Miyagi

Healing Scars in Yuriage

The story of a town, its past and its future

Laura Welch Aug 24, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>This is Yuriage over three years after the tsunami. It looks green and peaceful; there are insects and birds here. But once thousands of people lived here and everything was wiped away in minutes. In Natori, over 900 people lost their lives in the tsunami - around 750 of them were in Yuriage.</p>

<p>The guardrails on the road leading to the junior high school were flattened - not by the tsunami, but by a house that was carried away in it.</p>

<p>The junior high school is still standing, empty, but saved for a little longer in case it's needed again for evacuation. Soon it will be torn down. Until then, the clock marks the time that the earthquake struck - 2:46pm</p>

<p>The white tape shows the height of the tsunami. The school is 1.6 kilometers from the coastline.</p>

<p>This is a memorial to the students who lost their lives that day. At the back, the school song is permanently carved into stone.</p>

<p>The names of the students are grouped by grade. Their families invite visitors to touch the stone "to cool them down on a hot day, to warm them on a cold one, to show that we're thinking of them".</p>

<p>The first floor is dangerous, and visitors need permission to enter the building. Even on other floors, there is glass underfoot.</p>

<p>The remaining blackboards have been filled with encouraging messages and memories as a way to help former students deal with what happened</p>

<p>Behind the school are some of the new defences that will be added by the shore. Inland, the ground is going to be raised by 3 metres, and Yuriage will be rebuilt.</p>

<p>This is a view of the pedestrian bridge that students used to use to get to school. When the tsunami hit, 15 people took refuge up here, spending the night in the cold. They tried to rescue others carried along by the water, but they died in the night. A helicopter in the area couldn't help them due to the spurts of flames coming from boats washed inland.</p>

<p>This car park was once a play park; children would sledge down the hill in winter. It is made of rubble that used to be the roofs of houses.</p>

<p>This is Hiyori Hill. It was popular for its view of Sendai City. The pine tree on top, like many others, survived the tsunami; the forest is being replanted.</p>

<p>This is a new shrine, built in place of two old ones. One was quite large, but it was lost with everything else.</p>

<p>Visible from the hill is the one temple out of three that survived. One was destroyed in the earthquake; the other in the tsunami.</p>

<p>The hill overlooks a new monument to those who died. The building in the background (a former business) will be preserved, whether this area becomes a nature reserve, a solar park, or something else.</p>

<p>The meaning of this monument is "From seeds, shoots will grow"</p>

<p>Two boards list the names of the dead. You really understand the devastation when you can see groups of surnames showing whole families that died here.</p>

<p>This is an ornamental bird from the larger shrine, a symbol of survival</p>

<p>Little offerings like this are some of the only reminders that houses once stood here</p>

Yuriage is a town in the city of Natori, Miyagi prefecture. A coastal town, it was devastated by the tsunami of March 2011. Hundreds of people lost their lives and almost no buildings were left standing. In the years since, Yuriage has been looking both forward and back in its efforts to come to terms with the disaster. The wish of many survivors is that the town isn't forgotten, so here it is three years on.

Laura Welch @laura.welch

One of my favourite things about Japan is the wonderful variety of food, and I love to share what I find. When I'm not eating, you might find me singing karaoke or walking around hoping to make new discoveries!