While in Japan we traveled to many different cities and villages and I began to notice a trend over time: Japan does not always tear down the remains of a catastrophic event, and in fact in some cases keeps the remnants of an event as a way to remember what happened in the hopes that the past will help prevent something like this from happening again in the future. For example, the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima is a famous landmark for the city, and remains nearly exactly how it was after the atomic bomb hit the city. Although the city debated tearing it down due to painful memories and lost space in the city, they decided that the remains of what was once a beautiful building should stay as a reminder of the dangers of war, especially the dangers of atomic weapons used in war. The A-bomb Dome is a powerful structure, and speaks louder than the text of any history book.
Another powerful example of keeping an original structure intact is exemplified by the Okawa Elementary school, in which many children died after a tsunami overtook the school proceeding the 2011 earthquake. This happened only a few years ago so the school grounds can be a very painful place for parents of the deceased to go to. However, despite the pain parents have decided that they would like for the school to be kept that way it was after the tsunami rather than being torn down. The school still stands as a reminder of the power of a tsunami and the need to abide by tsunami warnings. We had the pleasure of receiving a tour from one of the fathers affected by the tsunami, and I saw personal items that remained in classrooms even after the wave hit. Stains on the second story ceiling from the water also showed how high the tsunami waves reached. The children in this school would have only been a few years younger than me had they survived and it was a very somber experience for everyone there.