16:41 on January 10 to avoid making school the last place

"Everyone can imagine. There's no way to cleanse a muddy child's body, but the tongue licks the tongue to make it clean, and the elaborate reality that can do that."

His father, who has lost his sixth grader son, has finished his trial and is still talking.

Why could not save the sons? What was the last figure? The trial, which sought to find out the truth, ended with the bequest of the bereaved.

However…
"I'm finally starting."
What the father wants before the trial. (Sendai Broadcasting Station Ishinomaki Branch Reporter Keisuke Sato)

I didn't want to go to court

Hiroyuki Konno from Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture.

On March 11, 2011, Konno passed away his eldest son, Daisuke, at the Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, which was hit by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Daisuke and his children wait in the schoolyard until about 50 minutes after the earthquake.
The school then evacuated under the direction of a nearby “triangle” under the direction of the school, but soon after the tsunami was apparently involved in the tsunami, killing 74 children and 10 teachers. Was.

At the briefing for the bereaved family, which began one month after the earthquake, explanations from the school, such as the time when they started moving from the school grounds, were upset.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will take the initiative in setting up a third party committee to examine the evacuation situation at the time, but it is not clear why the evacuation of children was delayed.

Konno and some of the bereaved families decided to bring a trial because they wanted to know the truth.

Mr. Konno: "If Ishinomaki City provided all the information to the bereaved from the beginning and showed a stance of snuggling, I think that it was not a trial. I was in a school that should be safe and secure. The only way to find out was to turn to the judiciary. "

"Isn't it for money?"

In March 2014, three years after the disaster, 23 of the 74 children who were victims filed a lawsuit against Ishinomaki City and Miyagi Prefecture seeking damages totaling 2.3 billion yen. You.

Mr. Konno has been heard from other bereaved families and will be the chief plaintiff in the trial.

Respond to surviving families and press conferences. The leader has a wide range of roles and responsibilities. Still, he decided to stand on the brunt of what he could do for his son.

However, words that I don't care for Konno suffer.

"Aren't you looking for gold?"

There was a series of slanderous slanders to the bereaved family on the Internet for initiating a trial. Mr. Konno looks back on those days.

Mr. Konno: "This is an anonymous stepping on the feelings of the bereaved family, despite the names and faces appearing at press conferences. I told everyone I wanted to quit. ''

Three children supported me

The trial lasted five years and seven months.
I was able to continue fighting as the plaintiff's chief because of my feelings for the three dead children.

Konno is not only the eldest son, Daisuke, but also her third daughter, Mari, who was a senior in high school, and Rika, her second daughter, who was a senior in high school.

When he wanted to escape from the trial, Konno visited Okawa Elementary School and the tomb where three children sleep.

Konno: "I'm always apologizing. I'm sorry I couldn't protect my father. He was there. "

Survivor's voice reached justice

Last October.
The Supreme Court has maintained the ruling of the Sendai High Court, which found that the schools and the government had made negligence in disaster prevention measures before the earthquake, and ordered Ishinomaki City and Miyagi Prefecture to pay compensation of about 1.43 billion yen. Did.

At the main point, regarding the school's crisis management manual, "Based on tsunami damage assumptions and the actual conditions in the area, evacuation sites and evacuation routes should be specified, and when there was inadequacy, the city should have provided guidance." Pointed out.

Also, `` As long as children are kept in compulsory education, the principals need a much higher level of knowledge and experience in disaster prevention than the local residents, '' he said, rethinking disaster prevention measures at educational sites nationwide. Is.

After the trial was over, I accompanied Mr. Konno, who came to report to the sleeping grave where Daisuke and his colleagues were sleeping.

There was Mr. Konno's polished gravestone as before.

Konno: "The children don't come home after the trial is over, and in that sense nothing changes."

Right now, Mr. Konno's home has a suit, leather shoes, and a jumper for Daisuke.

Daisuke, whose birthday is November 12, is 21 years old if she is alive. The adult presented a suit to celebrate the adult and last year leather shoes. And it was a jumper that I gave with my shoes. At that time, the jumper that Daisuke was wearing and came back as a relic was heavy and heavy due to the tsunami.

"If you weren't thick, you would have saved by swimming."

That's why Konno chose a thin jumper. After the trial and after a long time, my child's feelings remain the same.

School is not the last place

Late November last year, just over a month after the ruling was finalized. There were three bereaved families, including Mr. Konno, in Hamada City, Shimane Prefecture.

We want you to think about action to protect life and disaster prevention measures by letting you know what happened at Okawa Elementary School.

For this reason, Mr. Konno decided not to dissolve the plaintiffs in the trial for the time being and to continue activities such as lectures.

Mr. Konno: "The judgment of the court does not protect the child's life. It is the educational administration and schools on the ground that manage the judgment. To prevent repetitive tragedies, this is where the trial ends. "

About 50 people including parents and teachers with children gathered for the lecture.

For about two hours, Mr. Konno talked about the school's response at the time and his thoughts that could not be healed.

Konno: "Everyone can imagine. A child standing with a school bag, hanging on a tree, and not moving. She swells in the water for a long time, and I don't know at a glance whether she is her own child. It's not a movie or a drama, it's not a movie or a drama, it's what happened and what our survivors experienced. Don't repeat the same tragedy again. "

For schools not to be the last place in children's lives. Konno and his family will continue to talk.

Mr. Konno: "How to move next and how to connect based on the results of the trial. If you feel the weight of life, I think that it will naturally lead to actions and preparations for protecting life."

As father for son

Why were the children left on the schoolyard for about 50 minutes and evacuation was delayed? The court did not reveal what you really wanted to know.

Following the ruling, in May of last year, Mayor Hiroshi Kameyama of Ishinomaki City met his bereaved family and officially apologized. On that occasion, the bereaved family asked to re-examine the response at the time of the disaster.

Immediately after the trial, Mr. Konno wants the only surviving faculty to talk about what happened on that day at the time.

Mr. Konno is ready to live as a father to reward the lost life of his child.

The Okawa Elementary School building is scheduled to be upgraded as an "earthquake remains" that conveys memories and lessons learned from the disaster.

In order to make the best use of children's lives in the future, how do you pass on the lessons learned and make schools safe and secure? I myself would like to imagine the scene that Mr. Konno saw that day, and continue reporting while snuggling up.

Sendai Broadcasting Station Ishinomaki Branch Reporter Keisuke Sato Joined the Prefectural Police and Playing Army in 2016, and moved to the Ishinomaki Branch in July of Reiwa.
Covered a wide range of areas, including the earthquake and economics. Fluent in English.