Kizuna 4 Day 3 pt1 14 middle school students were killed in Tsunami

Today’s reports are from Onah and Matteen.

Today we leaving Sendai City and heading to Natroi City in the Yuriaga area, which is in Miyagi prefecture.

Before March 11 2011 Hiyoriyama in Natori city

The Yuriage area was only one kilometer from ocean. So all of the wooden houses were washed away by the tsunami. It was reported that the highest tsunami wave in the area was nearly 10 meters high.

After March 11 2011 Hiyoriyama in Natori citiy

Ms. Omiya guided for us. She was a survivor of tsunami. Hiyoriyama used to be a park where kids would come to play together. It had playground equipment on it, and was a place to spend time. Now, after the nine-meter-high tsunami has swept through, everything has been wiped out. What is now in Hiyoriyama is a small shrine or temple-type structure in memory. It was never expected that such a high tsunami would come though Yuriage.

Many people who lived in the area tried to escape by car but was unsuccessful. Ms. Omiya has two children. One was in kindergarten and one is in elementary school. People had very little time to try to decide where to escape to that would be the safest. However, over 900 people lost their lives in Natoril City. Ms. Omiya shared with us that she decided to become a storyteller in hopes to never have us experience something so horrific.

Ms. Omiya had a house that was only ten years old. The lower floor of her two-story house was completely destroyed. Now all that remains is the frame. Fortunately the second story of her house remained okay.


When the tsunami and earthquake happened. Ms. Omiya and many locals were at the community center for a kindergarten graduation ceremony. Ms. Omiya stayed there for about 30 minutes before she decided to leave to go get her husband and child to head to the elementary school for shelter. Many people asked the schoolteacher if they could leave and go home, because they believed the tsunami wouldn’t come. Luckily the teacher refused to let anyone go, saving all of their lives.

The clock at the middle school stopped at 2:46 pm

At the Yuriage middle school people’s lives would have potentially been saved, if they had gone to the tip story of the school. Unfortunately, many people tried to escape to their homes and ended up losing their lives.

When the tsunami came, many people who tried to escape were senior citizens. They quickly realized that they couldn’t walk fast enough to get to safety so they stood in the way of tsunami and waited to lose their lives.

We just got done visiting the Yuriage Junior high school. It was by far the most powerful part of the trip yet. We were asked to touch the memorial structure that had the names of all of the children who lost their lives, and then say a prayer. Almost half of the group was in tears, and most of the group is now realizing just how tragic the tsunami actually was.

14 students were killed by tsunami

After visiting the Yuriaga middle school, we went to a temporary shopping center. Fishing was a big industry, and there were many stores where seafood was sold. Those stores were damaged by the tsunami, so new ones have been set up in temporary buildings.


There was a man selling produce who gave us all near samples. They were really good and many people bought more. A lot of people also went to the fishing supply store where there was Japanese candy, and Pokemon and Yugiyo Cards. We didn’t have a lot of time there, but I think everyone really enjoyed it.

Ms. Omiya explained the 14 students who died were at middle school

After that, we walked to the community center where we had lunch. We had obentoo boxes with rice, tempura, shrimp, fish, and other vegetables. Once we were done, we learned how to make “Etoro” which are picture lanterns.






We worked in groups of two to make our lanterns and they all turned out really well. They are going to be used in a memorial on the two-year anniversary of the tsunami. We also wrote encouraging messages on kites, which will be strung up at the festival.


About 5,000 handmade lanterns are to be displayed along a street in Yuriage area at a memorial service for the 2nd anniversary of Great East Japan Earth quake.

Today's dinner !!!!

  We had an amazing traditional Japanese set meal ($40 per person value).