Chiharu's Story

I am now 61 years old (2025), born on April 21, 1964. When the earthquake happened, I was 46 years old and had three children. That day, it was my turn to be on duty watching over the children coming from the elementary school to home, so coincidentally, I had taken the day off. The earthquake struck, I believe, around 2:40 PM. I was walking near the graves at the bottom of the slope by Akita High School. If you go straight from there, you reach Asahikawa Elementary School, and I was heading towards that direction.

Suddenly, I felt a huge shake, and all the surrounding graves collapsed with a loud clatter. The concrete block wall beside me crumbled, and the electricity poles swayed violently. Across the street, groups of about three first-grade children were coming home. They were sticking together, exclaiming “Earthquake” to each other. Since they were standing in between the collapsing graves and the crumbling block wall, I guided them to the middle of the road and waited with them for the shaking to stop.

When I asked, “Are you alright to go home?” they said, “It's right there, so we're going home,” and headed off. I then headed straight to the elementary school. When I arrived at the school, the children were gathered on the playground. I wasn't there just to pick my daughter up; I was on duty for the “After-School Safety Patrol” that day. I had to wear a reflective armband and supervise the children going along their designated routes. So, I think I met up with Ayaka and sent her back to my in-laws' house (my husband's parents' house), which was very close to the elementary school.

I recall there were fewer children that day. It was close to graduation time, so the sixth graders were probably mostly absent. There wasn't much snow either. I remember only the children who happened to be staying behind for cleanup and the teachers were in the school building. The children weren't crying that much. They looked anxious, saying things like “I want to go home soon,” but I don't think my daughter (Ayaka) was particularly frightened. She was still young, so it was probably just a feeling of “This is inconvenient,” “It's dark,” “It's cold.”

After the shaking stopped, I walked back and forth along my assigned route multiple times, escorting children from the lower grades to the upper grades. All the traffic lights were out. Especially at the big intersection in front of Akita High School, high school students had gathered, unable to cross the road because of on-going cars. With all the power out, cars were driving normally but the signals were pitch black. It was dangerously impossible to cross, so I held up my armband to stop traffic and directed the high schoolers and elementary students across. I thought, “armbands are amazing.” The armband let me manage the traffic, just like the police.

When I got home, thankfully, the house itself wasn't damaged. But of course, the power was out, and I was worried about the refrigerator. What surprised me most was that the convenience stores were completely dark. At the convenience stores, the registers weren't working, so they used a calculator to figure out the total and we paid in cash. I remember buying batteries, gas canisters for a portable gas stove, and a flashlight. At home, it was cold, so I borrowed a “reflective” kerosene stove from my grandfather that didn't need electricity, and we managed with just that. Since the gas was also out, we used the portable gas stove to boil water. I think the kids ate instant noodles from packets with their grandparents. I don't think we could do laundry either. We wore the same clothes for a couple of days.

Gas stations had long lines everywhere. Every gas station had a limit per person,  so everyone was patiently waiting in line. I had to work the next day. The hospital I worked at was on high ground and had a study structure, but during the blackout, it relied completely on emergency generators. Since we had patients on ventilators, the generators, which used a lot of gas, were running fully. At the hospital, only the “red emergency outlets” worked, so everyone plugged their phones into those outlets. With no meals provided, both patients and staff ate canned goods, retort pouches, and hardtack every day. I remember patients on ventilators from nearby areas evacuating to our hospital. The power didn't come back for about three days. Water was available, but fresh items like milk and yogurt were completely unavailable. Store shelves were bare everywhere we went. Some stores had fruits, but they were incredibly expensive.

My coworkers who wanted to save gas were commuting by bicycle, or some stayed at the hospital, because we could still use a warm shower there. After the power came back and we turned on the TV, we learned the extent of the damage in Miyagi and Fukushima. Until then, we had no idea what the damage of the earthquake was like in other areas. There wasn’t much information. That was also the first time I saw footage of the explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. I thought, “I’m glad Akita doesn't have a nuclear plant.”

There were also a few people displaced by the disaster who moved to Akita. Schools sent notices asking for donations of randoseru (elementary school backpacks). But my daughter was still using hers, so we couldn't donate. What I remember most vividly is the shaking, the sight of graves and concrete block walls collapsing, and electricity poles swaying. And then, at intersections where the lights were out, stopping cars with just an armband to let the children cross…