Destroyed by the "tsunami" of 2011

Japanese fail to rebuild their village due to the inaction of the majority

• All of the village’s houses were destroyed during the "tsunami," except for two.

  From the source

• Monk Kobayashi visits the tombs associated with the temple.

  From the source

• Sato calls on the remaining residents to work to rebuild the village.

  From the source

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The earthquake, which accompanied the "tsunami" on March 11, 2011, destroyed the ancient Japanese village of Kisen.

A small group of survivors tried to rebuild that community, but a grim reality emerged that impeded the work, so what is that fact?

For centuries, this village has witnessed various currents of wars and plague, but has been working tirelessly in rice cultivation, tree planting, and other activities.

Then a "tsunami" wave struck, killing more than 200 residents of the village. All the 550 houses were destroyed except for two, and time in the village stopped and became history.

As the waters receded, nearly all of those who survived were displaced, leaving behind their destroyed possessions, the graves of their ancestors, and the land they cultivated for generations.

Hold on to the ground

However, 15 residents refused to abandon Kesen, and vowed to rebuild it.

"Our ancestors lived in this village for 1,000 years," says Nawushi Sato, 87, a farmer whose son was killed in the tsunami. What my ancestors started, I don't want to lose my hometown. ”

Many of those who remained, including Sato, lived for months without electricity or running water.

For a year, Sato set up a tent on the rubble of his home.

And he dreamed of Kesen's return.

Every day in the first year after the tsunami, he wandered through the woods, cutting down trees himself to rebuild his two-bedroom home.

When two other families followed his plan and rebuilt their homes, Sato's wife and daughter-in-law realized the futility of his plan, and left him and left.

All of those who chose to stay in Kisen were old in 2011. Now they are in their seventies, eighties and nineties, and over the past decade, a grim truth has settled here: life in the village can never be turned back .. Kisen will never be restored ... it will be free forever.

Sato, now, abandoned his mission, thinking it was in vain.

Three houses were built in the village, and he kept his former neighbor's farm from deteriorating, but he admits that without new residents, the village will die. "I am very sad, I regret that the people will not return," he said.

In nine years, the authorities spent $ 840 million to complete a project in which the high ground above the village was converted into land for residential construction.

But he says that by then it was too late.

Everyone who left nearly a decade ago made a new home elsewhere.

And unlike other neighboring towns within Rikuzentakata, which have also received government funding, the new highland area above the destroyed village lacks amenities, including shops and supermarkets.

"Given the coronavirus epidemic right now, I'm lucky to live here," Sato says.

"The air is clean and there are not many people," he added.

On higher ground, a cluster of newly constructed houses sprang up around Konjuji Temple.

For centuries, the temple has served as a community calendar, with 33 events a year.

However, the rituals have virtually stopped, but last week the head of the Konjuji monks, Nobu Kobayashi, welcomed the dispersed community members to Kesen to pray.

"Of course, I would like to rebuild the kind of temples we had before the tsunami, but people don't want to go back to the place where they lost their friends and family, people are afraid of another tsunami," Kobayashi says.

Sato will turn 88 next week.

He wakes up every morning at six, and puts a cup of green tea on the altar of his home for the souls of his son and grandparents.

Then, like his predecessors, he takes care of the rice field and grows vegetables.

"I would like to see what this place will look like in 30 years from now," he says, adding, "But by that time, I will see it from the sky, and I don't think that will be possible."

Over nine years, the authorities spent $ 840 million to complete a project in which the high ground above the village was converted into land for residential construction.

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