OTSUCHI, Iwate Prefecture--The remains of 70 unidentified tsunami victims were taken into a hillside charnel purpose-built as their resting place for now on Feb. 19, ahead of the sixth anniversary of the 3/11 disaster.
The remains had been kept at separate locations, but will now be housed together at the new facility in the Tohoku region town, which was ravaged by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
A ceremony held on the same day at the house, built on a hill overlooking the town center, was attended by Buddhist priests who had been looking after the bones and ashes at their establishments. Town government officials and local residents also took part.
Otsuchi lost almost 10 percent of its population when the disaster struck. Victims from the town totaled 1,285, of which 864 have been confirmed dead, and 421 remain missing.
As caretaker of the 70 unidentified victims, the town government is responsible for more remains than any other municipality within Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. They had been kept at three temples in the town until now.
There were several hundred unidentified victims immediately after the disaster, according to the town government. Most were returned to their family members or relatives after they were identified in one way or another.
However, none have been returned to their next of kin since fiscal 2015.
Nineteen sets of remains were stored at Kichijoji temple here until the opening of the charnel.
Chief priest Eigo Takahashi said he asked the remains to “protect future generations who do not know about tsunami” in the morning before removing them from his temple.