Photo/Illutration Feb. 21, 2021: Kazuto Oya looks around the fishing port in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, where he loved to catch fish and scoop up wakame seaweed. His grandmother’s body was found there. (Shogo Koshida)

Editor’s note: This is the second of a four-part series retracing the lives of four families over the decade following the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, mainly through photos that depict a range of human emotions as bereaved family members and other survivors tried to comfort each other and rebuild their lives. 

* * *

A desolate scene awaited Kazuto Oya when he attended a traditional Buddhist memorial service for his grandmother held on the 49th day of her death.

Hardly a gravestone was standing upright at the cemetery in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture. They had been knocked over by the tsunami that claimed his grandmother's life.

Oya, 42, couldn't contain his grief and started howling, while looking up at the sky.

20210311-Oya-2-L
April 28, 2011: Kazuto Oya’s eyes water over as he promises his late grandmother to keep working hard on behalf of others. He made the vow during a memorial service held in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on the 49th day of her death from 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. (Shogo Koshida)

The heart-wrenching scene was witnessed by an Asahi Shimbun photographer covering the aftermath of the 3/11 disaster.

The magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on a Friday, Oya's day off as a licensed caregiver. He decided to use the time to visit nearby Ishinomaki to buy a birthday present for his father, Michio Oikawa. The quake hit while he was out shopping.

Bypassing blocked roads, Oya managed to return to his hometown after sunset. The devastation he encountered rendered him speechless. The familiar sight of the home where his parents and grandmother lived was gone. Only an orange-colored tractor remained.

The house had stood on a slightly lower elevation than that of the apartment where he lived in with his wife.

The body of his grandmother was later found at a fishing port near her former home. The remains of Oya's mother were never found.

20210311-Oya-3-L
July 3, 2012: Kazuto Oya visits a medical center in Mitoyo, Kagawa Prefecture, to cook udon noodles with staff members as a way of thanking them for the support the hospital offered in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. (Shogo Koshida)

Oya later learned that in the minutes after the quake his father, a fisherman, had urged his wife and the grandmother to remain at home when he left to move his fishing boat to higher ground in case tsunami hit. Michio witnessed his home being engulfed in waves after fleeing to higher ground from the fishing port.

“I should never have asked them to stay home,” Michio confided in an acquaintance. Oya was surprised to learn his father spoke that way because he was always such a tough character who appeared able to overcome any misfortune and never spoke about such things at home.

20210311-Oya-4-L
Feb. 12, 2013: Kazuto Oya watches boys practice their soccer skills in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture. He enjoyed encouraging them as the children were expected to become leading players in the local community 10 years later. (Shogo Koshida)

Oya's father died in winter 2018 at the age of 68 after collapsing from illness in the bathroom. Oya has since taken over the position of community organizer that his father held to look after the welfare of other residents, some of whom have died in the past decade.

20210311-Oya-5-L
Nov. 22, 2020: Kazuto Oya visits a shrine in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, that used to be the responsibility of his late father. Oya goes there to sweep the area clean and ventilate it during a day off. He learned the duties from older residents in the community. (Shogo Koshida)

Oya throws himself into the work, which he does in his spare time, and finds fulfilling. He decided to stay on in Minami-Sanriku. 

“It was a natural disaster,” said Oya while gazing at the calm sea. “The spirits of those now in paradise will surely be cheered if survivors do not blame themselves and spend their days caring for one another with smiles on their faces.”

20210311-Oya-6-L
Feb. 20, 2021: A warehouse his father set up at the former site of Kazuto Oya’s family home in Minami-Sanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, after it was swept away by the 2011 tsunami. The structure reminds Oya of childhood days when his older brother was scolded by their father for breaking a window by swinging and throwing a baseball bat. (Shogo Koshida)

Related News