The school beneath the wave

Introduction

On the seventeenth day of our study abroad program in Japan, we visited Okawa primary school, also known as “the school beneath the Wave.” Due to insufficient evacuation procedures, just 3 pupils and 1 teacher from this elementary school survived the tsunami wave, leaving 74 students and 10 teachers dead. A mother who had lost her own child, a high school student who had been waiting for her at home during the tsunami, explained in detail what had occurred in Okawa to cause so many deaths to us on this trip.

Destruction

We had the opportunity to witness the tsunami’s devastation with our tour guide. We could make out the traces it left on the bricks. Our tour guide and storyteller showed us before and after photos, demonstrating how the wall and walkway fell. She also detailed a lot of the events that occurred during the 51 minutes that the school had to be evacuated, during which time there were arguments about where to go and what to do. She also mentioned a teacher who was the only teacher to survive, went up to the mountains to see if they could flee there since he was the only one who insisted on it while the other teachers were hesitant to because of the previous earthquake danger.

Less than 1 minute.

Okawa Elementary had 51 minutes to flee in total. The guard, who was instructed to drive and observe what was happening, returned and with only fifteen minutes left advised people to leave since a tsunami was on its way. The teachers continued talking until one minute remained, at which point they began the evacuation procedure and instructed the children to head for the river. They had no idea that there were two tsunamis approaching from opposite directions. One came from a river, and the other came from the ocean (which was the one the guard saw). They utterly overlooked the opportunity to climb the hill close to the school. Everyone in the group was moved to tears during the trip when our guide revealed that a test had been done to determine how quickly an elementary school student could climb the hill’s upward slope. It wouldn’t have taken them more than a minute, especially with the added adrenaline of panic speeding you up. We climbed the mountain and took in the scenery, but we can only speculate as to what the survivors saw as they watched their former home be completely destroyed with their friends’ and teachers’ screams for help.

Full Poem translated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ame_ni_mo_makezu

“Amenimo makezu”. “Be not defeated by the rain”. A poem, by Kenji Miyazawa, was written on the side of the building in the playground. Something that will bring tears to your eyes when comparing the context to the sorrow brought to Okawa Elementary School.

A story told for Hiroshima bombing victims

We visited a museum created for the victims of the tragedy of the American bombing of Hiroshima on our trip to Japan. It was difficult to miss the gloomy atmosphere in this museum. As soon as I entered the premises, I saw a plethora of news reporters outside requesting interviews. There was what seemed to be a deep hush once we were inside the structure. It seemed almost as though we had entered a completely new universe once we obtained our tickets and really entered the Museum. The space was dimly lit, with the majority of the spotlight focused on photographs of people, objects, and apparel. Writing explaining the stories of these objects was attached to each side. I went through and read each one, and I have to admit that the mere act of sitting here and digesting it is making me sick and bringing tears to my eyes. During that day students were trying to rebuild their school so it could withstand the repeated bombings, which is why there were so many kids who lost their lives. The clothing, where you could see the remnants from the blast, such as blood, dried mud, etc., put it all into an even greater perspective and made it feel much more real.

Gonichi Kimura captured this picture of a woman whose skin had the design of her kimono imprinted into it. The statement “The heat-absorbed black or dark-colored portions of her kimono pattern were burned into her skin” is true.

Yoshito Matsushige captured this shot of a police officer who, despite being hurt, was aiding his community and issuing catastrophe certificates. It goes to show his sense of justice. That although he must have been in an imense amount of pain at the moment he showed up to give his community structure/order, so they can have someone to lean on, someone to go to.

Earth, Water, Wind, Fire.

Stimulation

During this part of our study abroad trip to Japan, our instructor took us to a fire department station where there were multiple stimulations. There were three stimulations: a typhoon, a fire, and an earthquake. I’ll be talking about and describing my experiences with each one on this blog.

Earthquake Stimulation

This exercise dealt with what to do in the event of an earthquake. What’s odd is that will in Japan we did really go through an earthquake a few days prior to this. We were told to position ourselves in a fetal position—with our hands covering our skulls in an upright position—during this stimulation in order to avoid damage. They advise doing this while hiding beneath a desk. It was also a learning moment for me because I had always understood that we should only cover our necks and not our heads. In case a structure collapses, they also advise leaving the earthquake zone as soon as it stops shaking.

Fire Stimulation

This stimulus was provided by smoke, not by fire. It was merely a smoke machine producing actual smoke. In order to prevent collisions and maintain some level of spatial awareness during this stimulation, we were instructed to crouch as low as possible, close our hands in a flat fist, cover our mouth and nose with the pit closest to our elbow, and drag the enclosed hand across the wall as we walked. While the person in the back was to close the door when they walked in, the one in the front was to lead and find the luminous exit signs. In a system like this, everybody was going down if someone halted. Everyone had a role to play in maintaining harmony. We all had to sort of keep an eye out for one another because if we moved too quickly, the person closing the back door would get left behind. I didn’t know what to do in case of a fire previously, but this stimulation educated me.

Typhoon Stimulation

With the first image being only rain and the second image being only wind, this picture depicts us experiencing a typhoon stimulation. For protection against the rain, we were outfitted with a thick coat, a face mask, rain boots, and other waterproof gear. Then, if we were wearing contact lenses, we were told to remove them or look down to prevent getting water on our faces. We were instructed to grip onto the bars tightly while the downpour of rain poured down onto us from all sides, simulating a typhoon. This was perhaps my favorite stimulus because it felt so real. Even though the wind was fierce, it wasn’t as awful as the water, as you can see in the second image, which solely depicts the wind. Typhoons have the peculiarity that, more often than not, both will occur simultaneously which would have made it more harder than we had experienced it. I’m happy we were able to have such an amazing experience and gain so much knowledge.