An elementary school engulfed by the tsunami from the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake is recording the memories of pupils whose lives were narrowly saved by the decision of their principal and others to get them to higher ground.
An elementary school engulfed by the tsunami from the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake is recording the memories of pupils whose lives were narrowly saved by the decision of their principal and others to get them to higher ground.
“They are painful memories, but we want to put together thorough records to hand down the tsunami experiences and lessons for future generations,” said Atsushi Asokawa, principal of Togura Elementary School in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture.
The tsunami destroyed the four-story school building, about 300 meters from the coast, but Asokawa and others evacuated 91 pupils to higher ground and spent the night at a shrine.
Before March 11, the school had been discussing whether to evacuate students to the rooftop of the school building or higher ground near the school in the event of an earthquake and tsunami.
Only two people--a student who left school earlier and an employee who returned home after the evacuation--perished that day.
The 60-page booklet records how the children evacuated and how they felt over the past year. It will be distributed to elementary schools in Miyagi Prefecture.
A resident provided a photograph showing the moment when the school was swallowed up by the surging tsunami waters. Togura Elementary is holding classes for the students at a closed school in Tome, about 20 kilometers away.