Photo/Illutration Tour participants enjoy views of the cherry tree standing near a fault in Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture. (Jun Kaneko)

MASHIKI, Kumamoto Prefecture--Seven years later, part of the massive damage caused to this town by twin deadly earthquakes has not been repaired and will not be, for the foreseeable future.

Local residents are preserving various remnants to pass down lessons so others can learn from the horrific ordeal.

April 14 marked the seventh anniversary of two quakes that both registered a maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale and struck only days apart.

A ceremony was held at the Kumamoto prefectural building on the anniversary to remember the 276 people who perished in the prefecture as well as neighboring Oita Prefecture.

While at one time 47,800 individuals lived in temporary housing as evacuees, the last household left such a shelter by the end of March.

In the Hirata district of Mashiki, residents have set up a walking course where visitors can still see the devastation that was caused.

A symbol of reconstruction in the community is a cherry tree that was split apart by the quake.

“This cherry tree stood directly above the fault and this part of the trunk split in two,” a local male resident explained to 20 visitors from Kumamoto city.

The man pointed to a spot close to the base of the tree from where a large crack ran up the trunk. Supports were placed to hold up the branches and over seven years the crack naturally sealed.

Since late March, residents have conducted tours of the neighborhood to explain the damage and reconstruction from the quake.

Visitors seemed especially interested in the cherry tree as some looked closely at where the crack had been while others touched the tree.

Other stops on the tour are a firefighting hut that has a large crack in the floor as well as a fence bent out of shape by the shaking seven years ago.

The tour was organized by Masayuki Hamada, 78, whose own home was heavily damaged by the quake, forcing him to live temporarily in his car or evacuation shelter.

“I feel like my efforts as a volunteer have been repaid by the many people who have visited our community,” Hamada said.

Five residents of the Hirata district died in the quake and 92 homes, or about 40 percent of the total, were totally destroyed.

As part of the rebuilding process, local residents such as Hamada discussed how to preserve what the quake caused.

The fault and damage in the Hirata district showed what occurred near the focus of the quake and seismologists from around Japan visited the area on a number of occasions.

Having been told by such scientists what a valuable store of evidence remained in the district, local residents decided to preserve the relics, including the cherry tree, and to pass along to visitors what occurred there seven years ago.

“Since we had remains here in Hirata that we could pass on to future generations about the Kumamoto earthquake, we felt that we had to preserve them,” Hamada said.

In September 2019, with the cooperation of researchers from Kumamoto University and Hiroshima University, local residents dug a pit into a fault zone, removed a pit wall and preserved it as a specimen. Other documents were also collected to preserve the story about the quake.

Volunteers not only have prepared a tour course but have cleaned the area as well as served as guides.

Last year, 422 visitors came to Mashiki, with many being college professors and students.

With the passage of time, passing along the lessons of the quake and the experiences to younger generations has also become more important.

In November, elementary school students in Mashiki visited the site and later collected their thoughts into a leaflet that was sent to the volunteer group.

One student wrote, “I saw a fault for the first time. I learned what large effects occur when a quake hits.”

Another expressed surprise at seeing fallen cement block walls and cracks in the firefighting hut floor.

Hamada called that leaflet “our treasure.”

(This article was compiled from reports by Kei Yoshida and Satoko Onuki.)

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