2013.03.12
The 2nd Anniversary of “Tsunami” on the Pacific Coast of Tohoku-chiho or the Northeast Region of Honshu Island
At 14:46 hrs on March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake took place in the Pacific Ocean near Tohoku-chiho「都北地方」 or the northeast region of Honshu Island「本州」, causing an approximately 8-9 meters high tsunami. The cities which are near the coast including Miyaki, Fukushima, Iwate, Ibaraki, Chiba, etc. were damaged. On the day that the tsunami happened, 15,881 people died. Afterwards, 2,668 people were missing, 2,303 more people died and 315,196 people had to migrate out of the areas.
Today is the 2nd anniversary of this event. At 14:46 hrs, people in schools, offices and places all over the country stand still quietly for one minute to remember and pay respect to people who lost their lives in that event. Two years have passed but the police and government officers still continue to search for missing people whose bodies are not yet found.
The TV live broadcasted the interviews with people from various locations. One of those was a story of a 12-year-old boy who lost his mother and brother and had to live with his father in a temporary shelter without a mother to take care of him and a brother to play with him. During his trip to pay respect to his mother’s and brother’s graves with his father, his father said that “If that day I had reached out my hands to grab Mom, things would not have been like this today”. “It was impossible, dad. You couldn’t help it”. Then, after a pause, he added that “It’s OK, dad. When I’m 20, I’ll probably be happy”. 1,724 children are left without having a father or a mother to care for them.
A 70-year-old lady who lost her two grandsons and her son whose bodies were not yet found sat there and waited to hear the news of body discovery from the district every day. “If possible, I would like to die instead of my grandchildren and my son. I don’t know what to live for”. Old people have no encouragement to restore their mind. A lot of people have worse mental health.
The disposal of garbage and leftovers of constructions, buildings and houses by the government and the volunteers nationwide continues to progress, but the loss of family members, lovers, friends and neighbors still remains the same.
These stories make me sad. I remember the words of a 19-year-old girl who was the representative of people who had to deal with the loss. She gave a speech in the tsunami commemoration ceremony today, saying that “Happiness in life is to live a normal life”. Help cannot compensate for the loss.
