Damages preserved as Japanese tsunami memorial

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (AP) – New roads. New city halls. New shopping centers. The scars are disappearing from the northeast coast of Japan as people are rebuilding themselves from the tsunami that destroyed the region 10 years ago.

But some cities have decided to preserve memories of the March 11, 2011 disaster – as a symbol of their resilience, to remember their dead loved ones and as a lesson for future generations.

In Rikuzentakata, where more than 1,700 people died, the city’s inhabitants reformed the lonely pine tree that initially survived the tsunami, which razed the surrounding coastal forest. When the tree, known as “Pinheiro Milagroso”, began to die with exposure to sea water, it was removed, treated and raised to create a memorial that became a symbol of hope for the region.

Some of the damage has been preserved, despite intense debate among survivors, in which it inspires mixed feelings of pain, sadness and hope. Many also have different ideas about how to remember their deceased loved ones.

It took five years before residents and survivors in the city of Ishinomaki – where more than 3,000 people were killed in the tsunami – decided to preserve Okawa primary school. Eighty-four people died there, including 74 children.

In 2014, about a third of the children’s families sued the city and Miyagi Prefecture, accusing authorities of mistreating the evacuation. In 2019, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the city and city hall were negligent for not having a crisis management plan. After a controversial debate about what to do with the school building, the city decided to keep it as a memorial.

In the coastal town of Minamisanriku, known for raising oysters and scallops, residents are still debating what to do with a structure that used to be the city’s disaster prevention center.

For some survivors, the structure is a painful reminder; for others, it is a place to remember loved ones who worked until the last minute to save people before the tsunami engulfed the 12-meter-high (40-foot-high) building, along with about 80 people inside. About 800 people were killed across the city.

“Both sides are right,” said Mayor Jin Sato.

For now, the structure is being maintained as a symbol. It is under the control of the city for another 10 years, and the authorities hope that this will give residents time to reach a consensus.