BEYOND Tomorrow Tohoku Future Leaders Summit 2012

My name is Sayaka Sugawara, and I am from Ishinomaki city in Miyagi prefecture. Starting this past spring I have been studying abroad at Leysin American School in Vaud, Switzerland, as a participant of the BEYOND Tomorrow High School Overseas Study Program. I spoke about my experiences in the earthquake disaster during the Tohoku Future Leaders Summit last year, six months after the tragedy occurred. After hearing my story, many people came forward to support me. It is thanks to them that I am now able to study abroad in Switzerland. On March 11, 2011, the tsunami swallowed me and my mother right from our house. After being swept away for a while with the rubble, I heard my mother calling my name from underneath the debris. When I cleared away the rubble, I found my mother, pierced by nails and tree limbs, and a broken leg. Her right leg was stuck, and even though I tried my best to clear the debris, it was too heavy and too big. I wanted to save my mother, but I knew that staying there I would be swept away again by the tsunami. Do I stay and save my mother? Or do I run to safety? – I chose my own life. It was a decision that makes me cry to this day. When I left my mother I told her many times – Thank you, and I love you. It was the most difficult moment of my life to turn away from my mother who implored to me, “Don’t leave me.” There was so much more I wanted to tell her. But I had to leave; I swam to the lower school and spent the night there. There were many, many more difficult experiences after that moment. There were days that were so difficult that I thought of killing myself. There were days that I wondered why life is so cruel, and I cannot even begin to count the number of times I cried thinking about my family. Through this earthquake disaster, I lost so much of my life. But there are things that I have gained because of this experience. Since encountering BEYOND Tomorrow I have gained friends and opportunities. With these new friends I am able to speak openly about anything: things I haven’t been able to talk about in school, experiences from the tsunami, my anxieties, and just trivial matters as well. These friends through BEYOND Tomorrow are like family to me — they are my siblings. I love them dearly, and even when I am studying abroad, we are constantly in touch, and I miss them very much. BEYOND Tomorrow has also given me extraordinary opportunities. I could have never imagined I would have all the experiences I have had since last September. Thanks to BEYOND Tomorrow, I attended the Summer Davos Junior Leaders Program, the US Program, and now my study abroad program — these have been eye-opening experiences for me that have also supported me through the difficult times. These opportunities have allowed me to grow stronger and have given me motivation to pursue my dreams. Last year, I made a speech stating that I hope to forge forward, looking forward to the day that I can truly believe that I am who I am thanks to all the pain I have experienced. Looking back on this past year, I do think that I am firmly making steps forward. Now, as a participant of the second Tohoku Future Leaders Summit, I made new friends, reunited with old friends, and renewed my conviction to continue working towards my dreams.

I live in a coastal town called Miyako in Iwate prefecture. This is where I grew up: in a town that is so close to the ocean that I could see the water from my school and my home. On March 11th when the earthquake occurred, I was at my school practicing softball, leading my team as captain for an upcoming competition. Right after the earthquake my mother came to take me home, but on the way we were swept into the tsunami. We were engulfed in black water — I miraculously survived, but my mother passed away. I was not able to accept reality for some time, as I continued to live with regret that I could not rescue my mother. But now, with the help of family and friends who have survived, I am back on my feet and moving forward. I imagine that there must be many people who still live with great grief. But I believe that we must keep going forward because we are alive. The elderly person living alone in temporary housing must try to step outside; the student must create dreams to pursue — as survivors, each of us has a destiny. By moving forward to fulfill this destiny, we are giving back to all those who have died, and furthermore, it gives us the will to live. My destiny is to communicate to the world my experiences and disaster prevention measures in Japan. As such, my dream is to some day work with an NGO or NPO in other disaster-stricken countries such as Indonesia or Haiti. There, I want to share the knowledge and advances in disaster prevention that Japan has gained since the Great East Japan Earthquake. I learned that in Indonesia and Haiti reconstruction and recovery efforts are still flagging because they do not have the financial means to move faster. I hope to contribute to such developing countries by working to build their financial strength so that they can work towards building a robust disaster prevention program, all the while deepening the countries’ relations with Japan. Right now, the most I can do to give back to my mother is to live my life to the fullest and follow my dreams in full throttle.

On March 11, 2011, the Greate East Japan Earthquake descended upon the northeastern coast of Japan. My hometown of Minamisanriku in Miyagi prefecture was also devastated. Fortunately that day I was at school, and thanks to that I was not hurt. Furthermore, I was not too concerned about my family because I had grown up hearing that tsunamis could not reach my house. A week later, however, I heard two things from my mother who came to pick me up. The first was that my house was swept away. The second was that my father had not yet returned home. We were convinced that my father had taken refuge in a shelter and searched different evacuation sites. But he was nowhere to be found. Finally we went to the morgue to look for him, though we kept praying that his name would not be listed there. We did not find his name anywhere, and I remember feeling quite relieved. But days went by without any sign of my father. Then on April 11th, exactly a month after the earthquake, my mother found him at the morgue. I was stunned in disbelief. The following day I had to go to the morgue to see for myself: my father was indeed there, in a completely disfigured state. When I saw him like that, anger and despair came over me. After that I was not able to do anything; I was so stricken by despair. But while people were paralyzed in grief, the Self-Defence Forces were going through the wreckage on land, and the Coast Guard was relentlessly searching the sea. When I realized what they were doing, I knew I wanted to be like them — I wanted to join the Coast Guard. School started again, and I became student body president. People from Japan and abroad offered so much support to our school; I realized that we are not alone. I am able to move forward now thanks to the generosity of all those people. There were many people who died or went missing in the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The today that we are living now is also the today that all those who died would have wanted to live as well. We as survivors have a mission to live today and every day that follows to its fullest, not just for ourselves but also for the dead. I am here living today to my fullest in order to fulfill that mission.

My name is Ayaka Ogawa. I am from Kamaishi City in Iwate prefecture. In the earthquake disaster, I lost my entire family. Not only did I lose my parents, sister, and grandparents, I also lost the house that I lived in for 17 years. I lost so much that I could not lose anything more. On March 11th, immediately after the earthquake, I evacuated uphill with my mother and grandmother. However, the tsunami was right behind us like a huge black wall, and my mother shouted, “Tsunami!” That was the last time I heard her speak. I ran up hills and a mountain and stayed alive. However, my mother and grandmother were nowhere to be found. The next morning, I walked on the debris calling my mother and grandmother’s names. When I saw an elderly woman speared in a tree, I couldn’t stop shaking. That horrifying scene still haunts me to this day. After a few days, I learned that my sister had been killed and that my father was missing. When I was brought to my sister at the morgue, I put my hands on her cheeks and said over and over – Thank you. My tears soaked her cold face. I kept thinking that she may just wake up. I did not want to let her go, but in the end my sister was cremated and turned into ash. I then spent many days looking for the rest of my family by turning through the pages of a binder with dead people’s photos. Each page devastated me. The dead body of a small girl. A mangled corpse with arms and legs bent in every which way. I looked at many, many corpses. What if the next page was a picture of my father? Or my mother? On one hand, I hoped to find my family as soon as possible. On the other hand, however, I was not ready to accept the reality of the situation. I was terrified of turning the pages. Later on, my father and grandmother were located, but my mother and grandfather are still missing. So many things were destroyed, vanished in just one brief moment – why was my life, of all things, spared? I felt like my heart and soul were gone. After the disaster I wandered about aimlessly, having empty thoughts about working somewhere doing something after graduating high school. But since that time, I met many people who helped broaden my perspectives, and I learned the beauty of people being connected with each other. From these encounters my dream of studying abroad in the United States sprouted and was realized in extraordinary speed, and now I stand here about to embark on a journey to a high school in Michigan to study abroad starting June. It is truly thanks to Ambassador Roos, BEYOND Tomorrow, and all of my other supporters that I have been blessed with so many opportunities. Opportunity does not come to everyone. It could have been me who died on that fateful day in March. But I am here today, living. I have been allowed to live. Although I have lost so much, I am no longer afraid to gain anything. There are things that I am able to do now precisely because I have experienced so much. Knowing the pain that I have gone through, I feel like I can now face anything. In a situation when so many who wanted to live were not able to, I survived. I am living.   People must live by helping each other, supporting each other, and thinking of each other. I have come to strongly believe this. Just as many people have given me opportunities to thrive, I want to be someone who gives others such opportunities. The past is the past. There is no way to turn back time. But I am able to change my future. That may sound like an obvious statement, but to me it carries a lot of weight. Time is fair to everyone. So I must take full advantage of it. My dream is to become a fashion designer who can give back to society. And as simple as it may sound, the best way for me to give back to my parents is to “be happy.” I imagine that many people look at me and pity me. That is unfortunate and frustrating. And I am sure that this frustration has been a source of motivation for me as well. Of course I wish that the disaster had not happened at all, but I am who I am now because of the pain that I experienced. Since the disaster I have met so many people, and my life has changed so drastically that a part of me believes that my pre-disaster life existed so that I can live my post-disaster life. If March 11th had not come, I wonder if I would be living today with the same kind of dreams that I hold now. My sister was someone who would not hesitate to take actions for people in underprivileged situations. My father taught me to communicate with others with kindness. My mother gave me the strength to live with. Not a single day passes since March 11th that I do not think of my family. With all these precious things my family left me with, I want to cherish every opportunity, believe in myself, and most importantly, follow my own inspirations, in my own way.