[Selective Program] Learning Program 2: "Can you save your life in that situation?"
[Date and time] Friday, March 3, 2023
[Number of people] 138
March is the month when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred. Even now, 12 years after the disaster, there is still a steady stream of visitors who want to learn about the lessons learned at the time and disaster prevention. The Sendai Municipal Seiryo Secondary School we visited this time is one of them.
When we asked the teacher in charge why he chose Minamisanriku Town this time, he said, "The educational trip was scheduled for March, so we wanted to make it a trip that would deepen learning about the lessons of the Great East Japan Earthquake and disaster prevention. That's when we learned that a new earthquake heritage facility was opening in Minamisanriku Town. We planned the itinerary with the hope that a learning program using videos would make it easier for students who don't remember the time to imagine what it was like at the time of the disaster, and that they would be able to learn about disaster prevention in a more personal way."
This time, we combined the Minamisanriku 3/11 Memorial Learning Program "Program 2: Can you save your life at that time?" with the "Bus Storytelling" tour of the actual disaster area with storytellers, and held the tour at different times for each class. For this interview, we accompanied the class that first visited the Minamisanriku 3/11 Memorial and then did the Bus Storytelling tour.
In "Program 2: Can Lives Be Saved?", participants learn from the example of Minamisanriku Town, where many of the town's designated evacuation sites and shelters were hit by the tsunami, that when natural disasters occur, people can sometimes be faced with situations that far exceed expectations.
The testimonies given by the participants, who were junior high school students at the time of the disaster, were hit by the tsunami at an evacuation shelter. In this program, you can learn about how they evacuated and responded at the time. Using their testimonies as a reference, you can discuss with those around you what you can do to prevent disasters and how you think about them. By hearing about the experiences and thoughts of people of your generation at the time, you can gain a deeper understanding of the disaster, and this program has been adopted by many schools.
After watching Program 2, the storyteller will guide you to the former Togura Junior High School, which was featured in the video testimony. The school building of Togura Junior High School, which was the designated evacuation shelter, was also flooded by the tsunami, and the junior high school students frantically climbed the mountain from the school grounds to escape. By visiting the site, you will gain a first-hand understanding of just how high the "approximately 22.6m tsunami" that hit the school building was.
Learning that the tsunami reach line was much higher than they were, the students seemed to realize the ferocity of the tsunami. The storytellers told us how the junior high school students spent their time after the disaster. They talked about how their normal lives of going to school with friends, having graduation ceremonies, and going home to spend time with their families were no longer normal.
Afterwards, we headed to the Earthquake Reconstruction Memorial Park where the former Disaster Prevention Office is located. In Program 2, we learned that Minamisanriku Town piled up soil and raised the ground all over the town after the earthquake. Today, the former Disaster Prevention Office can be seen from where the 3/11 Memorial and other facilities are located. We walked around and got a feel for how high the town was before the earthquake. It seemed that we were able to gain a deeper understanding of post-earthquake urban development and disaster prevention, which we could not have imagined from the testimonies in the program alone.
From the participating students:
"Watching the tsunami footage and listening to the testimonies at the Minamisanriku 3/11 Memorial really brought home to me the horror of natural disasters that take lives. Actually visiting the former Togura Junior High School and the former Disaster Prevention Center helped me to imagine what it was like at the time and really got the sense that a terrible disaster had occurred."
"I was impressed by what the storyteller said: 'Protect your own life first. Protect the lives of others after you protect your own life.' In order to protect my own life first, I would like to use what I learned this time in my daily disaster prevention efforts."
The feedback I received was:
From the accompanying teacher:
"After watching the film, going to the actual disaster-stricken areas really gave me a real feel for it. I saw that the students were thinking and learning more seriously than I had imagined, so I'm glad that we combined the two programs. I think it was an opportunity to think about earthquakes and disaster prevention, so I'd like to continue thinking about disaster prevention with the students and reflect on what I learned today."
The feedback I received was:
At a certain point in the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial, the words "To understand is to change" are engraved.
We hope that what participants learned from listening to the testimonies, what they noticed through discussions with those around them, and what they understood by actually walking around the area will inspire a change in their awareness of disaster prevention and their way of life.
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This time, we divided into four groups and combined a learning program with bus storytelling.
At the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial, we offer programs that lead to deeper learning by combining various storytelling programs such as town walks, bus tours, and lectures on the earthquake disaster.
Click here for details on the various storytelling programs
For group reservations and other enquiries, please contact us here.