Living in a Place Rebuilt from Memory

Ai Yoshida, now a yoga instructor and mother of two, returned to Rikuzentakata shortly after the disaster. “When I came back, there was nowhere to live,” she recalled. “I heard they were rebuilding apartments, so I returned, hoping to get a place. After about a month, I was able to move in. When I came back, there was nothing there. Compared to that time, life now feels so much more convenient.”

At the time, she wasn’t a mother yet. Her children, Harushige and Kie, were born after the disaster, but they’ve grown up surrounded by its memory. Harushige, a fifth grader, explained how they learn about the tsunami at school: “We visit the Tsunami Memorial Park, where we can see exhibits about how the tsunami happened, how high the waves were, and how people survived.”

He also helps with a local project called Sakura Line 311. “It’s a project that plants cherry blossom trees along the exact line where the tsunami reached. This continuous line across the city reminds people where the danger zone is. If another tsunami occurs, people will know to evacuate beyond the cherry blossom trees.”

His younger sister Kie, now in third grade, added, “We write how to prepare for disasters on small cards. Each card teaches us what to do before a disaster happens and how to respond in an emergency.” The cards become part of a game that helps the students remember what they’ve learned. “If something happens, we’ll know exactly what to do,” she said.

Though the children never experienced the disaster themselves, they’re growing up in a city shaped by it and a community that continues to pass down its lessons carefully.