Six months have passed after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami disaster. I visited Sendai, Ishinomaki and other hard hit places in Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku district. It was a painful visit.
People’s life seemed to have returned normal in the central part of Sendai, Tohoku’s largest city with a population of one million. The damages of the buildings and roads are being repaired. I saw people enjoying shopping in the malls.
The coastal areas were quite different. I walked about 10 kilometers from Sendai railroad station to Arahama area, which was washed out by tsunami.
Destroyed cars and other rubbles remained in the fields. Crane cars and other construction vehicles were working to dispose them.
They grew rice in the fields lasy year. They were covered by Japanese silver grass today. The rice is not expected to grow for several years as the soil is still salty.
Only the cement bases left at the places where houses stood before the disasters.
There stood a destroyed gas station along a main road. The inclined polls showed the strong power of tsunami.
I visited Arahama elementary school which licates about 300 m from the sea. Anout 200 people escaped onto the roof of the school just before the tsunami. They were rescued day after.
Now, the school is closed and motor bicycles and other things left behind were placed in the ground.
Ishinomaki is about 40 kilometers east from Sendai. The city was most seriously hit by the quake and tsunami. More than 5000 people were killed or missing.
Many houses in the coastal area and riverside were washed out. Some boats were still on the ground.
The city hospital in the harbor area was abandoned. The neighboring drugstore was in the water.
No one was there. Only the sound of wind the singings of insects were heard.
The land sank down by maxmum 80 centimeters after the quake. Many parts are under the water. Sandbags were piled up here and there.
Thousands of abandoned automobiles were plied up. A mountain of rubbles was also seen.
Many shops and restaurants were seriously damaged and closed. Traffic policemen controlled the cars in the corners as the signals were still out of order.
People's lives seemed to be hard. I was a bit released when I saw people having walks with their dogs and having chattering on the bank of old Kitakami River.
I also visited Matsushima and Shiogama, both locate east of Sendai.
Matsushima is famous for its beautiful seaside scene. The town itself was not so seriously hit by tsunami as the island in front of the town prevented the waves (The islands were heavily damaged). Many tourists were here.
The sea moss and oyster were seriously damaged in the Matsushima and Shiogama bay.
