsuchi that survived the tsunami with recovered family photographs that were swept away by the tsunami by putting them together The colors found in the destroyed photographs are picked up and used to tint the B&W portraits of the residents of Otsuchi colors constitute a bridge between the recovered photographs from the past and photographs of the present Otsuchi Future Memories intends a reflection on the dynamic relationship between family photographs and our memories when such tragedies happens The tsunami caused considerable material damage killing people and destroying entire communities the survivors also face the intangible loss of their own memories and identities in which family photographs play a fundamental role Four members of the same family poses in the ruins of their house that was destroyed a year before Yuya Miura & Satoshi Tuchizawa at the Kiri Kiri Beach standing up over a tsunami protection structure that was swept away by the 2011 tsunami Right Image: Recovered Photograph shows aerial view of Otsuchi Town a former worker of the Otsuchi Town Library sat in the place where the library was before it was destroyed by the 2011 tsunami A family album that was swept away by the 2011 tsunami Left Image: A one hundred-year-old bonsai tree from Otsuchi Town Right Image: Recovered Photograph shows an old woman holding a baby Yuki Kawabata & Yosuke Yamazaki next to a Railway bridge destroyed by the Tsunami Left Image: Water breakers at the Kiri Kiri Beach Right Image: Recovered Photograph shows students during graduation ceremony Monk Yoshihiro Ogayu standing in the place where the Kogan-ji temple was before its destruction by the 2011 tsunami Left Image: Recovered Photograph shows the portrait of a young girl Right Image: a neighborhood of Otsuchi Town that was not affected by the Tsunami Route signals marking the last tsunami inundation area Left Image: Recovered Photograph shows people in roller coaster Right Image: a street light that was destroyed by the 2011 tsunami Left Image: Recovered Photograph shows firefighters during training day Right Image: the Second Squad of Firefighters at the ruins of Otsuchi Fire Station A photograph that was swept away by the 2011 tsunami shows a woman dressing a kimono along a young girl The remains of a bathroom that was destroyed by the 2011 tsunami The town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture was severely damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake The "Otsuchi Reconstruction Sashiko Project," which was launched as part of a reconstruction project after the earthquake has now been reborn as "Sashiko GALS" under the direction of Arata Fujiwara Stylist Hiroshi Ozawa was impressed by the products produced by GALS We visited the town of Otsuchi and had a conversation with Mr which revealed the true appeal of "SASHIKO GALS 2,000 residents were lost in the tsunami in 2011 who had already been grieving his cousin before the tsunami hit had the idea of placing an old phone booth at the bottom of his garden with a disconnected rotary phone He would ring his cousin’s number and his words would "be carried on the wind" as he spoke to him many more people have come to Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture You can find out more about the wind phone by listening to the World Service's Heart and Soul programme Producer: Sarah Cuddon and Sophia Smith Galer ShareSave'I'm alive but three in my group didn't make it' - Kashmir attack survivorTourists are returning home after a deadly gun attack killed 26 visitors in Indian-administered Kashmir. 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'Nothing is left' - Myanmar's capital reels from earthquakeThe BBC is in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw to see the destruction caused by the devastating earthquake. Watch: Rescuers dig through pile of concrete after Bangkok tower collapseDozens of workers were trapped when the building collapsed after a huge earthquake hit neighbouring Myanmar. Myanmar earthquake: Moment rescuers pull woman alive from rubbleRescuers in Myanmar were cheered as they carried 30-year-old Phyu Lay Khaing away on a stretcher. 'We told each other to run': Survivors recount Bangkok building collapseDozens remain unaccounted for after the 33-storey building, which was under construction, gave way on Friday when a powerful earthquake struck neighbouring Myanmar. Watch: Moment baby is born on Bangkok street after quake evacuationA woman was seen giving birth to a baby shortly after evacuating from a hospital. Dashcam captures moment Bangkok building collapsesA car dashcam has captured the moment a building collapsed in Bangkok following an earthquake. Verified video shows widespread damage following Myanmar earthquakeBBC Verify has been checking dozens of videos of damage and destruction following the earthquake in Myanmar. a white phone booth glistens in the early spring light Kazuyoshi Sasaki carefully dials his late wife Miwako's cellphone number bending his large frame and cradling the handset He explains how he searched for her for days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami a decade ago visiting evacuation centres and makeshift morgues returning at night to the rubble of their home "I sent you a message telling you where I was Left: Sasaki holds a photograph of his wife Miwako "When I came back to the house and looked up at the sky it was like looking at a jewel box," the 67-year old says "I cried and cried and knew then that so many people must have died." Sasaki's wife was one of more than 20,000 people in northeastern Japan killed by the disaster that struck on March 11 Many survivors say the unconnected phone line in the town of Otsuchi helps them keep in touch with their loved ones and gives them some solace as they grapple with their grief her late husband to whom she was married for 44 years She asks him what he has been doing with his days since he was swept away by the tsunami a decade ago and asks Toichiro to watch over their family Okawa says she sometimes feels like she can hear Toichiro on the other end of the line Left: Okawa calls her late husband with her two grandsons Reo and Daina Right: Okawa poses for a photograph with her grandsons who learned about the hillside garden from friends often brings her two grandsons here so they can also talk to their grandfather it's been 10 years already and I'm going to be in middle school soon," says Daina as they all squeeze into the tiny phone box "There's this new virus that's killing lots of people and that's why we're wearing masks a town some 500 km (310 miles) northeast of Tokyo "There are many people who were not able to say goodbye," he says "There are families who wish they could have said something at the end had they known they wouldn't get to speak again." The phone now attracts thousands of visitors from all over Japan but also by people who have lost relatives to sickness and suicide Sasaki says he was approached by organisers who want to set up similar phones in Britain and Poland that would allow people to call relatives they had lost in the coronavirus pandemic the pandemic came suddenly and when a death is sudden the grief a family experiences is also much larger," the 76-year-old says Like thousands of others in devastated coastal communities lost not only his wife but many other relatives and friends in the disaster He had known and loved Miwako for most of his life He first confessed his love to her when they were both in junior high school It took another 10 years for the two to begin dating Sasaki explains to his wife that he recently moved out of temporary housing and that their youngest son is now building a new home where he can live with their grandchildren Sasaki tells Miwako that a recent health checkup showed he had lost weight "I'll take care of myself," he promises her as a strong wind blows outside PHOTO EDITING MARIKA KOCHIASHVILI; TEXT EDITING PRAVIN CHAR; LAYOUT JULIA DALRYMPLE A woman from Ofunato who lost her junior high school classmates in a 2011 earthquake and tsunami calls her late friends inside the phone booth who lost her colleague in a 2011 earthquake and tsunami A notebook with messages written by visitors reads: "I came to (Itaru) Sasaki's garden for the first time 15 years ago I heard a lot about the concept of this garden and the roses at the time I was really looking forward to seeing what happened to this garden from that time but I suddenly thought about it today and came here again with the 20-year-old son I will come again when the flowers and vegetation in the garden are overgrown!" if you hear the wind tell them how you feel Itaru Sasaki conducts landscaping work in his garden Itaru Sasaki takes a break inside his home Kazuyoshi Sasaki sits at a table in his home Kazuyoshi Sasaki looks at the formerly residential area which was devastated by the disaster Kazuyoshi Sasaki gently strokes his wife Miwako's tomb stone Footmark prints are seen at a beach which was devastated by the March 11 A seawall stands at a coastal area which was devastated by the March 11 The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011 caused catastrophic destruction throughout the country. People were hit especially hard in Otsuchi, a fishing town on the Sanriku Coast where a series of waves as high as 60 feet tall destroyed about 60 percent of the city. Alejandro Chaskielberg was in Tokyo for an exhibition of his work in 2012 when his curator Chaskielberg made his first visit to Otsuchi 1½ years after the tsunami he found a great plain of land where the city had been before Large mountains of debris were scattered throughout the area 40 percent of Otsuchi’s inhabitants were still living in container-type temporary houses its inhabitants regularly passed by the places where their houses had been before the tsunami But many of them saw those spaces in a new way when Chaskielberg invited them to pose during the night in those empty spaces remaining silent and motionless for several minutes while he took long exposure photographs for his series “Otsuchi Future Memories.” “This was something pretty introspective for all because they started to remember the past and some were obviously moved,” he said via email it is important to talk with those portrayed and know their history and the story of the place where we are taking the pictures.” who introduced him to other townspeople who had been affected by the tsunami and students who participated in a photography workshop he conducted some people approached Chaskielberg independently to be included He ended up photographing around 20 families over two trips lasting about a month in total He also photographed objects that he found throughout the city “These objects have been modified by the power of water are as powerful as it is to portray a person,” he said Chaskielberg found a wet photo album inside a box sitting on the side of a road in Otsuchi “I slowly began to separate the sheets of the album and discovered that the images inside were almost completely blurred It was shocking for me to discover this album,” he said “It weighed several kilograms and it had a strong smell It seemed to be more like a dying animal than a photo album.” That photo album became an integral part of Chaskielberg’s series After photographing his subjects in black-and-white Chaskielberg chose one of the photos destroyed by the tsunami with which to create a custom color palette on his computer He then used the colors of the destroyed photo to add color to the black-and-white images “It’s a reflection on the tragedy as a whole—the losses These historic images are the bridge to the past I create through the use of colors,” he said “These photographs speak to the way the Otsuchi inhabitants decided to record their lives I try to build a story about the city and its people.” Chaskielberg’s work is on display as part of this year’s edition of The Fence a 26-year-old Mongolian who has fallen for the town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture has always preferred rural areas over city centers she was considered a perfect fit for the central government’s “local vitalization cooperator” program relocate to rural areas and engage in community vitalization work on commission from the hosting local government But foreign workers like Ariungerel are becoming more in demand for the program due to the influx of tourists and non-Japanese residents in rural regions Ariungerel’s main job is working at an intensive care home for elderly people in the Kirikiri district of this northeastern town recently asked one of the residents at the care home “I initially had a hard time because I didn’t understand the dialect here,” Ari said ‘enryo’ (which can mean ‘restraint’ or ‘refraining from doing something’) is a likable word that has no parallel in other countries.” Ari came to Japan in September 2018 under the “specified skilled worker” visa system She obtained a certified care worker license while working at a nursing home in the prefectural capital of Saitama She changed jobs and joined the care home in Otsuchi in spring 2023 through the introduction of a friend of a relative “I did so because I like the countryside better than a city,” Ari said as Otsuchi’s local vitalization cooperator serves as a life coordinator for non-Japanese workers in the town She and a fellow cooperator from Mongolia accompany foreign nationals to hospitals or the town hall Ari has helped three people who came to Otsuchi from Myanmar in autumn for nursing care work She has danced a local folk dance at a summer festival here and has also joined community gatherings Ari said she wishes to remain in Otsuchi even after her term as local vitalization cooperator ends I hope to be teaching what I have learned myself to others who come to live in Japan,” she said chief director of the Tsutsumi Fukushikai social welfare corporation was the one who proposed to the Otsuchi town government that it appoint Ari and others as local vitalization cooperators “Businesses in the welfare industry are scrambling for non-Japanese workers,” Haga “Things are particularly tough in depopulated areas More foreigners will settle down here only if we create an environment that makes it easier for them to live here We aspire to be a model for what a nursing home should be like in an aging About 150 local vitalization cooperators across Japan were non-Japanese in fiscal 2022 Their duties are typically related to tourism and disseminating information must be a resident of an urban area who is moving to a rural area Those who have served as assistant language teachers in Japan qualify to be local vitalization cooperators even if they are moving from one rural area to another a Canadian in her 30s who lives in Tokushima Prefecture Johnson came to Japan in summer 2017 and served as an assistant English teacher at elementary and junior high schools in Sanagochi She said she was surprised by the landscapes of the village located in a mountainous area on the main island of Shikoku “I didn’t even know Shikoku’s presence until I came here to start my job,” Johnson said which is quite different from the sharp feel of the Rocky Mountains.” Johnson has been an employee of the Tokushima prefectural government since 2021 Her activities are based in the western part of the prefecture Johnson has been posting her photos and videos typically taken at tourist spots in the region They include mountainous areas with a view of the Yoshinogawa river Her posts are targeted at inbound visitors and are accompanied by English-language commentaries “I like the natural settings here,” she said “I also like interacting with regional communities here.” Johnson has guided inspection tours for overseas travel agencies and other parties including at a government-designated roadside rest area for an audience of both residents and tourists Tokushima is the only prefecture with a local vitalization cooperator program open exclusively to foreign residents The prefecture has hired new cooperators under the program every year since fiscal 2021 The internal affairs ministry hopes to sharply increase the number of cooperators across Japan It took account of Tokushima Prefecture’s measures when it introduced a system in fiscal 2024 to support efforts for recruiting foreign local vitalization cooperators which was prolonged as an exception because of the novel coronavirus pandemic that she wishes to remain in Tokushima Prefecture after that deadline because her period of stay in Japan has been extended Johnson watched “Sailor Moon,” the popular anime series in the original Japanese when she was very young and she studied Japanese at a university in Canada She can communicate smoothly with local residents Johnson said she believes foreign cooperators will find it difficult to interact with regional communities if they are not proficient in Japanese (This article was written by Masakazu Higashino and Masataka Yamaura.) Gorgeous rural convenience store a draw for tourists Town more than doubles birthrate by helping out young families Rebuilt areas underoccupied; community ties still shattered Inn topped by grounded boat in tsunami-hit city to be torn down Copyright © The Asahi Shimbun Company. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission. Volume 3 - 2016 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2016.00085 Dissolved lignin phenols and optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were measured to investigate the sources and transformations of terrigenous DOM (tDOM) in Otsuchi Bay and relatively high values of syringyl:vanillyl phenols (0.73 ± 0.07) and cinnamyl:vanillyl phenols (0.33 ± 0.10) indicated large contributions of non-woody angiosperm tissues to lignin and tDOM The physical mixing of river and seawater played an important role in controlling the concentrations and distributions of lignin phenols and chromophoric DOM (CDOM) optical properties in the bay Lignin phenol concentrations and the CDOM absorption coefficient at 350 nm were strongly correlated in river and bay waters Measurements of lignin phenols and CDOM in bay waters indicated a variety of photochemical and biological transformations of tDOM photobleaching and a decrease in molecular weight Photodegradation and biodegradation of lignin and CDOM were investigated in decomposition experiments with river water and native microbial assemblages exposed to natural sunlight or kept in the dark There was a rapid and substantial removal of lignin phenols and CDOM during the first few days in the light treatment indicating transformations of tDOM and CDOM can occur soon after discharge of buoyant river water into the bay The removal of lignin phenols was slightly greater in the dark (34%) than in the light (30%) during the remaining 59 days of the incubation Comparison of the light and dark treatments indicated biodegradation was responsible for 67% of total lignin phenols removal during the 62-day incubation exposed to natural sunlight indicating biodegradation is a dominant removal process in Otsuchi Bay The present study investigated the riverine sources and transformations of lignin and CDOM in Otsuchi Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast of Japan Measurements of lignin phenols and CDOM were used to trace tDOM in the river and bay waters and a lignin decomposition experiment was used to determine the susceptibility of riverine DOM to photochemical and biological degradation These experiments demonstrate relationships between lignin phenols and CDOM optical properties and provide a framework for interpreting field data and the transformations of tDOM in bay waters thereby suggesting river inflow has a major influence on DOM dynamics although water is frequently flushed out of the bay to the coastal zone terrigenous DOM is likely an important driver of the biogeochemical cycles in the bay Samples were collected from the 3 rivers and along a transect in Otsuchi Bay during 2012–2013 (Figure 1A) Water samples from the rivers were collected using a bucket and water samples from the bay were collected at the surface (1 m) and near the bottom using a Niskin bottle (maximum depth of 78 m at station L0) In order to assess the vertical distribution of tDOM in the middle of the bay seawater samples were collected at different depths at station L3 in November 2013 The depths of each station were: 78 m at L0 The average salinity values (mean ± 1-standard division 1-SD) were 32.39 ± 0.26 (n = 6) and 33.60 ± 0.08 (n = 4) in September and November 2012; 33.57 ± 0.08 (n = 12) These data demonstrate that the freshwater volume represented a small fraction of the total water volume of the bay during all seasons (A) Sampling sites in the three rivers in the catchment basin and in Otsuchi Bay (B) mid-salinity stations in the upper bay near the mouth of the Unosumai River In Otsuchi Bay, the water exchange rate can be very rapid with dramatic salinity increases over a short distance from river mouths to the bay. This often makes it difficult to interpret an accurate mixing model. In order to overcome this issue, additional samples were collected in the limited area of mid-salinity range around the Unosumai River mouth at station U1-U8 (Figure 1B) in November 2014 for optical analyses and the average salinity was 29.77 ± 5.17 (1-SD Total dissolved lignin concentrations were calculated as the sum of 11 lignin phenols (TDLP11; nmol L−1) from four phenol families: p-hydroxy phenols [p-hydrobenzaldehyde (PAL) acetosyringone (SON)] and cinnamyl phenols [p-coumaric acid (CAD) and ferulic acid (FAD)] the ratios of p-hydroxy to vanillyl phenols (P/V) acid/aldehyde ratios of p-hydroxy [(Ad/Al)P] acid/aldehyde ratios of vanillyl [(Ad/Al)V] and acid/aldehyde ratios of syringyl phenols [(Ad/Al)S] were also calculated Absorption coefficients of CDOM decreased with increasing wavelength and were fit to the following exponential equation (1): where a(λ) and a(λi) are the absorption coefficients at wavelength λ and reference wavelength λi (m−1) and S is the spectral slope coefficients (nm−1) over the corresponding spectral range (λ − λi) The CDOM absorption coefficients at 250 nm [a(250)] and 350 nm [a(350)] and the spectral slope coefficients between 275 and 295 nm (S275–295) and between 350 and 400 nm (S350–400) and the slope ratio (SR) of S275–295 to S350–400 were reported in this study The ratio of absorption coefficient at 250 nm to that at 365 nm (E2/E3) was also calculated A large sample was collected from the Unosumai River in July 2013 in order to investigate the photochemical and microbial degradation of tDOM River water was filtered through a Whatman® polycarbonate membrane (1-μm pore size) collected in an acid-washed Nalgene carboy Four polycarbonate containers (30 L) were filled with the filtrate and incubated in a water bath (24 ± 5°C during incubation) for 62 days on the roof of a building at the University of Tokyo Two containers were covered with quartz plate and exposed to natural sunlight The other two containers were wrapped with aluminum foil and used as a dark treatment so we assume lignin removal in the dark was due to microbial degradation spectral range: 315~400 nm) was equipped to monitor UVA irradiance and subsamples were filtered through 1-μm filter before the extraction of lignin and CDOM measurements Simple exponential decay constants (k) (d−1) were calculated to examine the susceptibility of lignin phenols to photochemical and microbial degradation where Ct is the lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) at time t and C0 is the initial lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) Dissolved lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) C/V and (Ad/Al)V] and CDOM absorption coefficient at 350 nm [a(350)] and spectral slope 275–295 nm [S275–295] in the rivers S350–400 and SR values were all observed in March 2013 The E2/E3 ratios ranged from 3.78 to 7.23 (Table S1) Relationships between salinity and (A) chlorophyll a (Chl (B) dissolved lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) and (C) CDOM absorption coefficients [a(350)] in surface waters of Otsuchi Bay and CDOM parameters [a(350) and S275–295] in Otsuchi Bay S350–400 ranged from 0.0135 to 0.0177 nm−1 and 0.0125 to 0.0176 nm−1 SR ranged from 1.23 to 2.25 and 1.49 to 2.24 and E2/E3 ranged from 7.16 to 13.0 and 8.16 to 14.6 Lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) were strongly correlated with S275–295 in surface and subsurface waters (R2 = 0.91 Relationships between salinity and lignin phenol compositions (A) molar ratio of p-hydroxy phenols to vanillyl phenols (P/V) (B) molar ratio of syringyl phenols to vanillyl phenols (S/V) (C) molar ratio of vanillic acid to vanillin phenols [(Ad/Al)V] and (D) the spectral slope coefficient of CDOM absorption coefficient spectrum between 275 and 295 nm (S275–295) in surface waters of Otsuchi Bay Scatter plots of lignin phenol compositions (A) S/V ratio vs spectral slope S275–295 in river (blue squares) and surface waters (yellow and red circles) Vertical profiles of (A) lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) spectral slope S275–295 and lignin composition P/V at station L3 in November 2013 Temperature and density data are form conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors at each 0.1 m which is consistent with the cumulative effects of photochemical alteration of CDOM Relationships between salinity and (A) a(350) and (B)salinity and S275–295 in surface waters including mid salinity (U stations red circles) and high salinity (L stations Dashed lines are conservative mixing curves constructed using the Unosumai River as the riverine end-member and station L6 as the marine end-member TDLP9 was highly correlated with S275–295 R2 = 0.95 and similar correlations were also observed between TDLP9 and E2/E3 (R2 = 0.87 Photochemical and biological degradation of DOM in Unosumai River water Time-course changes in (A) lignin phenol concentrations (TDLP9) and (F) lignin phenol (Ad/Al)V composition Experiments were conducted with duplicate samples incubated under natural sunlight (light treatment; photochemical and biological processes; open circles) and duplicate samples wrapped in aluminum foil (dark treatment; biological processes; closed circles) Plots are presented as average value ± range of duplicate samples Decomposition experiments of DOM in Unosumai River water under natural sunlight and dark treatments The relative contributions of photochemical and biological processes in the lignin decomposition experiments can be estimated by comparing lignin removal in the light treatment (41.7 ± 3.0 nmol L−1) to that in the dark treatment (28.1 nmol L−1) photo-enhanced biodegradation and biodegradation occurred in the light treatment whereas only biodegradation occurred in the dark treatment lignin biodegradation in the dark treatment accounted for 67% of the total lignin degradation observed in the light treatment photodegradation and photo-enhanced biodegradation accounted for 33% of the lignin removal in the light treatment Strong relationships were observed between lignin phenol concentrations and CDOM absorption coefficients a(250) (R2 = 0.88 indicating the potential for using these optical parameters as tracers of lignin in river and bay waters which could be related to more rapid mobilization and transport of tDOM in the Unosumai River basin Relatively minor increases in S275–295 and E2/E3 were observed in the absence of solar radiation even though the rate of lignin biodegradation and photodegradation were similar after the initial 3 days of decomposition Losses of a(350) were substantially higher than those of lignin phenols in the light treatment whereas losses of a(350) were lower than those of lignin phenols in the dark treatment It appears the pathways of lignin and CDOM degradation are different in the presence and absence of solar radiation (see section below) the elevated spectral slopes observed in deeper waters indicated previous exposure to solar radiation Photo-enhanced biodegradation accounted for 32% of total lignin decomposition and direct photodegradation accounted for 8% of lignin removal on the Louisiana shelf Based on the relative contributions of photodegradation and biodegradation in the lignin decomposition experiments and assuming solar exposure in the light treatment was similar to that in surface seawaters of Otsuchi Bay we estimated that biodegradation accounted for 67% of total lignin removal and photo-enhanced biodegradation plus direct photodegradation accounted for 33% of total lignin removal This study confirms that biodegradation appears to be a dominant process in the mineralization of lignin and tDOM in the coastal ocean and it indicates photochemical transformations of fresh riverine tDOM can be significant in the early stages of plume dispersal and mixing with surface waters in the bay The short water residence times in Otsuchi Bay (~0.5–1 month) indicate the potential for substantial export of tDOM and associated nutrients and trace elements from Otsuchi Bay to offshore waters and CL collected the in situ samples for lignin and CDOM measurements HO designed the decomposition experiment and carried it out with CL CL processed the lignin and CDOM samples and wrote the manuscript with important discussion with RB YY and CF corrected the text and all authors contributed to this version This study was conducted as a part of the project “Tohoku Ecosystem-Associated Marine Science” (TEAMS) sponsored by the Ministry of Education The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest We thank the staff of the International Coastal Research Center the University of Tokyo for technical and logistical support We are very grateful to the assistance from Yuan Shen for lignin analysis The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2016.00085 Dissolved organic matter sources in large Arctic rivers Organic carbon supply and 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2016 Lu, Benner, Fichot, Fukuda, Yamashita and Ogawa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Chia-Jung Lu, bHVjakBhb3JpLnUtdG9reW8uYWMuanA= †Present Address: Cédric G Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish he decided to build a glass-paneled phone booth in his hilltop garden with a disconnected rotary phone inside for communicating with his lost relative Only a year later, Japan faced the horrors of a triple disaster: an earthquake followed by a tsunami Sasaki’s coastal hometown of Otsuchi was hit with 30-foot waves Sasaki opened his kaze no denwa or "wind phone" to the now huge number of people in the community mourning the loss of loved ones Eventually word spread and others experiencing grief made the pilgrimage from around the country It is believed that 10,000 visitors journeyed to this hilltop outside Otsuchi within three years of the disaster Visitors dial in their relative’s number and catch them up on their current life or express the feelings necessary to move on Some find comfort in the hope that their relative might hear them As the residents of Otsuchi faced the slow progress of rebuilding their city this little phone booth helps to also slowly rebuild their own lives too Otsuchi can be reached from Tokyo by high-speed train Take the train to the Otsuchi (Otsucki) station It can also be accessed by a car ride which is about 7 hours by taking the Tohoku expressway Use the published coordinates if you have GPS This memorial marks the devastating day that Texas City was destroyed in a daisy chain of exploding ships An iconic British fixture in an unconventional color A rare double-receiver payphone housed in a fake tree A phone booth that combines public art and climate change awareness obliterating a section of the highway below A mid-century telephone booth still stands An outlet for connecting to memories of lost loved ones and saying goodbyes you never got to say An old pay phone rewired to play local bird calls and songs at the press of a button The following is a letter composed by Fort Bragg City Councilman Lindy Peters to the Mayor of Otsuchi July 12, 2022The Honorable Kozo HiranoCity of OtsuchiAddress 24-30-19Otsuchi, Iwate, JAPANsomu@town.otsuchi.iwate.jpDear Mayor Hirano Please accept the condolences of our Mayor our City Council and the entire Fort Bragg community on the horrible incident that befell former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week in Japan We are shocked and deeply saddened by this terrible news.Democracies are in danger all over the world right now and we must work together to try and protect and defend the rights of our citizens hold free and fair elections without the threat of political violence Abe was a great man who deeply understood the working relationship between Japan and the United States just as Otsuchi and Fort Bragg have worked together now for over 25 years to build a strong bond between our two rural cities Our children who have been part of our successful student exchange program have seen through their experience that we all have so much more in common than whatever differences we might have This has produced a lifetime bond between us and we want you to know that we are all thinking about you your children and the entire country ofJapan Your resilience and ability to bounce back and rebuild your beautiful City has been an inspiration to all of us here in Fort Bragg We know that your country will move on from this senseless deed and learn a lesson that all Democracies across the globe must equally understand understanding and respect have been the guiding light throughout our relationship Let’s hope the rest of the world can learn from our example Lindy PetersFort Bragg City CouncilmemberCity Ambassador to Otsuchi Councilmember Peters Sends Letter of Condolence to Otsuchi’s Mayor Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" We provide you with the latest breaking news and videos straight from the entertainment industry Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them Contact us: contact@yoursite.com © MendoFever News Reporting. 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Web Design by Company Juice Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive Investigative stories and local news updates Coverage of the Hawaiʻi State legislature in 2025 Award winning in-depth reports and featured on-going series Get the week’s news delivered straight to your inbox Award-winning photographer Mark Edward Harris offers a look back at the tragedy and road to recovery When his alarm clock went off in the wee hours of March 11 33-year-old salaryman Takuya Ueno had no inkling that this would be the last time he would wake with both parents alive in the family home and started the one-hour commute along the picturesque Tohoku coast north from Otsuchi to Miyako Being on the Ring of Fire where 10% of all volcanic activity takes place under their island nation Ueno and his fellow countrymen and women are no strangers to earthquakes Instead of hitting a peak after a few powerful jolts it kept going and growing reaching a magnitude 9.0 and unleashing enough seismic force to slightly shorten the length of Earth’s days and knock the entire world off its axis by more than six inches not waiting for the official tsunami warning to tell him what to do He assumed his parents would do the same though with cell service down he had no way of knowing for sure It would be three days and much worry before Ueno could navigate the debris-clogged roads back to Otsuchi Upon reaching his hometown he found that the family house near the ocean had disappeared He immediately went to the elementary school the place his parents would have escaped to if they had survived He found his mother Hiro had survived the tsunami by escaping to the roof of a local hospital where she happened to be for an appointment From that perch she had witnessed the horrors of huge waves and the ensuing fire destroy their town who had dropped her off at the hospital that morning was missing the patriarch’s body was found in his car outside a local tire store He might have been heading back to the hospital to pick up his wife or attempting to get to higher ground when the tsunami warnings went off and was stuck in a traffic jam behind so many like-minded people lasted six terrifying minutes with the first tsunami waves hitting the country’s northeastern coastline less than an hour later A deadly tidal surge 128 feet high rolled over the city of Miyako traveling inland as far as six miles in Sendai and triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant the worst radioactive disaster since Chernobyl several thousand more are still officially listed as missing In Ueno’s hometown of Otsuchi — with a pre-March 11 population of roughly 16,000 — approximately 1 in 10 people lost their lives The residents of Otsuchi were left with one of the most surreal and iconic sights of the disaster resting on top of a building after being stranded there by the receding tsunami waters The owner of the two-floor structure resisted having it demolished though the ship had been removed years earlier The impasse caused a delay in the reconstruction in the area where extensive ground elevation work was being done the wrecking ball has been called in to do its job The shell of the destroyed city hall where the mayor and most of his emergency staff perished also stood for years as a reminder of what the Japanese often call 3.11 Pitched battles took place over what to do with the building-turned-unofficial memorial But many rays of hope have shown out of the devastation was watching the waves coming in toward Sendai on live TV while working for a Japanese NGO in Vietnam she was on the ground in Otsuchi as part of a relief team distributing supplies and providing psychological care got married and established a home in a temporary prefab housing complex for those who had lost their homes Ueno’s widowed mother became their neighbor The simple decorations in the newlywed’s home included a memorial to the senior Ueno who was lost to the waves and the multigenerational family moved into their own house four years ago Kamitani’s NGO Oraga-Otsuchi Yume Hiroba (Our Field of Dreams) focuses on the rebuilding of her adopted home including the management of a new state-of-the-art community center She and her team are now lobbying the local government on behalf of the town’s 13,000 remaining residents for a large playground For now the children of Otsuchi are limited to their school’s facilities Mio and Takuya’s son Sou seems content for now at home with his dinosaurs and Legos a retired mechanic who had searched for bodies from sunrise to sunset in the days following 3.11 “completely cut in half,” leaving him with recurring nightmares After the recovery efforts he joined the forestry division of Iwate Prefecture cutting down seawater-ruined trees to make way for a new forest Some of the seedlings will take years to reveal themselves At age 73 he will be a distant memory when trees such as hinoki (cypress) reach maturity Kamitani and the other residents of Otsuchi are more excited about the coming of the cherry blossoms next month in Tohoku Civil Beat has been named the best overall news site in Hawaii for the 14th year in a row by the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter Iwate Prefecture—All of Ayuka Saito’s training in the Self-Defense Forces could not have prepared her for the life-and-death situation she faced while holding her baby She even performed an ill-advised maneuver against the threat and her 1-month-old baby to emerge unscathed from a bear attack The incident occurred a few minutes after 9 p.m Saito had run out of seasonings while cooking dinner so she headed for a drug store while carrying her sleeping baby Saito took pictures of the beautiful moon with her smartphone She then heard a rustling noise on the right side of the road and then what sounded like a dog whimpering for affection Three blackish animals emerged around a metal plate crossing a roadside ditch she realized the animals were Asian black bears each about 1 meter tall Saito was born and raised in a town on the coast of Fukushima Prefecture Her home was swept away by the tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 Inspired by the SDF members who helped her family and the hometown Saito decided that she would join the SDF after she grew up who had also suffered grief in the 2011 disaster they left the SDF and moved to the husband’s hometown of Otsuchi half a year ago 11 were the first that she had seen in her life she realized that she and her baby were all alone and she had no choice but to deal with the situation by herself she was told that if bears appeared during a training exercise the members should just wait until the animals left the area She had no idea what to do when actually confronted by a bear While she was wondering whether to look the bears in their eyes “I have to protect my baby,” but she could not use her hands because they were holding Ouga Saito extended her right leg in front of her and kicked the bear She felt the coarse hair of the bear and figured she hit it in the belly which may have added to the impact of her kick but Saito kept running as fast as she could she heard sounds of something entering the bushes The bear encounter lasted about one minute Saito entered the drug store and looked at her baby for the first time since the bears appeared Ouga had slept through the entire episode with the three bears who drove to the store to be with his family watching children wearing bear-deterrent bells,” Saito said According to the nature conservation division of the Iwate prefectural government 1,993 bear sightings were reported in the prefecture from April through July this year One person died and seven were injured in bear attacks up to August Iwate Prefecture had the largest number of bear sightings for October the division recommends people keep looking into the bears’ eyes while stepping back slowly in cooperation with local civil engineering and construction businesses started establishing buffer zones by removing brush between forests and houses or schools The effort has led in part to a reduction in bear sightings from levels of the previous year the site where Saito encountered the three bears had not been cleared Hunter passes down lessons from horrific bear attack Old bear that fell into sea brings excitement to Iwate town Urban areas no longer off-limits to bolder brown bears in Sapporo Hunter grieves for bear cub he kept as pet Now we shun social contact: A nurse recalls its power to heal in front of the town hall and facing the sea The mayor in his usual hands-on style was helping workers haul out tables and chairs for the outdoor HQ when Japan's tsunami struck "All of us scattered to escape," said Kansei Sawadate a local government official who was at the meeting They all made it back into the town hall building – including the mayor the waters surged as high as the clock face on the second floor "The people who went up on the roof were saved and the people who stayed on the second floor were washed away," he said Sawadate and the 21 other local government officials who made it to the roof were rescued the next morning by a military helicopter At least eight other officials are known to have died and about 20 are still missing Now the question facing survivors is: can the town rebuild without its leaders "I have to say that without the mayor it might be difficult to rebuild We might lag behind unless someone from the outside comes to lead us," said Yamazaki Seigo There's some suggestion of a time lag already with piles of neatly tied rubbish sacks stacked up along the beached ferry boats officials at one shelter say they have been overwhelmed by donations of winter coats and instant noodles which the evacuees cannot cook without boiling water the homeless have been invited to apply for housing in government flats Moving day for the first 180 apartments is 2 April according to the neatly typed notices that went up in government shelters That degree of organisation is beyond Otsuchi for now At the town's acting headquarters – high up on a hill above the government building – the bulletin boards are still given over to people searching for the missing it still was not clear to Sawadate whether bodies identified in the town hall on 13 March had been removed Otsuchi was all but wiped out by the tsunami which tore through a 10-metre high reinforced concrete sea wall The shell of the town hall is still standing but its contents – including the town's records – are gone the pitifully few buildings still standing after the earthquake and the tsunami burned down after cooking gas tanks exploded because there was no functioning fire department About 460 people were killed and 970 remain missing out of a town of 16,000 About a third of the population of Otsuchi is now homeless and people say they could use a leader "I don't know where we would start," said Sachiko Mocomochi He did a long stint on the city council before deciding to run for mayor four years ago casting himself as a leader for the everyman Locals said he would have easily won re-election at next month's polls he ordered staff out of the building until engineers could survey for structural damage Then he started hauling furniture outside for an emergency command centre which he planned to run from a tent in front of the building Road signs at the entrance of Otsuchi warn travellers that the town is a known tsunami flood zone "Even with the warnings about a huge tsunami nobody ever imagined this could hit us," said Akihiro Goto who works in the town's transport department the people of Otsuchi are struggling to envisage a future in the town Rebuilding after devastation on such a grand scale was always going to be difficult who worked to attract new industry to the town and poorer families whose homes were closer to the coast He said the authorities would need to help people to buy land further inland For other government workers sorting through the wreckage at the toll hall on Tuesday "The death of the mayor will have a big effect on the reconstruction effort," said Goto March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011: Heroes of Otsuchi to Fleeing Embassies This article is published in the memory of the “Fire brigade Heroes of Otsuchi” – and remembering how so-called friends of Japan fled quickly will always be remembered in Japan for the utter devastation of the Great East Japan Earthquake This brutal earthquake left areas of Japan shaking with such a force that was beyond imagination this is said despite the many brutal earthquakes that have hit Japan and killed so many before the events of March 11 the calamity of the earthquake that triggered the deadly tsunami also triggered a major nuclear radiation crisis in Fukushima Aftershocks were also relentless in the following weeks and this led to a time of enormous reflection and foreboding for people affected by the devastating chain reaction It is known that just below 16,000 people perished but this figure is much higher because several thousand people remain missing the destruction of a nuclear facility in Fukushima increased the psychological war despite the shadow of death is overwhelmingly based on the tsunami many great heroic people rescued unknown numbers of people and services dedicated to the wellbeing of people gave everything – including the ultimate sacrifice of death This notably applied to illogical scaremongering related to the radiation crisis in Fukushima despite these people residing in areas that were extremely distant from Fukushima some international embassies pulled their nationals out of wealthy areas in Tokyo – just like many foreign nationals fled the country or Tokyo region Unlike self-centered individuals and organizations the bravery of so many came to light either within the local area it is nigh impossible to pick one collection of heroes but from a national point of view the bravery of the Otsuchi Fire Brigade remains etched within the memory 2 branch of the fire brigade in Otsuchi knew full well that they were guardians on the abyss of death and destruction the fire brigade did not flinch – unlike certain embassies and others who fled from distant Tokyo some foreign nationals even left Japan in panic despite being in the comfort of safety at all time This reality highlights the utter devotion of the No 2 fire brigade of Otsuchi because to these brave souls other people came first.” on the one hand in Otsuchi you had the brave souls of the No 2 Fire Brigade in the Akahama district sacrificing the ultimate; while in the other direction some dignitaries and others fled leafy suburbs in Tokyo and fled 2 Fire Brigade in Otsuchi who were on the frontline did everything in order to rescue people it became known that four fire brigade members had perished and another seven were presumed dead based on being missing Irrespective of the final numbers who perished from this unit the fact is they gave everything based on the positive side of humanity Modern Tokyo Times reported in a past article that “A fire brigade hero called Fujio Koshida was still sounding the warning bell while the waves were about to engulf him and sweep him away from this world the former head of the same branch of the local fire brigade reported that he could hear the bell that Fujio Koshida was ringing prior to this hero being engulfed by the tsunami.” “I guess he could see the sea” and “It was a sad sound Fujio Koshida and other brave members of the local fire brigade in Otsuchi sacrificed everything in order that others could survive the devastating tsunami it is sincerely hoped that these brave souls will always be remembered because they showed the beauty of humanity it will always be known that certain embassies and others fled the country – or region of Tokyo – at the drop of a hat This fact exists despite these people never being endangered by the brutal tsunami that was triggered by the earthquake many brave people who will never be known sacrificed the ultimate many people survived despite endangering themselves because they cared for strangers and neighbors alike So the memory of the Fire Brigade heroes of Otsuchi will never be forgotten they represent the collective memory of all people who helped in countless prefectures that were severely hit by the events triggered by the brutal Great East Japan Earthquake Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group DONATIONS to SUPPORT MODERN TOKYO TIMES – please pay PayPal and DONATE to sawakoart@gmail.com http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News https://www.pinterest.co.uk/moderntokyotimes/ Modern Tokyo Times is now on PINTEREST http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi personal website and Modern Tokyo Times artist https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times https://www.facebook.com/moderntokyotimes Please activate JavaScript function on your browser Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Iwate Prefectural Otsuchi High School (1) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Whale and Science of Sea Museum (1) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Whale and Science of Sea Museum (2) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Whale and Science of Sea Museum (3) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Iwate Prefectural Otsuchi High School (2) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Iwate Prefectural Otsuchi High School (3) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Iwate Prefectural Otsuchi High School (4) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Iwate Prefectural Otsuchi High School (5) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting Iwate Prefectural Otsuchi High School (6) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Kamaishi Forest Owner’s Association (1) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Kamaishi Forest Owner’s Association (2) Photograph of the Prime Minister visiting the Kamaishi Forest Owner’s Association (3) The tsunami engulfing the main building of the International Coastal Research Center (on right) The water has reached the second floor of the building but went onto reach the middle of the third floor at its peak The destruction to the landscape wreaked by the tsunami that struck the coast of northeastern Japan with unprecedented power on 11 March 2011 was immediately obvious But the extent of the damage beneath the waves was less immediately apparent these productive coastal marine ecosystems were important for fisheries which were central to the local economy and culture Given the magnitude 9.0 earthquake was the most powerful ever measured in Japan the amount of damage sustained by marine ecosystems was highly uncertain “Once things had settled down after the disaster our priority was to find out what had happened to the ecosystems in the sea,” says Tomohiko Kawamura a marine benthic invertebrate ecologist of the International Coastal Research Center (ICRC) a branch of the University of Tokyo’s Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute The first challenge confronting Kawamura was finding a vessel to conduct a survey Located on the shoreline of Otsuchi Bay in Iwate prefecture the ICRC had been directly in the tsunami’s path “The wave reached the third floor of the main building,” says Kawamura who served as ICRC director from 2014 to 2019 all of the staff and students escaped unhurt but our facilities were seriously damaged or completely destroyed,” he says Among the losses were the facility’s research vessels Kawamura’s team secured the loan of a fishing boat to make an initial assessment of impacted ecosystems That research dive became the first of many the Japanese government funded the multi-institute Tohoku Ecosystem–Associate Marine Sciences project to analyse the effects of the tsunami and other earthquake-associated environmental changes as well as the subsequent recovery process Kawamura led a team studying communities of coastal marine organisms the programme has revealed that the impacts of the tsunami were diverse but also that marine ecosystems generally showed great resilience — findings which may serve as an inspiration to local communities the ICRC has also conducted outreach to encourage traumatized local people to re-engage with the sea which historically has been central to their culture and economy a marine mollusk and one of the world’s most expensive seafoods Abalone were among the species in the affected area that had been studied in detail before the tsunami This prior work provided valuable baseline data for assessing tsunami impacts The strong kelp forest helped to protect adult abalone from the tsunami The impact varied not only by location and species but also by life stage within individual species They focused on rocky reef sites affected by the tsunami in Otsuchi Bay “Seeing the tsunami’s enormous impact in coastal areas we thought our study sites would also be severely damaged,” says Kawamura nature was more resilient than we had anticipated.” abalone stock didn’t decline much soon after the tsunami but they dropped greatly about three years after the tsunami population levels are gradually recovering to their state before the tsunami On the other hand, sea urchins — another important fishery species — bounced back faster.1,2 “I was genuinely surprised at their rapid recovery,” says Kawamura Other marine habitat types were more severely impacted “Seagrass habitats on sandy seafloors were flushed away,” says Kawamura This loss left juvenile fish without a habitat the community structure had largely recovered The tsunami wasn’t the greatest disturbance to many coastal marine habitats “The impact of human reconstruction activity could be much bigger than the tsunami event itself,” says Kawamura reconstructed seawalls resulted in the loss of shallow-water habitats.” This means that the potential impacts of reconstruction should be carefully considered following any future events Tomohiko Kawamura investigating the effects on the tsunami on rocky reef sites in Otsuchi Bay the remote coastal communities of northeastern Japan faced challenging social issues associated with population loss and ageing The damage from the tsunami has only exacerbated these issues a molecular ecologist at ICRC who led an outreach programme to help local people since 2018 this area has been very tightly knit to the sea but the disaster generated a rift between the people and the sea,” says Minegishi “This loss of economic and social identity has caused more young people to leave the area.” In collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Social Science of the University of Tokyo an outreach project called the School of Marine Science and Local Hopes was initiated to re-engage local people with the sea One project activity is an after-school club for local high school students “The students help us with basic research activities like sorting and measuring or cleaning aquariums — and this gives us time to chat with them,” says Minegishi Primary school children gazing up at ceiling mural ‘Archipelago of Life’ in the entrance of the International Coastal Research Center its biological characteristics and its connection to the fishery industry and the local area as well as about the intention behind the ceiling painting Many students engaged highly with the programme “One group presented their work on marine debris at a scientific conference,” says Minegishi one student told me he wants to study marine science at university.” The programme highlights the importance of educating the young generation so that they develop a sense of belonging and commitment to the community “Healthy and well-informed youngsters are indispensable for social prosperity,” she adds “We can see that happening here right now.” Activities pioneered through the outreach project are now being transferred to local governments for their continued rollout not only in the area around Otsuchi Bay but also to coastal communities around Japan The activities of ICRC demonstrate the value of adopting a long-term approach to gathering data while being nimble enough to adapt to unanticipated changes They also highlight the importance of taking a holistic view that addresses issues facing local communities “Working with the local people has opened up a new path of contributing to society and advancing science,” says Minegishi A video of ‘Archipelago of Life’, a ceiling mural at the Ocean at the University of Tokyo’s International Coastal Research Center in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, can be found here Download references The town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture announced on Friday that it is producing a short anime, with voice actor Shōta Aoi voicing the character Kai Otsuchi Otsuchi mayor Kōzō Hirano stated that the project is designed to bridge the physical boundaries that the current new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about the world with the sharp decline in travel and commerce The character Kai Otsuchi will be a tool to bridge Otsuchi's beauty to the world Yone Kazuki (Hakuōki, Nobunaga The Fool) designed the character Sources: Comic Natalie In the small town of Otsuchi in northern Japan Camera: Taiki FujitaniProducer: Sarah Cuddon and Sophia Smith Galer From New York's first hijabi salon to a sacred walker - how faith influences our lives Ryota Haga has seen three “stages” of messages from his friends the messages were reassurances that they were alive The second stage involved announcements that they were leaving Otsuchi Haga is reading the long-awaited third phase of messages--and a key reason he stayed in this small coastal town despite losing nearly everything was a first-year high school student when his family’s house was swept away by the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 Haga spent the post-disaster days at an evacuation center in the town’s Kirikiri district “I’m at my relative’s place,” read another The tsunami killed about 100 residents in the Kirikiri district and reduced the town to debris and rubble many of Haga’s classmates decided to leave the disaster zone “I’m moving out of the prefecture,” one said Some of them moved to inland areas and other prefectures as far away as Hyogo and Saitama many of Haga’s classmates described Otsuchi as “inconvenient” and “in the middle of nowhere.” When his school reopened a month after the disaster 40 of his approximately 120 classmates had already left town Haga thought that he would also eventually leave He had planned to attend a culinary school in the Iwate prefectural capital of Morioka after graduating from high school and then look for a job his feelings started changing when he watched Otsuchi residents working hard to remove the tsunami debris “It’ll take five to 10 years to clean up this mess.” But they managed to get a generator running and gained a water supply from a well Heavy machinery was brought in to remove the rubble He started filling portable toilets with water distributed relief supplies and even looked for edible food among the debris The process made him realize that 10 years from then his generation would have to bear the rebuilding burden It also raised his hopes that through the rebuilding effort he could one day bring his friends back to the town Hoping to stay in Otsuchi and witness the reconstruction process Haga decided to attend a prefectural university that was within commuting distance from his new home in the town Only a few of his classmates at university had experienced the disaster and Haga was increasingly asked to speak about what he had gone through He explained that he had returned home from high school on that day and then felt the huge shaking from the offshore quake He and his mother decided to check on his younger sister who was attending a nearby elementary school on higher ground When Haga turned around on the way to the elementary school he saw black waves smashing into the houses He always became at a loss for words around this part of his explanation His grandfather was rescued by neighbors and narrowly escaped the tsunami But it was still hard for Haga to talk about what he saw He said the trauma initially made him feel that he would be unable to help in the town’s recovery effort The hesitation ended after Haga interacted with other survivors at school classes and club activities he started working at the Otsuchi town hall He currently works in the industrial promotion division of the town government and is involved in efforts to revitalize seaweed beds for tourism and education purposes but prospects for the town are not very bright Of the 36 students in his high school class Haga is the only one of the stayers who went on to higher education According to the Iwate prefectural government the population of the 12 coastal municipalities in the prefecture decreased by an average of 21.3 percent from pre-disaster levels to the end of fiscal 2022 The town has 4,779 fewer people than its population on March 1 Haga has recently received messages from some of his friends saying they are thinking about returning to Otsuchi Both Haga and Sekiya were born in the Kirikiri district and attended the same schools Sekiya started working at a luxury hotel in Nikko Sekiya said his life in Nikko involves shuttling back and forth between work and home and neighbors call out to him when he walks around town Sekiya said that whenever he is in his hometown about a week before the 13th anniversary of the disaster The two walked together along the coast of Kirikiri The coastal area had been a rubble dump after the disaster “I dove down there the other day and planted kelp seedlings,” Haga said passionately to Sekiya Children in the area now learn about seaweed bed restoration while divers engage in seaweed bed preservation activities “I’m seriously thinking about coming back.” Sekiya explained that his wife is drawn by the warm atmosphere of Otsuchi and that they plan to relocate to the town before their daughter enters elementary school He said he will look for a job in Otsuchi where he can make use of his experience in Nikko Haga’s face immediately brightened at the words of his childhood friend Although he is happy that Sekiya and other friends are considering a return Haga is also aware of the limited number of places for young people to work in the town “I want to make the town a place where I can confidently say to my friends who have left “It’s a big part of my purpose for working in town hall.” Survivor of 3/11 quake shares tips for youthful life at age 93 Victims of 2011 disaster trapped in billions of yen in unpaid debt Principal breaks elementary school’s silence about tsunami Former student of tsunami-hit school returns to serve as guide the most powerful earthquake in the island’s history Communities on the coast were flattened by the tsunami that ensued minutes later its crest peaking at 30 feet tall in certain areas Around 10 percent of the population of Otsuchi Sixty percent of residential buildings were damaged Argentinian photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg made his first trip to Otsuchi With the help of a Japanese curator he had previously worked with portrays various members of the fishing town’s families in the places where their houses used to stand with his subjects sitting for several minutes at least his photos take on a solemn and meditative quality The juxtaposition of families huddled among the ruins of their old as are the photographs of lost objects—abandoned and transformed by the power of the water Chaskielberg found a wet photo album on a roadside The water damage to the photographs was severe He decided to incorporate this item into his own photographs which were shot in black and white with a 1960s 4 x 5 film camera Once the negatives were scanned he would tint these images in a digital darkroom applying the vibrant colors he found in the waterlogged photo album that in some way forms part of their memories from the past I started thinking about this idea and wondered how our memories interact with our family photographs how we could retrieve a lost memory from a destroyed photograph,” he wrote The use of these colors serves to bridge the gap between past and present and serves to show the potent nature of memory the residents eventually came to see his project as part of the town’s rebuilding (A photography workshop with local students helped him earn their trust.) One man eventually approached Chaskielberg with a drawer of his own wet one survivor's dedication to his late father's legacy is fostering a revival bringing not just structures back to life but traditions remembers clearly the last conversation he had with his father Eikiyo and it pains him that it was so routine: a tsunami with waves more than 15 meters high swept through his hometown of Otsuchi in Iwate killing more than 1,200 of the town's residents Kuramoto says his father Eikiyo was a pillar of the community a fisherman who founded a company that made and sold fishing gear and repaired boats served on the board of the local chamber of commerce was chairman of the local community association organized the town's biggest festival and helped to maintain shrines and I regret not speaking to him more that morning," says Eiichi The waves had washed away the town hall and destroyed or damaged more than 4,000 homes Kuramoto got to work trying to revive the devastated town He not only set up a radio station to dispense disaster-relief tips he also set up an NPO and helped them serve hot meals from a food truck he persuaded a major convenience store chain to open a much-needed branch in the area It took five years to elevate land to ensure that no future tsunami could do the same damage Then a new townscape started to take shape But Kuramoto heard locals talking about one particular landmark they wanted to see again: the local shrine The tiny Sanriku Oshachi Tenmangu was a branch of a landmark 10th-century shrine in Fukuoka Though it had none of the scale of its parent shrine it was a focal point of the community and it was common to see families walking round the pond or relaxing on the benches Authorities rebuilt a park that had hosted Sanriku Oshachi Tenmangu but they did not have the budget to recreate the shrine itself Kuramoto had spent the years since the tsunami helping to run his NPO that was engaged in efforts to revive the town He persuaded the group that they should get the shrine rebuilt They reached out to the main shrine in Fukuoka and worked with the priests there to raise the funds to rebuild Otsuchi's beloved centerpiece they cut the ribbon on a new Sanriku Oshachi Tenmangu Kuramoto opened a confectionery shop directly across the street The town was once famous for its mochi sweets and a monaka ― sweet red-bean paste in a rice wafer ― shaped like a salmon Most of the outlets that sold these specialities had been destroyed and some of the people who made them had moved away to restart life elsewhere But Kuramoto believed the flavors were an important part of the town's cultural heritage so he worked with other members of the NPO to open the store The shop was a quick success and Otsuchi residents come in droves to buy their monaka and a whole range of sweet treats "I just want to preserve what the townspeople have been eating for a long time," says Kuramoto The shop has also became a place where schoolchildren gather These residents of the town were born after the tsunami and only know of the disaster from the stories they have heard He likes to invite them to cross to street to see a collection of small statues of Jizo Each one of these figures stood in front of a temporary housing unit built for those who lost their houses to the tsunami the last of those housing units was closed as the final tenants had moved out be moved to a new location next to the shrine One man who lived in a temporary unit for four years says they took great care of their Jizo statues the statue was a source of strength." He says he used to greet the statue each morning and night and still goes to visit them from time to time Kuramoto hopes that the children who see the statues will think about the disaster and perhaps ask him about it "It must have been a way of knowing which one was your house," said one child viewing the statues Another described them as being "like a talisman to protect you." "I feel that I am gradually becoming more and more like him," he said I want to give back to my hometown as long as I am alive." "I grew up watching him as he helped people in need so I think I'm naturally trying to follow in those footsteps now." This means that each day he serves local specialties invites young guests to visit the Jizo statues and goes to the site of the former town hall Those trees were a gift to the town from the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine in Fukuoka Kuramoto describes them as a new treasure of the town and has made it his role to take care of them "I want to brighten the hearts of the townspeople with the plum blossoms," he says "And I hope that people from elsewhere will come here to see them." Japan was hit by what is known as the triple disaster: a powerful earthquake that sparked a terrifying tsunami and the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl The country has poured billions into recovery from the tragedy and here's what it looks like a decade later This combination of pictures shows a general view of damage (top) caused by the March 11 seen from a hill overlooking the city of Kesennuma 2011; and the same area (bottom) nearly 10 years later on Jan This combination of pictures shows a catamaran sightseeing boat that was thrown by the tsunami onto a two-story building in Otsuchi town 2011 (top); and the same area nearly 10 years later on Jan This combination of pictures created shows a ship (top) washed ashore by the tsunami onto a two-story tourist home in Otsuchi This combination of pictures shows a boat (top) washed onto a street by the March 11 tsunami in Ishinomaki This combination of pictures created shows local residents (top) looking at debris brought by the huge tsunami in Minamisoma This combination of pictures shows residents (top) walking along a street littered with cars crushed by the tsunami in the town of Ofunato This combination of pictures shows a house (C) moved by the tsunami three days previously blocking a street (top) in the town of Ofunato 2011; and the same area nearly 10 years later on Jan This combination of pictures shows a survivor (top) walking past rubble and collapsed buildings in Kesennuma This combination of pictures shows residents (top) looking at the damage caused by the tsunami in the town of Ofunato This combination of pictures shows a fishing boat (top) washed up by the March 11 2011 tsunami onto to a road in the city of Kesennuma 2011; and the same area nearly 10 years later (bottom) on Jan This combination of pictures shows vehicles (top) driving past debris piled up in Rikuzentakata This combination of pictures shows a private plane (top) washed ashore by the tsunami sitting in debris next to cars outside Sendai Airport in Natori This combination of pictures shows cars (L) piled up in front of the airport control tower of Sendai Airport in Natori 2011; and the same area (R) nearly 10 years later on Jan This combination of pictures shows a ship (top) washed inland by the March 11 tsunami sitting in an open area covered with debris in the city of Kesennuma This combination of pictures shows people (L) walking two days after a tsunami hit the region on a road covered with vehicles and debris deposited in a street in Tagajo This combination of pictures shows a catamaran sightseeing boat (top) washed up by the tsunami onto a two-story tourist home in Otsuchi This combination of pictures shows a house (L) This combination of pictures shows residents (top) crossing a bridge covered with debris in a tsunami-hit area of the city of Ishinomaki This combination of pictures shows residents (top) walking in a flooded street in a tsunami-hit area of Tagajo This combination of pictures shows people (top) walking past damaged cars on a street in a tsunami-hit area of Tagajo This combination of pictures shows people (top) evacuating by boat down a road flooded by the tsunami waves in the city of Ishinomaki This combination of pictures shows people (top) walking on train tracks littered with cars in Tagajo This combination of pictures shows damage caused by the March 11 2011 tsunami (top) seen from a hill overlooking the port town of Minamisanriku This combination of pictures shows damage (top) caused by the March 11 2011 tsunami seen from a hill overlooking the town of Otsuchi This combination of pictures shows a handout photo (top) taken by a Miyako City official on March 11 and received from Jiji Press of the tsunami breaching an embankment and flowing into Miyako Japan; and the same area (bottom) nearly 10 years later on Jan This combination of pictures shows people (top) walking on a bridge upon which a boat lies washed up by the tsunami in Ishinomaki This combination of pictures shows debris (top) covering a large tsunami-hit area of Natori Japan — Kozo Hirano can never forget that day five years ago Friday Hirano and other town officials were discussing how to respond to a shattering earthquake that had just struck Japan’s northeastern coast when cold black water suddenly crashed into the town hall Only 10 of 100 people in the building reached the safety of the roof The others died in a 30-foot-high tsunami that struck 30 minutes after being triggered by the quake the raging waters killed nearly 20,000 people caused one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters and forever changed this part of the country “We had too much faith in the levees,” said Hirano Ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the 2011 disaster will take place across Japan on Friday Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will appear at a national service in Tokyo and a minute of silence will be observed nationwide at 2:46 p.m. the exact moment that the magnitude-9.0 earthquake — one of the most powerful ever recorded — struck about 40 miles offshore The government promised a massive response to the catastrophic damage Nearly 400,000 buildings as far as 2 miles inland were damaged or destroyed And 470,000 people were forced to find temporary homes about half from the region surrounding the crippled nuclear plant About 53 million tons of debris was hauled off to massive landfills and incinerators New roads and rebuilt bridges dot the coastal area Permanent housing has been found for nearly half of the evacuees and residents have been allowed to return to some of the areas surrounding the Fukushima plant According to the Japan Reconstruction Agency 58,948 people still live in temporary homes — mostly prefabricated structures intended to last just two years Many residents won’t move to permanent housing until at least 2018 Of nearly 600 levees and seawalls that the government plans to build repair or replace along the rugged coastline and construction has yet to begin on many others Some of the delays appear to stem from a shortage of construction workers and materials diverted to the massive repair of the Fukushima nuclear plant and projects for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Recovery plans in this small fishing village hemmed in by steep mountains provide a glimpse of the massive scale of the reconstruction efforts Otsuchi took more than a year just to develop a recovery plan because nearly all of its government administrators were killed and records were destroyed in the tsunami That’s roughly 10% of the town’s pre-disaster population Recovery plans include raising the level of the town center by 8 feet in a spot where only the shell of the two-story concrete town hall remains standing That will match the height of an adjacent highway and other higher ground A new seawall nearly 50 feet high will be built It took more than two years just to haul away the debris and rebuild roads and other basic infrastructure here About 60% of the town’s pre-tsunami population remains in temporary housing Few will be able to relocate until the landfill project is complete and new homes can be built there no one really knows if the town will be spared from the next tsunami in this earthquake-prone area of the world but this will buy time to get to higher ground and the water won’t reach as far inland,” said Hiroyasu Haga a school monitor and chairman of a residents’ committee at a temporary housing complex just outside Otsuchi his wife and many neighbors evacuated to higher land before the wall of water struck Hirano said strengthening evacuation procedures is a big part of the recovery plan is the emotional recovery for Otsuchi’s surviving residents “This town was built over hundreds and hundreds of years just 10 or 15 minutes it was completely destroyed," Hirano said "I saw people lose their lives just in front me You have to rely on your family and your friends and your neighbors The Red Cross Society of The Republic of China (Taiwan) Address：83, Section 2, Zhongzheng Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei City 25154, Taiwan (R.O.C.) (Map) TEL：886-2-2362-8232 | FAX：886-2-2363-5154Contact Us Mail：redcross@redcross.org.tw "I sent you a message telling you where I was "When I came back to the house and looked up at the sky it was like looking at a jewel box," the 67-year old says "I cried and cried and knew then that so many people must have died." Sasaki's wife was one of nearly 20,000 people in northeastern Japan killed by the disaster that struck on March 11 "It makes me feel a little better." it's been 10 years already and I'm going to be in middle school soon," says Daina "There's this new virus that's killing lots of people and that's why we're wearing masks "There are many people who were not able to say goodbye," he says "There are families who wish they could have said something at the end had they known they wouldn't get to speak again." the grief a family experiences is also much larger," the 76-year-old says "I'll take care of myself," he promises her as a strong wind blows outside BREAKING: Ravens release kicker Justin Tucker months after massage therapists accused him of misconduct My NewsSign Out Sign InCreate your free profileSections news Alerts OTSUCHI, Japan – When 79-year-old Junko Takashi saw the tide fast receding in the bay below her house, she remembered the warnings of her mother and her grandmother, that this was a sign of a tsunami. "I lived on high ground, on the hillside," she said. "I never thought the water could reach here." She decided to take no chances, and leaving all her belongings behind her, she climbed to higher ground. She didn't see the tsunami rolling in, but remembers the terrible noise – like a waterfall, only far, far louder, she recalled. By the time it was over, all that was left of her house were its foundations. Some 70 percent of her town, Otsuchi, was destroyed and 10 percent of the town’s population of 16,000 are dead or missing. Its fishing industry, the backbone of the local economy, was obliterated. Yellow flag marks sign of life One year on and Takashi lives in a temporary home, consisting of a tiny living room, narrow kitchen and bathroom. It's one of a cluster of 80 temporary homes erected on the outskirts of what remains of Otsuchi. She lives alone, her belongings neatly arranged in little cubicles around her. We could barely squeeze into her living room as she pointed to the television, fridge, microwave and heater, all donated by charities who were at the forefront of a massive aid operation in the weeks and months after the disaster. Now much of that initial support has gone. "We're on our own now," she said. "You've got to be positive. I am 79-years-old, who knows how many years I have left." She told me that before the tsunami she was pretty self-sufficient, since she had land to grow all the vegetables she needed, and her two brothers were fishermen. Now she had to buy everything with her pension, while trying to save for an uncertain future. But free temporary housing, in which 2,000 of Otsuchi's people now live, is only available for two years. Outside her home, and outside those of many of her neighbors, flutters a little yellow flag. I asked her what that was for. "They are for everybody over 65 and living alone," she replied. They are asked to put the flags out in the morning and take them down in the evening. If no flag appears in the morning, then officials will come and check on them. A mountain of debris in the Japanese town of Otsuchi.Ian Williams / NBC News Mountains of debris and uncertain plans Otsuchi appears to have made great strides in cleaning up the twisted wreckage that was once their town, and removing the fishing boats flung inland. Looking down from the surrounding hills and all you see is a flat plain with a dusting of snow, just the foundations marking where buildings used to stand. But the remains of the town has essentially been scooped up and piled into vast mountains of debris, which will take years to dispose of. Takashi believes she will be allocated a new apartment once she leaves her temporary home, but the town of Otsuchi has been slow to draw up plans for the future. There is still no blueprint for what will replace a town virtually wiped from the map. The local mayor has pledged to build a new 50-foot high seawall, more than twice the height of the one tossed aside by the tsunami. But there is no agreement as to where any new town will be built, nor how it can be made economically viable. Elderly people, who dominate many of these small coastal towns, are wary of grand plans for new (and more economically sustainable) towns. They form an important political group. "I want to live where I used to live," Takashi said. "I was comfortable there." Staying positive The future looks daunting, but Takashi is remarkably upbeat, showing me photos of some of the charity workers and celebrities who have visited over the months. "I like visitors. I like to talk with people," she said. "It's always been my policy to be positive about what lies ahead." In a series of photos, parts of Japan hit by the earthquake and tsunami are shown shortly after the disaster, then after nearly three months of cleanup efforts. In this combo, in the first picture, taken March 11, 2011, tsunami waves surge over a residential area in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Then on June 3, 2011, power shovels are at work on reconstruction in the same area. On Saturday, June 11, 2011, Japan marks three months since the earthquake and tsunami. March 13, 2011: Destroyed houses and debris fill a parking lot of a shopping center in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, two days after the disaster. June 3, 2011: Houses and debris are cleared. March 14, 2011: Tsunami survivors walk with plastic containers and kettles to carry drinking water through a street blocked by a fallen tank and other debris in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan June 3, 2011: Only one damaged house, center, stands along the same street. April 6, 2011: A sightseeing boat sits on a building in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan. June 3, 2011: The same area with the boat gone. March 19, 2011: Vehicles park on the ground of a junior high school serving a refugee center in Rikuzentakata, Iwata prefecture, northeastern Japan. June 3, 2011: The same area with temporary houses set up for survivors. March 13, 2011: A group of firefighters head for a rescue operation in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. June 6, 2011: A truck goes by the same road lined with electric poles. March 16, 2011: Buildings are surrounded by debris in Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan. June 3, 2011: The debris is almost cleared. March 12, 2011: A ship swept away by tsunami lies among other debris in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan. June 4, 2011: A man on a bicycle pedals past a pedestrian on the same road. March 18, 2011: Fire engines park among the debris as a search for missing people goes on in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan. June 6, 2011: The debris is almost cleared. March 20, 2011: A damaged house stands in a flooded residential area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: The sun shines over the same area. March 12, 2011: A sea coast is filled with destroyed houses and debris at Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture. June 3, 2011: The same area with the houses and debris cleared. March 13, 2011: A burned pickup truck lies among debris swept away by tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: Marguerites are in bloom along a cleared street corner in the same area. March 13, 2011: Debris is piled up by damaged buildings in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture. June 3, 2011: Several houses have been demolished. March 12, 2011: Two-car trains lie in ruin after being swept away by tsunami at Shinchi station, Fukushima Prefecture, with only its railway bridge section left standing. June 3, 2011: A truck is parked near the bridge. March 24, 2011: People walk along Prefectural Highway 30 sandwiched by floodwaters in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. June 4, 2011: In the same area, an earth mover goes on with reconstruction work. March 23, 2011: Damaged houses stand amid debris swept away by tsunami in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture. June 3, 2011: Debris is almost cleared. March 13, 2011: A tsunami-beached ship lies among debris in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture. June 3, 2011: The ship remained there with little cleaned around it. March 12, 2011: Damaged cars are submerged in flooded residential area with other debris swept away by tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: A car goes by debris in the cleared street. March 18, 2011: An overturned car sits on the rooftop of a damaged building in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011:The car still stays in the same position on the building while its surrounding area is almost cleaned up. March 14, 2011: A shinto torii, or gateway, leading to Kozuchi shrine stands among the debris in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture. June 3, 2011: The debris nearly all cleared. March 24, 2011: Ships swept away by tsunami are piled up each other on the ground in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: The ships stay in the same position in the area almost unchanged. March 14, 2011: Rescue workers search for tsunami survivors amid debris in a residential area in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: The ships stay in the same position in the area almost unchanged. March 12, 2011: A ship swept away by tsunami sits amid debris-covered residential area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: The ships stay in the same position in the area getting cleaned up. March 15, 2011:A a ship swept away by tsunami sits amid debris-covered residential area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: The ship stays in the same position in the area almost cleaned up. March 12, 2011: Residents wait for rescuers on the balcony of the debris-dangling house in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture. June 3, 2011: The debris almost cleared. March 15, 2011: Ddebris from houses swept away by tsunami are left untouched in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. June 3, 2011: Some buildings stand in the same area almost cleaned up. March 24, 2011: A TV antenna leans near a stone statue of the guardian deity of children sitting among the debris in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture. June 4, 2011: The debris cleared and the statue wearing a new red cap. Vision & Strategies TOP PAGE Sustainability Initiatives TOP PAGE For Corporations TOP PAGE Corporate Information TOP PAGE Investor Relations TOP PAGE KDDI began collaborating with Oraga-Otsuchi Yumehiroba a general incorporated association established in the town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture-one area that suffered serious damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami We are concentrating on regular volunteer activities promoting an understanding of conditions in the affected region and encouraging exchange with the region we invited members Oraga-Otsuchi Yumehiroba to the KDDI headquarters in Iidabashi to discuss activities that have been undertaken to date future support and held a frank exchange of ideas highlighting future expectations of KDDI Usuzawa: Although more than a year has passed since the earthquake recovery in the affected region has not progressed in line with our expectations Iwate Prefecture is in line with this trend Of the approximately 100,000 tons of rubble generated by the disaster approximately 80% are being handled by processing facilities in the city of Kamaishi and the town of Otsuchi; the remaining 20% is being handled in other prefectures The rubble that was strewn about has been cleared away but new facilities or buildings are not being built hardly any progress on reconstruction is being made at all Iwama: Given that reconstruction was not progressing in the town of Otsuchi we wanted to take some sort of action to build up the community believing that this would drive employment and help to create a structure for spending money in the town We established Oraga-Otsuchi Yumehiroba because we wanted to cultivate change in the town even if this change was minimal.As part of this initiative we set up the Oraga-Otsuchi Reconstruction Cafeteria to encourage many people to visit the town of Otsuchi Setting up the cafeteria was difficult in many ways because none of the people who were involved with the setup had any cafeteria management experience the cafeteria feeds an average of around 100 people per day and 120-130 people on particularly busy days In addition to providing food to cafeteria customers as much as possible we chat with them to hear their memories and experiences so that we can communicate information about the affected region.Over time recollections of the earthquake will grow dim we want to connect with as many people as possible communicating and responding to the situation as best we can for companies we are planning volunteer tours and offering programs for training new employees through support of the affected region we are working to provide a basis for communication with numerous companies and organizations nearly every day we host volunteer tours for people who come to visit the town of Otsuchi This was how we became acquainted with KDDI Dobashi: We have provided various types of assistance Just after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck we dispatched numerous employees to the affected region to help with reconstruction efforts We also have a volunteer leave plan in place to support the efforts of individual employees who wanted to help and we provided funds to assist volunteer activities This disaster was particularly notable for the wide range of the region it affected Although the situation aroused employee interest in volunteering there was some debate as to how we could assist efforts in the area given that the affected region was so extensive This situation led us to support Oraga-Otsuchi Yumehiroba which wanted to take some sort of action to restore their own area As this group's ideas coincided with KDDI's own thoughts with regard to volunteer activities soliciting participants from within the Company bus tours were set up so that around 20 employee volunteers could depart on a bus from Tokyo on Friday evening and return to Tokyo on Sunday night This arrangement lowered the barrier to participation as it enabled them to take part without having to use up paid holiday time our volunteer activities placed primary importance on dialog with people in the affected region We believe that for small groups of around 20 people maintaining communications with people in the local community is important Usuzawa: As our own staff is not extensive around this number of volunteers is just right as this size of group is easy to coordinate and you can follow the activity of all members I also think that this size of group simplifies communications among individual volunteers Dobashi: We want to take into consideration the number of participants as we work to raise volunteer awareness among our employees and their state of acceptance I believe that this scale of activity is about right The actual volunteer activities were concentrated on Saturday they involved helping to shovel the snow away from paths used for attending junior high school volunteers began preparing for summer by clearing away trash from seaside bathing areas and cleaning up broken glass the volunteers listened to stories by people in the affected region about their earthquake experiences and saw damaged government offices and streets firsthand A "sharing time" was also arranged so that employees could discuss the day's experiences among themselves Experiencing the situation in this manner has proved much more effective than television newspaper or other media reports and at helping people to truly understand truly current conditions This approach also strengthens the feeling among volunteers that they need to do something to help Employees who have participated have come back from the experience with a variety of memories Most feel that they have gained significantly by participating Usuzawa: We very much appreciate your help with volunteer activities but we would be happy just to have people come to visit us Visitors can enjoy a number of delicious foods in Otsuchi get a feel for what the affected region truly is like and some of the things people there have experienced we would hope that visitors would explain to others what the town of Otsuchi was like and talk about some of the foods they enjoyed there To reconstruct a town that was once completely razed to the ground the important thing is to encourage many people to visit spreading awareness of the town of Otsuchi among as many people as possible is of paramount importance Dobashi: It always touches my heart to hear those words Actually setting foot in the area enables one to experience all sorts of things This allows us to expand the circle of experience to include people that volunteers come into contact with during their daily work Although you commented that we didn't need to do anything in the way of volunteer activities I believe it is important to always be thinking about what sorts of things we can do It will be some time before reconstruction is complete but I would like for our activities to be continuous and long-term I would like for us to think about what is most needed at each point Dobashi: Many of the employees who participate initially feel awkward beforehand because they are working alongside people they don't know But they gradually learn to know each other as they work together Joining forces and working toward the same objective fosters communications within the Company Volunteer activities themselves help to enliven internal relationships in the end we turn out to be the ones who are learning I believe that these activities truly have value from the standpoint of employee education Usuzawa: We truly wish to convey our sense of gratitude we felt bad that they had to return home right away after spending the entire day doing volunteer activities with students from the local junior high school playing wind instruments we want the employees who had made the effort to trek all the way to our town feel happy that they had done so and want to come again we intend to plan programs that are even more extensive and we hope to propose programs that emphasize interpersonal communications KDDI's volunteer efforts targeting the town of Otsuchi have begun to have a significant ripple effect Awareness of our project has grown among the general population and we believe the program has the potential to expand even further as major companies make use of the project as part of their new employee training nowadays on average around 800 people per month from the general population visit the town of Otsuchi What makes us happiest is that many of these visitors are families many of the people who visit us in Otsuchi do so many times Dobashi: Although at first I would not have expected this to be the case now the spirit of cooperation seems to be mutual Rather than "what can I do for the town of Otsuchi," the feeling seems to be more one of "what can we do that is both good for the Company and for Otsuchi." I am pleased to see this synergistic effect Iwama: I hope many more people visit us in Otsuchi rather than focusing on the town's attractions I believe we need to create plans that create new situations The activities that we have conducted to date have given us the confidence that this is possible I am truly grateful to KDDI for your cooperation and I hope that our activities will continue to take numerous different shapes in the future Usuzawa: Now that more than a year has passed since the earthquake life in the affected region is slowly beginning to return to normal but as a matter of fact the number of suicides has risen markedly the number of people dying solitary deaths is particularly high in the town of Otsuchi as temporary housing puts together people from different regions and offers few opportunities for people to leave their rooms and interact with others I believe that psychological care of residents has taken on a growing importance and going forward I believe it will become increasingly important to communicate with these people Dobashi: I would like to incorporate psychological care for residents into our future activities I do not know whether we can meet your expectations Iwama: What we really would like is for you not to forget the town of Otsuchi Our issue is how to create experiences that are so good they will stay in people's heads and never be forgotten We want to keep alive the memory of what this earthquake was like and what needs to be done toward future reconstruction Usuzawa: Now people come to "the town of Otsuchi in the affected region." Our ultimate future goal is for people to want simply to go to "the town of Otsuchi." We want to create an atmosphere whereby people feel as if Otsuchi is their second home we are taking part in a number of activities to this end such as promoting employee trips to the coastal areas of Iwate Prefecture and running campaigns that attract people to Iwate Prefecture through specified public-interest businesses Dobashi: We will do our best to support your efforts in this sense I believe it is important for us to continue providing assistance that meets the needs of the affected region we look forward to deepening our dialog with people from Oraga-Otsuchi Yumehiroba and from the town of Otsuchi We will listen to local people's needs and consider support programs that will help to meet those needs We will also work to maintain or improve our support structure to ensure that it is not transient I aim for us to contribute aggressively to community development to ensure that we are truly of help in reconstructing the town of Otsuchi we would also like to look at tie-ups in other areas where we might be of assistance I look forward to meeting you in Otsuchi with the words I'm home again!" Thank you very much for your time today A town in northeastern Japan on Wednesday completed demolishing its old town office building where its mayor and 27 other office workers were killed in a tsunami triggered by the devastating quake in March 2011 although some residents had sought its preservation as a memorial The work to tear down the two-story building in Otsuchi The rubble was taken away and the area turned into open land A woman in her 40s who visited the site from the western Japanese city of Wakayama said "I wanted them to preserve (the building) but I cannot express my opinion lightly as there must be various thoughts on the issue." While some residents of Otsuchi said they did not want to see the building because it reminded them of the tsunami others said it should be preserved as a memorial the Morioka District Court rejected a petition to suspend the work The town government will develop the place into a green space and use it as a site for leaving cars in times of emergency evacuation To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible The kindergarten doubled as an evacuation center, but the tsunami came further than expected. Mariko Ogawa with her daughter Nodoka in the schoolyard of Kirikiri Day Care, Masahiko Haga, Takuya Ueno and his son Sou. Before and after photos of Otsuchi. The owner of the building which became a perch for the boat is resisting having it demolished. The impasse has caused a delay in the reconstruction in the area where extensive ground elevation work is being done. Kamitani puts things into perspective. “People outside of Tohoku sometimes say five years is a long time. But for the people here who lost their homes and loved ones in the tsunami and are trying to regain their own lives, five years is not long at all,” she told me, explaining how education and job training would help rebuild Japan’s devastated coastal communities. The name of the N.G.O. she and her husband continue to work for translates as “Our Field of Dreams.” a lone phone booth stands on a windy hillside its pristine white frames shimmering in the morning light The booth contains precious little other than an old black rotary-dial telephone its brass buttons dull and worn from the years of dialing. it is the last connection they have to their loved ones The "phone of the wind" is an unconnected phone booth built in 2011 by garden designer Itaru Sasaki It sits on a hillside with a breathtaking view of the calm Otsuchi shoreline and exists as a place for people from Otsuchi and other affected communities in northern Japan to come to seek solace and process their grief Sasaki constructed the booth in his garden after the death of his cousin. He told the Japan Times the phone booth has seen thousands of visitors over the last decade including those who lost loved ones to suicide and illness Otsuchi, located on the Sanriku coast around 300 miles north of Tokyo, was devastated by the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake It is estimated that around 10% of the town's population – around 1,285 people – died or went missing in the disaster. Inside the phone booth are notes handwritten by visitors In a video earlier this year, Reuters spoke to Kazuyoshi Sasaki who made a pilgrimage to the booth to call his late wife Miwako's cell number Miwako was one of nearly 20,000 people in northeastern Japan killed in the disaster on March 11, 2011. I can't forget it even now," he said while in the phone booth It was like looking at a jewel box," he continued Sasaki told Reuters that he had first confessed his love to Miwako when they were in junior high they began dating and eventually married and had four children. The film was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Best Documentary a teenager who journeyed alone for four hours from his home in Hachinohe to talk to his late father in the phone booth worked as a truck driver and was plying a newly-assigned route off the coastal town of Ofunato when the tsunami hit so don't you worry," Kozaki says in the film Sasaki told the Japan Times he's been approached by parties who want to set up similar phone booths in the UK and Poland who want to help people "call" the loved ones they lost in the COVID pandemic "There are many people who were not able to say goodbye There are families who wish they could have said something at the end had they known they wouldn't get to speak again," he said. titled "Kaze no Denwa – Daishinsai Kara Rokunen Kaze no Denwa wo Tooshite Mieru Koto (The phone of the wind – what I have seen via the phone in the six years since the earthquake)," has since been published in Japan by publisher Kazama Shobo By MASAKAZU HIGASHINO/ Senior Staff Writer Iwate Prefecture--A natural disaster led to the transformation of traditional stone guardian dogs into a pair of tigers that now protect a shrine in this northeastern town famed for its “tora-mai” tiger dance initially assigned to stand guard at Sanriku Oshachi Tenmangu shrine The guardian dogs were on the grounds of a stone shop here when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck in March 2011 The ensuing tsunami chipped away part of their pedestals and teeth Otsuchi residents collected donations and rebuilt the Shinto shrine in November 2021 a nonprofit community development group that played a central role in the reconstruction work wanted the restored shrine to be a meeting place for people from within and outside the town tapped into the origins of the town’s tiger dance as well as the dogs The Buddhist priest who opened Oshachi Tenmangu during the Edo Period (1603-1867) served a wealthy merchant named Maekawa Zenbe (1637-1709) Zenbe and his employees told Otsuchi residents about a fight scene against a tiger from a “joruri” puppet play that was popular in Edo That is believed to have led to a tiger dance performance in the neighborhood of Oshachi Tenmangu The dance remains a folk performing art in Otsuchi today Kuramoto hit upon the idea of remodeling the damaged guardian dogs into the shape of the tigers in the dance a professional illustrator who goes by the name Tag-san A painter’s shop in Otsuchi colored the stone dogs yellow a calligraphic artist based in the prefectural capital of Morioka if they could design the tigers’ eyes and body markings Takusari had never painted stone statues before Takusari was intrigued by the coincidence that he was also born in a year of the tiger Takusari and ToMo carefully put stripes on the statues and painted their eyes gold just like on the tiger heads used in the folk dance Townspeople gave words of encouragement to the artists who spent eight-and-a-half hours to complete the project “We will soon be in the year of the rabbit but the tigers will continue to reign here into next year and the following year.” The tiger statues are placed in front of the shrine office Debris from 3/11 disaster now washing ashore across Okinawa Toads’ march toward summit poses mystery on Mt Fact Crescendo | The leading fact-checking website! there have been pictures circulating on social media about the arches in different periods of time in Japan These claims suggest that they are the same arch that survived major disasters namely the atomic bomb in 1945 and the tsunami in 2011 A Twitter account named “non aesthetic things,” with over 3 million followers has shared a collage featuring two Japanese arches after the dropping of an atomic bomb” and “2011 after an earthquake and tsunami.” The headline at the bottom of the picture reads The tweet has reached over 21 million viewers so far Source | Archive we have found that this claim has been spreading on different platforms from time to time over the past few years Source | Archive Source | Archive we found that the arches in those two picture are different ones and are in different cities in Japan Upon using the Image Reverse Search feature to trace the photo’s origin our investigation revealed that the arch depicted in the first picture The historical significance of this torii gate lies in its survival amidst the immense destruction caused by the bomb While numerous structures in Nagasaki were destroyed or damaged this particular torii gate managed to withstand the catastrophic event serving as a symbolic testament to the resilience of the city and its people Picture Source Source: Reuters while both the arches in Nagasaki and Otsuchi hold symbolic significance and serve as reminders of Japan’s history and resilience they are distinct arches located in different Japanese cities Follow us and stay up to date with our latest fact checks.Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LINE | TikTok and website in this browser for the next time I comment Iwate Prefecture—A frail aging Asian black bear that fell into the ocean here drew cheers of encouragement and raised safety concerns before leading police and hunters on a daylong search The female bear was caught on the night of May 3 and released into the mountains the following day According to staff at the Morioka city zoo in Iwate Prefecture weighed 50-60 kilograms and suffered from vision problems the bear was estimated to be older than 20 The bear wandered into the residential area of Otsuchi and apparently became unable to return to the mountains A resident who was talking a walk around 6 a.m on May 2 saw the bear at the Akahama fishing port in Otsuchi concerned that the bear could attack children walking to school She was eventually found swimming in the ocean near the port Officials believe the bear used a road located in a gap in the seawall The concrete seawall juts up 2 meters from the water surface where the bear was swimming She repeatedly tried to climb the wall to reach dry land The scene drew a small crowd of residents as well as hunters on the quay They were nervous at first but soon started cheering for the bear the bear found a way to climb up the seawall They kept a safe distance from the bear as she walked around for a while the bear headed to a dockyard storage facility on the beach Paw prints were found all around the storage area and police discovered that the bear had taken refuge under the floor of the facility so I guess it needed to rest for a while,” a resident said eluded a trap that had been set up and wandered around the town She fell into a canal and ran off into underground waterways hunters enticed the bear to come to an entrance of the waterways a veterinary doctor from the Morioka zoo shot a blow dart and tranquilized the bear The bear was so weak that the doctor gave her a vitamin injection Bear sightings are common in Iwate Prefecture in the northeastern Tohoku region A prefectural official in charge of natural conservation said bears are now more frequently entering residential areas The official warned residents not to provoke bears and to immediately report any bear sighting to the police VOX POPULI: More sightings of bears expected amid poor acorn crops this fall darker than a nightmare," is how Bob Simon describes the tsunami that hit coastal Japan in March 2011 ten percent are missing - assumed to have been washed away as were almost all the town's homes and structures The citizens of Otsuchi had thought their seawall would shield them from such a disaster the wall was built to protect the town from just this kind of calamity But the wall was just over 30 feet high and the tsunami wave was 50 feet the wall took a hit as hard as the town -- Bob says it fared no better than a child's sandcastle on the beach Watch Bob Simon's full "60 Minutes" report here. A few hours up the coast from Otsuchi, in the village of Fudai, residents had complained about their seawall when it was built; they said it was too high and blocked their view. When Bob and producer Draggan Mihailovich visited Fudai after the tsunami, however, no one was complaining any more because this seawall had done its job. The very wave that demolished Otsuchi had barely touched Fudai. One villager said that the only water to touch the town was the spray on the wind. What made the difference? Height. The seawall at Fudai is 50 feet high and could holdback a wave of the same size. On 60 Minutes Overtime this week, we tell the story of the wall that worked. It's a story with a hero: a man who was determined to hold back the waters. As you'll see from watching the "60 Minutes" and the "Overtime" tsunami pieces this week, the difference between surviving and being destroyed by this wave of water came down to a matter of feet. Decades ago, towns along the northeast coast of Japan began erecting seawalls to withstand waves of about 30 feet--the height of a terrible tsunami that struck in 1933. Kotoko Wamura was the mayor of Fudai when the town began planning its seawall in the 1960s. Wamura had been a young man when the 1933 tsunami wiped out Fudai, and the memories made him determined not to let it happen again. Wamura also remembered family stories about the tsunami of 1896, which had been even bigger: 50 feet. When it came time to draw up plans for the Fudai seawall and a later floodgate, Wamura insisted they both be 50 feet high. Many of the villagers were furious, unconvinced they needed a wall that was so expensive and so ugly, blocking their ocean view. But Wamura wouldn't back down. Fudai got the tallest seawall on the whole northeast coast. Mayor Wamura was not alive to see his wall protect the people who live in its shadow. He died in 1987, but today he is a hero to all the villagers whose lives he saved. Copyright ©2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page. This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies. Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. OTSUCHI, Iwate — Students at an Iwate Prefecture high school long known for its strict code of conduct have been using an evidence-based approach to get the school to loosen its stranglehold on their behavior. The prefectural-run Otsuchi High School launched the student-led initiative in 2020 in part to make the area more hospitable to students as fewer and fewer younger people have been sticking around to call the city home. Only about 150 students attend the high school. Members of the initiative have held discussions aimed at amending the school’s draconian uniform and hairstyle rules. Second-year student and senior member of the initiative Ayaka Iwama used to listen to her older sister’s horror stories about how the school treated students while she was enrolled there. “Her stories made me feel bad,” the younger Iwama said. According to the older sister, the school’s code of conduct stipulated that school uniform skirts had to cover the knees. In order to enforce the rule, teachers rounded up the female students once a month, made them stand on their knees in the gymnasium and then checked whether their skirts touched the floor. At the initiative’s first meeting in May 2020, members wrote down on a large sheet of paper what they thought of the regulations. “I don’t like them demanding that our socks cover our ankles,” one member wrote. “We should be able to decide the color of our undershirts,” wrote another. Many members wrote that they wanted “two-block,” a popular hairstyle for young men, to be allowed. However, some teachers opposed the idea of permitting the hairstyle, which is cut short on the sides and left a little long on top, saying students with two-block haircuts while job hunting would leave negative impressions on their prospective employers. Not ready to back down, the initiative’s members conducted a survey by visiting local companies and found that most of the firms held the hairstyle in a positive light. While some firms said that they did not mind the hairstyle at all, others held a preferential view of students who had the hairstyle. Three months after the initiative’s initial discussions, the school lifted its two-block ban. The monthly routine of checking how properly students were dressed was subsequently discontinued as well. Many students returned to school after the summer break sporting the once-prohibited hairstyle, according to Koyuki Nakamura, a second-year student who helped conduct the survey. Ichiro Kumagai, a teacher at the school, said his colleagues “were able to agree with lifting the ban as students presented evidence to support their arguments.” Sakura Takahashi, another second-year student and initiative member, wants to introduce gender-free protocols for the school uniform so that anyone can wear pants if they want to. Iwama said: “We’ve raised questions about the [school’s] current regulations without taking them for granted. I believe such experiences will help us when we enter the workforce.” Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat. Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account disconnected black telephone stands in a telephone booth in the town of Otsuchi — about 20 minutes’ drive from Kamaishi The phone has been visited by at least 25,000 people since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 people who have come to convey their feelings to departed loved ones “through the wind.” Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience The phone was set up by 72-year-old garden designer Itaru Sasaki in his garden on a small hill with a commanding view of the calm sea in the Namiita area of Otsuchi Calling it “Kaze no Denwa” (The phone of the wind) Sasaki set up the phone after the death of his cousin and there is a notebook placed by the phone Many people have left messages for their loved ones in the books Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Sasaki began work on the booth in November 2010 and completed it shortly after the disaster and many people who had suddenly lost a loved one began to visit Otsuchi was devastated by tsunami in March 2011 about 10 per cent of the town’s population Sasaki found this message in the notebook in the autumn of 2013 and eventually met the family who had written it their son had started working at an IT firm and was visiting Otsuchi on a business trip when the disaster struck The mother revealed her feelings to Sasaki saying: “I have no idea what I’ve been doing since that moment Time has stood still for me since that day.” Sasaki said messages in the notebooks have changed as time has passed since the disaster People have started to accept the deaths of their loved ones writing things such as “Please watch over us from heaven.” In addition to people lost to the earthquake and tsunami families who lost a loved one in an accident or from suicide are also coming to the garden to reflect on their memories of that person I visited the garden to find a photo in the telephone booth in which an apparently foreign man is smiling at someone I felt like someone had just had a conversation with him and there are messages in the notebooks recalling people lost abroad On Tuesday Sasaki’s book titled Kaze no Denwa — Daishinsai Kara Rokunen Kaze no Denwa wo Tooshite Mieru Koto (The phone of the wind — what I have seen via the phone in the six years since the earthquake) was published by Kazama Shobo The book will be available at major bookstores in late August but people feel like their lost loved ones are there listening on the other end of the line,” Sasaki said “I want people to resume their lives as soon as possible by expressing their feelings.” transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account It’s said that a photo speaks a thousand words which is why we bring you the top maritime tsunami photos from the earthquake that struck Japan three days after a powerful earthquake-triggered tsunami hit Japan’s east coast Asia Symphony lies on a pier after being hit by the tsunami at the port in Kamaishi city All 17 Filipino crew (next picture) are safe and living at an emergency shelter near the port Cargo containers are strewn about in Sendai Japan March 12 Japan launched a massive military rescue operation Saturday after a giant earthquake-fed tsunami killed hundreds of people and turned the northeastern coast into a swampy wasteland while authorities braced for a possible meltdown at a nuclear reactor A fishing boat rests surrounded by debri in the city of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture on March 12 A Japanese home is seen adrift in the Pacific Ocean Ships and aircraft from the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group are searching for survivors in the coastal waters near Sendai Another house adrift at sea off the coast of Japan (Unknown) Images provided by GeoEye show an area of Yuriage near Miyagi Prefecture Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox The iconic 65-foot replica tugboat Theodore TOO beloved by Canadians and fans of the classic CBC series Theodore Tugboat has partially sunk at Ontario Shipyards in Port Weller In a quiet corner of the Pacific last August a vessel unlike any other was making what many thought was its final voyage “How Inland Waterways Work,” the spotlight is on the often-overlooked yet vital network of U.S inland waterways that power much of the economy Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news Stay informed with the latest maritime and offshore news For general inquiries and to contact us,please email: [email protected] To submit a story idea or contact our editors, please email: [email protected] For advertising opportunities contactEmail: [email protected]Phone: +1.805.704.2536 Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.