When it comes to understanding the tragedy, but also the hope that followed “the Great East Japan Earthquake”, there is no more important site than Ukedo Elementary School.
Located in Namie, Fukushima, and in the direct firing line of the tsunami, amazingly the teachers and staff managed to lead all 83 pupils to safety on that fateful day. Today it has been kept as it was on the day in its entirety and is preserved as a tine capsule of that day in 2011.
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The Ukedo Elementary School
Ukedo Elementary School (浪江町立請戸小学校, Namie-chōritsu Ukedo Shōgakkō) dates back to 1873, when the school was established to serve the local community. Over the years, it developed into a modern primary school serving children from the surrounding coastal area of Namie.
The building that stands today was completed in 1998 and was designed with classrooms, corridors, a gymnasium and other facilities for the pupils. Before the disaster, it was a normal local school, with children attending lessons, playing in the grounds and taking part in everyday school life. It is located around 300 metres from the sea and approximately five kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The Tsunami
At 2:46 pm on 11 March 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake shook the school in the coastal town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, around 300 metres from the sea.
There were 83 pupils in the school building that day, from second to sixth grade. Eleven first-grade pupils had already left. Teachers initially moved the children to the school grounds, but as tsunami warnings came through, this is where the crazy part starts.
Rather than wait, as many older locals were doing, the teachers and the pupils had been educated enough to know that they had to move and move quickly. So move they did, to Mount Ohira (大平山, Ōhirayama). At this point, the teachers were kind of making things up on the fly, but didn’t really know the area. The kids did, though, as they played there.
So, in the end, it was the kids leading the teachers, with younger ones helping older ones and a disabled kid being carried on the back of one of the teachers. In the end, all 83 pupils and 13 staff survived. This was as opposed to the 127 people who died in the tsunami, as well as the 27 who were reported missing. Many of these people did not heed the warnings or move inland.
What is it like visiting Ukedo Elementary School?
Visiting Ukedo Elementary School when you visit Fukushima is an absolute must if you want to truly understand this tragedy. You will, though, either need a tour or a private vehicle to do so. It is located near Futaba and most of the other major sites related to the tragedy.
This includes the museum, as well as the Futaba Business Incubation and Community Center and other major preserved buildings from the tsunami. It is also not too far from the power plant itself, but you will need special permission to visit there, which obviously we can arrange.
And what is there to see? There’s an explanation and video at the start, and a gallery-type thing at the end, but the reason you come here is to see the destruction that would have undoubtedly killed these children. It also exists somewhat as a time capsule for 3:37 pm (15:37) on Friday, 11 March 2011, a mere 50 minutes after the earthquake hit, and a true testament to what those teachers and students achieved that day.
Visitor Information
Address:
Ukedo Mochidaira 56
Namie-machi, Futaba-gun
Fukushima Prefecture 979-1522
Japan
Japanese address:
〒979-1522
福島県双葉郡浪江町請戸持平56
Telephone: 0240-23-7041
Opening hours: 9:30 am–4:30 pm.
Last admission: 4:00 pm.
Closed: Tuesdays, with the closing day adjusted when a public holiday falls on a Tuesday. Also closed from 28 December to 4 January.
Admission:
Adults: ¥300 (approximately US$2).
High school students: ¥200 (approximately US$1.30).
Elementary and junior high school students: ¥100 (approximately US$0.65).
Preschool children: Free.
Allow about an hour to visit. The school is close enough to the other main attractions, such as Futaba and the power plant itself.
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