Don’t waste ourlives

So as not to repeat tragedy again

Hiyori Kindergarten volunteers of the bereaved
Think of children’s safety

Five kindergarteners, aged 4 to 6, lost their lives. Their lives were too
short. They were caught in a tsunami and fire after they were driven on akindergarten bus despite the massive tsunami alert on March 11, 2011.
Nobody expected that they would actually be riding on a bus at thattime.
We describe here what happened to our children when they were under
the care of their school, a school that should have been a safe place forthem, and from which they should have been rescued. We desire that oursociety become one in which the safety of children is paramount.

When the earthquake occurred, they were in a kindergarten which stoodon the middle of a hill. It seemed that the place was the safest in thearea. The kindergarten thought they should send children home to theirparents as quickly as possible. However sending children to theirparents did not mean putting them in dangerous situation. They should
not have gone from a higher to a lower place.
We, the bereaved, wish that the kindergarten had followed their ordinary
procedures. We wish that the teachers had calmed and guarded thechildren, and evacuated them in time to avoid the disaster.
We, the bereaved, think that the reason for the accident was poor
planning on the part of the kindergarten.
As parents, we have no choice but to entrust kindergarten teachers withour children’s lives. The children had to follow their teachers. Their lives
should not have been lost because of the poor judgment of an adult.

We, the bereaved, do not make unreasonable demands. We do not
expect teachers to help children in the midst of a tsunami or fire, but toact before it. Please, please – We ask those who work in education to put
children’s lives first in your planning.
We found our children’s bodies injured in ways beyond our imagination.
Fire attacked our children after the tsunami at the disaster site. They
were found completely burned to black, and their lower bodies haddisappeared. Their arms below their elbows had also disappeared. Theirbodies had transformed completely. We could not hug them. We, theirparents, did not know the actual reasons for their death. We learned fromneighbors that they had heard children’s voices until midnight of thatday. Even now we hope that our children did not experience great painfrom the fire.
Many children became victims of this earthquake and tsunami. We would
like to ask teachers to think again how to guard children from harm
during such disasters.

East Japan Great Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011
2:46 PM The earthquake was magnitude 9, the largest in recorded Japanese history.
Intensity of the earthquake: 7 in Kurihara city, Miyagi Prefecture; less than 6 in Ishinomaki,Mitagi. It lasted 90 seconds.
2:49 PM Massive tsunami alert was issued
Tsunami; max. 40m(131.2 feet) high in Ofunato city, Iwate prefecture,max. 8.6m(28.2 feet) high in Ishinomaki, Miyagi
Water went onto land to 6 km (3.7 miles) from the sea
Casualties; as of December, 2016
Japan total
Dead; 15,894 Missing; 2,561
Miyagi Prefecture Dead; 9,541 Missing; 1,124
Ishinomaki City Dead; 3.055 Missing; 425
Hiyori Kindergarten in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, is located on the side of Hiyori Hill,56m (183.7 feet) above sea level.

HaruneAiriAsuka

The children had many hopes and dreams, such as riding a bicycle
without training wheels, shouldering a school knapsack, becoming akindergarten teacher, or being like their mom. They were supposed toexperience many things and to experience wonderful lives with theirfriends. We, their parents, have to live while hiding dreams and hopes forour children which can never be realized. We would like to ask everyone
to reexamine how disaster defense should be handled. Our beloved
children ask for this in exchange for their lives. We strongly desire that
our society become one which guards the lives of children before otherconsiderations, and that all children can go to kindergarten and schoolsafely and without fear. Such a tragedy should never happen again. Wevery much hope that others will not need to experience the deep sadness
that has affected our lives.

We would like to ask for donations to our group: Hiyori
Kindergarten Volunteers of the Bereaved.
We will use the donations for travel expenses and printing for telling
our story and presenting lectures to promote the safety of children.
Bank: Sendai Bank
Account name: Hiyori youchien izoku Yuushinokai
Branch: Nakazato Branch
Account Number: Checking 0023504