The parents sought answers about what happened that day and even filed a lawsuit against the school to get clarification, but they still didn’t receive a clear explanation for why the staff sent the children on a bus toward the coast. The teachers claimed they didn’t hear the tsunami siren. Part of the settlement involved the now-closed school accepting legal responsibility and agreeing to apologize to the families. Although Sato has received flowers, she never got a formal apology.
“I’ll be waiting for you”
Migaku Kumagai, 71, went missing during the tsunami. Three months later, his wife, Sachiko, began writing letters to him. She has penned hundreds of these letters, often detailing the weather, the breakfast she prepared for him, and asking about his whereabouts. At times, she writes as if from Migaku’s perspective, offering herself encouragement: “Mama-chan, I won’t be able to return even if you keep brooding over it… I’ll be waiting for you, you can do it, you can.”
In 2017, Sachiko eventually filed her husband’s death certificate before passing away a year later. In one of her last letters, she appeared to have come to terms with her loss. “Good morning Migaku-san. Not many days left in the year. Seems like we’ll finish out another year without finding you … Wouldn’t it be a miracle if you wander back to the Ono Bay? I’ve heard miracles exist, but it doesn’t seem to in this disaster.”
Saved By Debris
Yoichi from Rikuzentakata had a feeling that a tsunami would follow the earthquake, prompting him to quickly take his parents to a shelter before heading back to check on his neighbors. Upon hearing the news about the approaching tsunami, Yoichi and his wife, Tasuko, hurried to another shelter but were denied entry due to debris. They then ran to a schoolyard situated on higher ground, where they witnessed the wave devastate the entire neighborhood and most of Rikuzentakata, including the shelter where his parents were.
Saving Himself and Others
When the earthquake struck, Toru was at a factory close to the Ishinomaki coast. After feeling the first tremor, he hurried to his car to escape what he believed would be a tsunami.
“First I headed toward my home, which was on high ground, but I was soon caught in a traffic jam,” Toru recounted. “I heard on the car radio that the tsunami had already reached a nearby city. I opened my car window so that I could escape if it hit my area. Soon a huge wall of black water over six feet (2 m) high came rushing toward me. The cars in front of me were hurled back into mine, and we were all washed far inland.”
Fortunately, Toru managed to climb out through the window before being swept away. “I was thrown into an auto repair shop, where I grabbed hold of a staircase and climbed onto the second floor. With great effort, I was able to pull three people to safety. A few of us survived the rising water and the cold, snowy night.” However, they felt regret for not being able to rescue others they heard calling for help.
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