KESENNUMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Tatsuki Kumagai has vivid memories of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and the things he did wrong that fateful day but still survived.

Kumagai, now 19, was an elementary school second-grader and was walking back to his home along the coast here instead of fleeing. Fortunately, his family had just left their house when he ran into them. 

Today, he is working with his younger siblings to pass the baton to future generations as a storyteller of the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami disaster.

His sister and brother remember little or nothing about the devastation, but the Kumagais are determined to preserve the memories of the calamity for posterity.

Last fall, Tatsuki was speaking to visitors on the rooftop of the Ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake Kesennuma City Memorial Museum here.

The temblor hit while he was playing at a friend’s home, and Tatsuki frantically headed for his home along a coastal sidewalk.

Though he knew the word “tsunami,” he did not realize how horrific fast-moving walls of water could be.

Nearing his home, Tatsuki found his grandfather and mother, Naomi, walking toward him while holding his younger sister Misao's hand. His mother was holding Akira, his newborn brother, in her arms.

Although her face was strained, Naomi, now 48, who is a municipal official to support elderly citizens’ lives, showed relief at seeing her oldest son. Saying an “earthquake is occurring,” Tatsuki waved at his little sister.

As the tremor reminded his grandfather of the tsunami spawned by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the Kumagais did not try to flee to higher ground in a car, aware of the possible traffic jam. 

Every time the ground shook during aftershocks, all the family members crouched to wait for the tremors to subside.

Located 200 meters from the sea, their home was swept away with only the building's foundation remaining. More than 1,300 people were killed in Kesennuma.

Looking back, Tatsuki told the museum’s visitors that he “would not be here speaking today if I had not met my family before arriving at my home.”

He then asked the visitors questions: “Among the things I did at that time, what do you think was wrong?” and “What do you think I should have done?”

PASSING MEMORIES DOWN

Today, Tatsuki is a first-year student in the automobile mechanics course offered at the Miyagi Prefecture-run Kesennuma vocational school.

When he was in his second year at Kesennuma Koyo High School, he traveled to Kobe for a training program themed on disaster responses.

He listened to personal accounts of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, which claimed the lives of more than 6,400 people around Kobe, from high schoolers on nearby Awajishima island.

Especially memorable for Tatsuki was that the program helped visitors learn about various topics on the disaster through a quiz.

“The experience made me aware of the importance of holding a dialogue, not just telling stories in a one-sided manner, to make listeners relate to the problems being discussed,” he said.

Currently, Tatsuki is testing the teaching method on his own in his quest to share his memories of the 2011 disaster with others.

The memorial museum is housed within the former building of the Kesennuma Koyo High School, which was destroyed by the tsunami. As signs of the destruction remain as they were left that day after the waters receded, visitors can quickly realize the power of the towering tsunami. 

Junior and senior high school students provide their experiences at the facility and children often show up on school trips. Tatsuki has told his story on dozens of occasions at the museum.

Although most visitors listen seriously to the accounts, some do not stop talking with each other in whispers even while speakers warn of the “risk of death that could arise unless one runs as soon as a quake hits.” 

Tatsuki at one time heard a young visitor utter something offensive, saying, “Preserving this ruined building will not benefit anyone.”

There are some storytellers at the museum who participate solely to notch “good school records to pass college entrance exams under the admission system.”

But all share the goal of “protecting lives in the future” since a natural disaster can occur at any time and they hope that more people will listen to them tell of their experiences.

At one point, Tatsuki realized that he first of all should educate those close to him. Talking with his parents and others about the possibility of “how he could have been washed away” by the tsunami in the March 11 disaster, Tatsuki saw his sister and brother looking at him blankly.

He was astonished at the wide memory gap with his siblings. Thinking that a tsunami in the future could strike at some point, Tatsuki wondered whether it is “acceptable” for them to know so little just because they had been too young at the time. 

This took Tatsuki back to when he was in his third year of junior high school and played special “karuta” game cards with elementary school students about disaster preparation. Tatsuki tried to count those who “remember the 3/11 disaster” and discovered that only half raised their hands.

Following that, Tatsuki started having his sister and brother present when he spoke at the Kesennuma museum. He also organizes lectures for junior and senior high school students to nurture younger storytellers.

Tatsuki expects his siblings, along with other youngsters, to learn lessons from the tragedy through his accounts of “that day,” so that they will safeguard themselves and their families in the event of another natural disaster.

SISTER WITH MEMORY LAPSES

During the autumn session, Misao, 15, a third-year junior high school student, listened to her big brother’s story while at his side.

As a growing number of children from the younger generation do not remember the devastation from 11 years ago, Misao, four years younger than Tatsuki, has been watching her older sibling’s endeavors from up close to learn.

Despite that, Misao said she was embarrassed at some events during the calamity “slipping from my memory” from her elementary school days. She can recall just fragments linked to the catastrophe.

Only 4 at the time, Misao planned to go pick up a uniform for the kindergarten she was to enroll in the following month. The moment she put on her shoes on the veranda of her home, the temblor hit.

Her grandfather, who was watching TV, quickly shouted they “should run.” Previously, Misao had never heard the words “tsunami” or “earthquake.”

They left for an evacuation center and spotted Tatsuki coming toward them. Misao waved at her brother and Tatsuki waved back.

These are the only things Misao remembers about the day. She doesn't remember how she got out of her home nor where her automobile mechanic father, Takashi, now 49, was reunited with the family after leaving his workplace at the time of the tremor.

She cannot recall any details of her days staying at a shelter within a school, such as her clothing, meals or bathing. Misao also does not remember if she knew that her life was in danger during the emergency from the approaching tsunami.

In her first year at the Kesennuma city-run Hashikami Junior High School, Misao heard that her school was recruiting students who wanted to tell their stories at the Kesennuma museum as part of education on disaster management.

“Those who can remember all the details could serve as storytellers, but I cannot take part due to my fragmented memories,” Misao recalls thinking.

A year later, Misao learned that her classmates who were offering their accounts to the public likewise lacked some memories. Inspired by their message that “whether one has a vivid memory is irrelevant,” Misao boldly decided to serve as a storyteller.

Misao first began picking up tips from her elder brother. She memorized the script developed by the museum operator for guides to explain how students at Kesennuma Koyo High School fled from the tsunami and how teachers who remained in the school survived.

She was instructed to “provide explanations keeping in mind your own recollections of that day.” But Misao could not recall clear details so she at first read the text in a monotone fashion, rendering her accounts unappealing.

So, Misao decided to carefully listen to Tatsuki speaking to put what he talks about in place in her mind. She listened closely to her parents and relatives chatting about the disaster.

Misao also thumbed through records and newspapers about the catastrophe that were kept in her family's living room. Hearing museum visitors from outside Miyagi Prefecture explaining their experiences on March 11, 2011, allowed Misao to learn little-known facts from across the nation regarding the magnitude-9.0 quake.

She pays considerable attention so as not to mix her memories with those of her older brother, separating someone else's stories from her episodes. Asked about “the details of the shelter,” Misao honestly replies, “I don't remember.”

If Misao finds it impossible to explain certain topics based on her own experiences alone, she borrows words from Tatsuki to tell visitors the stories of “my big brother.”

The more she learned about what was happening in the scenes she cannot recall, the less often she was at a loss over what to say. Misao now can provide very similar accounts to those of Tatsuki.

Misao stated that she no longer believes that people “with no vivid memories should not say” anything.

She has made up her mind to pass down to Akira “on my own” the facts connected to their tsunami-destroyed hometown; all the Kumagais’ lives placed at risk; and the possibility of tsunami to be generated by long-anticipated massive earthquakes along the Nankai Trough as well as the Japan and Kuril trenches.

YOUNGER BROTHER SET TO FOLLOW

In her summer vacation season last year, Misao worked as a guide at the museum on five consecutive days.

On the evening of the fifth day, her younger brother, Akira, a fifth-grader at Kesennuma city-run Hashikami Elementary School, suddenly raised both hands at the desk in his room and shouted he “will serve as a storyteller like my big brother and sister.”

Misao lately interprets news reports about the 2011 disaster for Akira, 11, who casually listens to other family members talking about the fateful day like Misao did when she was younger. 

Akira recalls nothing about the quake and tsunami. For that reason, he initially could not understand what his family meant by describing “our home as being swept away.”

Akira said he increasingly became interested after seeing his brother and sister recount the incident. He now notices signs showing the height the tsunami reached 11 years ago more readily while he is outdoors.

For Akira, Tatsuki and Misao appeared cool while they were working as guides.

As handing down the experiences to much younger children will lead to their sharing the memories in turn with the next generation, Akira is hoping to become a storyteller with his friends after entering junior high. However, he admits that he does not like speaking in public.