[Visit Report] Hiroshima Municipal Funairi High School Experiences the Learning Program
On October 8th, students from Hiroshima Municipal Funairi High School visited the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial as part of their school trip.
For the school trip of Hiroshima Municipal Funairi High School, students can choose their preferred course from several destinations, including Hokkaido, Miyagi, and Fukushima. Miyagi Prefecture is one of the courses. They learn through visits to earthquake relics and museums in various areas, and talks by people who played a central role in industrial recovery and urban development after the earthquake.
At the entrance to the Minamisanriku 311 Memorial, there are panels and a 3D map that compile numbers and data related to the earthquake. At the entrance, the staff explained that the memorial was built 10.8 meters above sea level before the earthquake, and that the tsunami reached a point almost as high as the ceiling of the facility. On the wall, there is a line marking the 15.5 meter height of the tsunami that hit the old disaster prevention building, and the students tilted their heads to look up.
Afterwards, you will proceed to the exhibition gallery, which displays exhibits compiling stories from the Great East Japan Earthquake, testimonial videos, and other documents.
Each participant deepens their learning by carefully studying the exhibition panels on their own, or by watching the testimonial video with a friend and pointing at each other.
In the Art Zone at the back, you can see Christian Boltanski's installation work "MEMORIAL." Boltanski has continued to create works that confront life, death, and the dignity of life, and the stacks of rusty cans and the incandescent lights illuminating them remind us of the lives that have been lost.
You will watch video testimonies from townspeople and 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, we can sometimes face situations that far exceed our expectations.
In the video, witnesses who were junior and senior high school students at the time of the disaster talk about how they evacuated and responded at the evacuation shelters that were hit by the tsunami that day. During the program, there are several questions and one-minute dialogue time set aside, and by talking with people around you, you can deepen your own understanding and gain new realizations and ways of thinking.
During the dialogue session, a variety of opinions were exchanged, along with the students' current knowledge and realizations, such as, "Hiroshima is an area that experiences frequent landslides, isn't it?", "Shouldn't we prepare for typhoons and heavy rain disasters in the same way we do for earthquakes?", and "If a tsunami comes, you can't escape to the rooftop."
After touring the facility, we asked for their impressions.
One male student said that he chose the Miyagi course because he wanted to think about measures to deal with earthquakes, given concerns about the Nankai Trough earthquake.
"What made an impression on me was the story of a firefighter who said he thought about thinking about a second or third evacuation site. It's easy to feel relieved after evacuating just once, but it's important to keep thinking about dangers beyond that."
Another female student said she chose the Miyagi course because "I often learn about the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, but I have had few opportunities to learn about the earthquake and tsunami in Miyagi."
"What made an impression on me were the stories of junior high school students who had saved lives, and the testimonies of those who still weren't able to save the person. I don't think I would have been able to do it if I had been a junior high school student. But there are times when you have to do it, and I want to continue thinking about whether I would be able to act when that happens."
When we spoke to the teacher, he told us that this was his first visit to the Tohoku region, and he commented, "We all were looking forward to this course because we chose it ourselves. Peace education is popular in Hiroshima, and there are many facilities that convey the actual situation of the damage, but there are not many facilities that ask you what you think about it. It was a very fulfilling learning experience."
As they were leaving, one student who aims to become a teacher in the future said, "There were things I didn't know, and more than that, I had a lot to think about."
Minamisanriku 311 Memorial is not only a facility for conveying the events and lessons of the disaster, but also a disaster memorial center that provides an opportunity for people to continue thinking. We believe it is important to continue thinking about questions that have no answers, such as "What was the turning point between life and death?" and "How would I judge and act if I were in that situation?"
I hope that what you have learned and realized today will be useful to you in protecting the things that are important to you in your future lives.
Thank you to everyone at Hiroshima Municipal Funairi High School for visiting us.
