The total number of children in Okawa elementary school was 108, and 103 children were in school until the end of the class, excluding 5 children who were absent or left early on the day of the earthquake. There were a total of 13 faculty members, and the principal attended the graduation ceremony of his daughter's junior high school, so he was absent from the afternoon. On the day of the earthquake, there were 11 teachers, a vice-principal, a chief of academic affairs, a homeroom teacher who also served as a chief of each grade, and a school nurse. 51 minutes after the big earthquake, the tsunami struck Okawa elementary school, killing 70 children (69 under school management, 1 absentee) and 10 teachers, and 4 including 1 who left early and was affected by the disaster. The child is still missing. At that time, in Okawa elementary school, it took 51 minutes from the occurrence of the earthquake to the arrival of the tsunami, and in the city, there was a guide saying "The tsunami is coming. Please escape to the hill" on the disaster prevention radio etc. Although there was a voice saying "I want to evacuate. I should escape to the back mountain", children stayed in the schoolyard at the discretion of the teacher. About 50 minutes later, they started moving to the "triangular zone" near the river, and immediately after that, They were washed away by the tsunami. The absent principal did not visit Okawa elementary school until March 17, and did not participate in the search for children. A school attendance ceremony was held on March 29th for only surviving children, without explaining the damage situation. To the families who lost their children, school didn't notify the event. At the ceremony, principal's greetings that cannot be said to have taken into consideration the dead and missing children and their parents. The Ishinomaki city board of education held a parent information session on April 9 about the tsunami damage, and started interviews with surviving children. After that, a total of 10 parent information sessions were held until March 23, 2014, and questions and opinions were exchanged with the bereaved families. However, during that time, the city board of education abandoned the children's interview memos, and the surviving teachers continued to refuse to attend the briefing session because of PTSD, so there was no opportunity to check the facts directly, so the facts have not been clarified. Eventually, 29 bereaved families filed a state redress lawsuit. The reason why the bereaved family had to do so was that even the verification results of the parent information session and the verification committee did not clarify what the bereaved family wanted to know, and the situation was forced into a situation where there was no place or method other than proceedings to clarify the truth. At the very least, as a proof that their children was alive, there was a strong desire among the bereaved families to make legal decisions that would form the basis of school disaster prevention. The bereaved family won the case as a result of suing the school for failing to prepare for disaster prevention because the school is obliged to protect the safety of children based on the School Health and Safety Law. This ruling also affected school sites across the country. Until now, the School Health and Safety Law has already required all schools to prepare a "crisis management manual." However, from this incident, it was reaffirmed that it is necessary to thoroughly check the site at the school to check for any deficiencies and regularly review it so that effective measures can be taken. This will make further preparations such as sufficient cooperation with local governments, dissemination to parents / regions, and training based on manuals.
The total number of children in Okawa elementary school was 108, and 103 children were in school until the end of the class, excluding 5 children who were absent or left early on the day of the earthquake. There were a total of 13 faculty members, and the principal attended the graduation ceremony of his daughter's junior high school, so he was absent from the afternoon. On the day of the earthquake, there were 11 teachers, a vice-principal, a chief of academic affairs, a homeroom teacher who also served as a chief of each grade, and a school nurse. 51 minutes after the big earthquake, the tsunami struck Okawa elementary school, killing 70 children (69 under school management, 1 absentee) and 10 teachers, and 4 including 1 who left early and was affected by the disaster. The child is still missing. At that time, in Okawa elementary school, it took 51 minutes from the occurrence of the earthquake to the arrival of the tsunami, and in the city, there was a guide saying "The tsunami is coming. Please escape to the hill" on the disaster prevention radio etc. Although there was a voice saying "I want to evacuate. I should escape to the back mountain", children stayed in the schoolyard at the discretion of the teacher. About 50 minutes later, they started moving to the "triangular zone" near the river, and immediately after that, They were washed away by the tsunami. The absent principal did not visit Okawa elementary school until March 17, and did not participate in the search for children. A school attendance ceremony was held on March 29th for only surviving children, without explaining the damage situation. To the families who lost their children, school didn't notify the event. At the ceremony, principal's greetings that cannot be said to have taken into consideration the dead and missing children and their parents. The Ishinomaki city board of education held a parent information session on April 9 about the tsunami damage, and started interviews with surviving children. After that, a total of 10 parent information sessions were held until March 23, 2014, and questions and opinions were exchanged with the bereaved families. However, during that time, the city board of education abandoned the children's interview memos, and the surviving teachers continued to refuse to attend the briefing session because of PTSD, so there was no opportunity to check the facts directly, so the facts have not been clarified. Eventually, 29 bereaved families filed a state redress lawsuit. The reason why the bereaved family had to do so was that even the verification results of the parent information session and the verification committee did not clarify what the bereaved family wanted to know, and the situation was forced into a situation where there was no place or method other than proceedings to clarify the truth. At the very least, as a proof that their children was alive, there was a strong desire among the bereaved families to make legal decisions that would form the basis of school disaster prevention. The bereaved family won the case as a result of suing the school for failing to prepare for disaster prevention because the school is obliged to protect the safety of children based on the School Health and Safety Law. This ruling also affected school sites across the country. Until now, the School Health and Safety Law has already required all schools to prepare a "crisis management manual." However, from this incident, it was reaffirmed that it is necessary to thoroughly check the site at the school to check for any deficiencies and regularly review it so that effective measures can be taken. This will make further preparations such as sufficient cooperation with local governments, dissemination to parents / regions, and training based on manuals.