14 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake

It’s been 14 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. With an increasing number of generations who don’t know about the disaster, how can we connect the memories of that day to the future?

Daigo Machinaka, a BEYOND Tomorrow graduate who now works as a journalist in Iwate Prefecture, writes about the “lessons” he learned from the disaster and his thoughts on the passage of time.

Memories to be passed on to the future: 14 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake

It has been 14 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, which led to the creation of BEYOND Tomorrow. Every year at this time, the topic of “What were you doing at the time of the earthquake?” comes up at the company. When I say, “My elementary school graduation ceremony was just around the corner, and I had classes in the morning, then I was playing at a friend’s house,” my senior colleagues are surprised and say, “That generation is already working.”

I have seen more and more articles about children who have no memory of the time or were not even born then, who are now in junior high and high school and working to pass on the lessons learned. Even if they did not experience it, it is encouraging to see them trying to pass on the great disaster in their hometown to future generations, rather than leaving it as an event in their textbooks. Time seems to pass quickly when I think that the generation that does not know about the earthquake will soon become members of society.

What are the “lessons” of the earthquake? It is difficult to describe in one word, but a typical example is “Tsunami Tendenko.” It is a way of thinking that says to run away first and gather at a shelter, even if separated, and to protect your life first. It’s not wrong, but some who escaped but lost their family and friends in the tsunami may be living with the conflict of “I couldn’t help them.” The earthquake made us realize that “tomorrow is not something we can take for granted.” Not only disasters but also accidents can suddenly change our environment, and we may not be able to see our loved ones. These days, when the possibility of a massive disaster that could happen tomorrow, such as the Nankai Trough earthquake, has been pointed out, I want to live my life with this in mind. I want to live a life that I don’t regret and be a person who can honestly say “Thank you” and “I’m sorry.” I want to live my life now to the fullest. Lessons and preparations are not just about things and facilities.

Thirty years have passed since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which occurred before I was born, but this year, I was impressed by the footage of bereaved families shedding tears and praying. No matter how much progress is made in rebuilding the physical aspects, it is difficult to recover the heart. The people who were once next door and the familiar city will never return. People talk about “X years since the earthquake” as if it were a milestone, but for the victims, there is no milestone, and the depth of their grief varies from person to person. The earthquake has been continuing since that day. We who live in Tohoku must continue to convey this fact and the horror of the disaster.

Daigo Machinaka: Graduated from Iwate Prefectural Kurosawajiri Kita High School and Tohoku Gakuin University Faculty of Law. He lost his mother when he was in the fourth grade of elementary school and his sister when he was in the third grade of junior high school. He participated in BEYOND Tomorrow’s scholarship program in 2017 and 2018. He joined the Iwate Nippo Newspaper in 2021, and after working in the news department and as a reporter at the Ninohe branch office, he has been in the editorial department (now the News Center) since 2023. He is in charge of page layout, etc. He is 26 years old and hails from Hanamaki City.