ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--A teenager who survived for nine days trapped in rubble from the 2011 tsunami disaster later went into hiding from public view, embarrassed by “miracle rescue” descriptions of his ordeal.

Soon after Jin Abe, then 16, and his grandmother were found alive under a pile of rubble at their destroyed home, the media, eager for an uplifting story amid all the destruction and misery in the Tohoku region, descended on the site of the rescue.

Abe didn’t want the attention. He felt that had he been wiser and followed the tsunami warnings to evacuate, there would have been no need for the miracle rescue.

“I felt distressed because it felt like I was shutting my eyes to my own failure while being lauded as a hero,” Abe said.

After years of struggling over the matter, Abe, now 30, on Sept. 22, discussed the issue in Ishinomaki with the senior police officer who had supervised the rescue and a newspaper reporter who used the word “miracle” in an article he wrote.

RESCUE ‘BRINGS HOPE’

Abe was at his family home with his grandmother when the Great East Japan Earthquake hit on March 11, 2011.

Tsunami warnings were issued, but Abe thought that he and his grandmother didn’t need to evacuate, so they stayed put.

The tsunami swept away the house, and they ended up trapped inside one room because of the rubble. They survived by eating food that remained in the room until they were rescued by police on March 20.

The Kahoku Shimpo, a regional newspaper based in Sendai, described the rescue as a “miracle that brings hope to disaster-hit areas” in its morning edition on March 21.

When Abe saw the throng of news reporters arriving at his home, he feared he would be criticized for choosing not to evacuate when he had the chance.

Abe said that during the period that followed, he kept rejecting interview requests and tended to stay away from Ishinomaki.

DEPRESSING ATMOSPHERE

Naoto Takeuchi, 66, was chief of the Miyagi prefectural police headquarters at the time. His department kept finding bodies day after day following the disaster, and many more residents remained unaccounted for.

“A depressing atmosphere weighed on us because we had no idea how many more bodies we would still have to recover,” Takeuchi said. “The rescue meant so much to us police members because it sent light into the darkness we were in and led us to renew our pledge that we would give it another go.”

Takashi Sato, who currently heads Kahoku Shimpo Publishing Co.’s editorial department, covered the 2011 rescue of Abe and his grandmother.

“That was the first and last time in my career as a news reporter that I used the word ‘miracle’ in an article, but that word came to me quite naturally,” Sato, 55, said.

However, he said he developed concerns after learning that Abe was distressed by news reports about the rescue.

“My thoughts continue vacillating over whether the expression I used was too strong and whether I did the right thing,” Sato said.

LESSONS PASSED DOWN

Abe returned to Ishinomaki seven years ago.

He is currently a staffer with the 3.11 Memorial Network, a public interest incorporated association. His work involves passing down accounts of the tragedy so that people will learn lessons from his own “failure” of not having fled.

He planned the latest talk session as part of that effort.

During the discussion, Takeuchi reiterated the importance of evacuation, citing the high number of bodies he found of people who did not flee in time.

Fourteen Miyagi prefectural police officers, who were in charge of evacuation guidance for residents, died on duty on the day of the disaster.

Bitter grief over their deaths has motivated Takeuchi to continue sharing lessons of his experience even after his retirement.

Sato said The Kahoku Shimpo has reviewed the way it covers disaster management because so many people died despite the newspaper’s previous efforts to raise public awareness about preparing for disasters.

“Labeling an event with the single word ‘miracle’ in news reports could make it difficult to share developments and backgrounds that are more diverse,” Sato said. “I hope we will work to close the gap between ourselves and the people we cover as we continue with our reporting work.”