English

Home

Our purpose is for verification about what happened at Okawa Elementary School on March 11, 2011.
Upon the request of many people, this informational website was established in November 2013.

Your favorite school
Classroom, hallway, schoolyard, gymnasium
Cherry petals swaying in the wind
Swing swing towards the sky
Library waiting for bus with picture book

I will not forget that smile
I will not forget that song
I will not forget that memory
I will not forget that sadness

“I’m going.”
I will not forget the same scenery as that morning

A muddy textbook
Wash and dry
　

March 11, 2011.
The tsunami came in along with many trees and other debris.
The debris got stuck on the bridge and stopped the flow of the tsunami from going through. From there, the tsunami overflowed and then hit the school.
After waiting on the schoolyard, the teachers and the children went to the river instead of going up towards the mountain.
They started to move about one minute before the tsunami reached the school.

Out of the 108 elementary school children, 74 were lost in the disaster.
70 children died and 4 were missing. As a result, 54 families became bereaved.
There were 11 teachers in the schoolyard at that time. 10 of them also died in the disaster.

The embankment was broken and the bridge was also broken so no cars could pass through. I went to the elementary school by boat.
When I got there, many children’s bodies were already lined up by the bridge.
I can not forget the sight. I think that I should not forget.
We brought the children’s bodies on the truck and stacked them side by side.

There is a small sloping mountain right by the school.
The children were growing mushrooms on this mountain during March every year.
It is the same season as that day, so the children said, “Let’s go to the mountains.” Some children ran to the mountain, but they ended up returning to the schoolyard.
The earthquake occurred at 14:46 and the tsunami came in at 15:37.
It took 51 minutes for the tsunami to get to the area and there was enough warning information about the tsunami on the radio etc.

Mountains do not save lives. It is judgment and action that save lives.