Although I have never experienced being affected by a disaster... A teacher working on "passing down the knowledge of the earthquake" March 6th 17:18

Can someone like me, who has never experienced a disaster, be able to teach about it?

There is a teacher in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture who is facing such fundamental questions and working on ``passing down the memories of the earthquake.''

Thirteen years after the earthquake and nuclear accident, we have discovered a style of tradition that shifts from ``teaching and being taught'' to ``thinking together.''

(Fukushima Broadcasting Station reporter Sho Sato)

“My first” disaster prevention class

Odaka Prefectural Industrial Technology High School is located in the southern part of Minamisoma City.

Most of the school's approximately 360 students are from the Sosou area, an area affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident.

In early February, Geography and History teacher Akina Komine (31) held her first disaster prevention class in a class of second-year students.

Even when it comes to her classes, Ms. Komine rarely takes the podium, and she does not ``teach.''

It is the students who develop her lessons.

On this day, there were documents on the desk that told the story of the earthquake.

This is a replica of the pillar that cows left behind in the city's cattle sheds gnawed on as they suffered from starvation after the nuclear power plant accident.

Children who continue to live in evacuation centers have made paper with their own dreams written on it.

The students talked about what they felt and what they were concerned about while actually touching the material.

Student

: ``The cow has no food other than this (pillar), so it's eating this. You feel sorry for it and want to let it escape. But you didn't let it escape. Why?''

Student

: ``It'll turn into a wild animal.''

Students look back on the time of the earthquake together.

Why did you choose this class format this time?

Mr. Komine　

: ``As students were born and raised in the disaster area, I want them to be the bearers of the tradition.I want them to pass it on to the next generation and people in other areas.Rather than just telling what they heard from someone else, I want them to tell the story in their own way.'' I planned this project to have people put their feelings into words."

Born in Fukushima No direct experience of disaster

Mr. Komine is from Hanawa-cho in south-central Fukushima Prefecture.

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred right after I graduated from high school.

Mr. Komine's family home, who runs a store, sustained damage from the earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5 on the Japanese scale, with items scattered around, but the family was unharmed.

The following month, Komine left Fukushima to attend university.

I started teaching after graduating from university without having any direct experience with earthquakes and nuclear accidents.

I was assigned to Odaka Industrial Technology High School in 2019.

At first, he said he had great anxiety.

Mr. Komine

: ``Compared to the students, I felt that my experience with the earthquake was much smaller.I am not from this area, nor did I see the damage caused by the tsunami firsthand. I wondered if there was anything I could say.On the contrary, I was hesitant because I thought it would be difficult if my words brought back flashbacks of the students' painful experiences.''

Every day to avoid “earthquakes” and “nuclear accidents”

Many students lost their immediate family members in the tsunami or were forced to live in evacuation centers for long periods of time due to the nuclear power plant accident.

It is said that he has avoided mentioning words like ``earthquake'' and ``nuclear accident'' out of concern for them.

There are other teachers who have tried to avoid discussing the earthquake disaster as much as possible.

Ryu Katayama, a student in the engineering department, experienced the earthquake at Odaka Technical High School, the predecessor of the current high school.

After moving twice, he returned to teaching four years ago.

Katayama

: ``The students were kindergarteners at the time of the earthquake.I don't know how much the memories of the earthquake are still engraved in their hearts.I think some of them have some kind of deep scars. "I'm here"

On the other hand, the teachers had some concerns.

This is the "fading of memories of the earthquake" among the students.

Teacher Takashi Sato

: ``Immediately after the earthquake, I felt that the students had a high awareness of disaster prevention, and they also had a strong sense of gratitude to those who supported the recovery.13 years later, I feel that the students' awareness and thoughts are high today. It is undeniable that this is fading.”

A word from a student becomes a turning point

As someone who teaches history, I cannot allow it to become ``weathered.''

However, he has nothing to say...

Komine, who was struggling, was encouraged by something a student said during a geography class.

Komine: `

`In geography class, when we showed an aerial photo of the area that had been damaged by the tsunami, one student casually said, ``We were here.'' I realized that I had become too sensitive.It was at that moment that I realized that there was something I could talk about and convey by looking at the disaster from a perspective that was unique to me, who had not experienced the harshness of the disaster.''

Mr. Komine realized that he didn't have to be afraid to talk about the earthquake.

In February, just shy of 13 years since the earthquake, I conducted the class I introduced at the beginning with my fellow teachers.

“Thinking about the earthquake legacy”

In the class titled ``Thinking about Earthquake Heritage'', with the cooperation of the Fukushima Prefectural Museum, we had students bring the earthquake heritage from their collection into the classroom.

This is a light that fell down due to the shaking of the earthquake.

It was in the gymnasium of the local Tomioka High School.

There is also a bulletin board where people who evacuated to Namie Junior High School after the nuclear power plant accident wrote their roles.

In front of the artifacts that tell the story of the threat of a strong earthquake and the hardships brought on by the nuclear accident, students voiced a variety of opinions.

Student

: ``You'd panic if a big light like that fell from above.''

Student

: ``What we can do at the evacuation center is take care of the elderly and actively bring relief supplies.''

Mr. Komine encouraged the students to think about how to convey the story of the earthquake in their own words.

The students created words based on their vague memories of the earthquake and their experiences of being born and raised in the disaster area.

Student

: “Right after a disaster, not only cows but also humans may not have easy access to food, so please think about things like ``How will you secure food and water?'' "Tara"

student

: "It's not like tomorrow will be the same as normal everyday life. I want to convey that the things you were able to do every day will no longer be able to be done normally."

Mr. Komine seemed to be impressed by the students' reactions.

Mr. Komine

: ``I feel like I was finally able to face the earthquake and nuclear accident head on. Being able to think about these things with my students was a big event for me as well.I'm from the disaster area. I think there are things that I can convey and realize because I am not a foreigner, so I would be happy if I could pass it on from my own perspective and method.”

Expanding efforts

Mr. Komine believes that by holding classes like this one, he can guide children who were born after the disaster so that they can talk about the disaster in their own words.

He also said that he would like to expand the initiative by creating opportunities for current students to become leaders in teaching disaster prevention classes to their juniors and people from other communities.

(Broadcast on “Hamanaka Aizu TODAY” on March 4th)

Fukushima Broadcasting Station Reporter

Sho Sato

Joined the station in 2015.

Born in Fukushima City.

After experiencing the earthquake, he became certified as a disaster prevention officer.