The Heroes of Mizuhama
How a Japanese Village Dodged a Tsunami
When the Great Eastern Japan disaster shook the world, my Japanese wife and I were living the good life on Hawaii’s Big Island. With so many loved ones residing in Japan, we were beside ourselves with worry.
The sensationalist, alarmist media coverage didn’t help matters either. To mentally cope with this frightening new reality, we searched for uplifting stories of heroism. Japan didn’t disappoint.
Contrary to popular perception, not all heroic deeds are bold, dramatic actions taken by extraordinary individuals. Sometimes an entire community can be heroic. For lack of a better term, I call this “collective heroism”, defined as the accumulation of many small acts of heroism within any group, behavior driven by a cultural norm that expects community members to assist each other — to be heroic — when called upon to do so.
Below is a story we found in the Japanese news that lifted our spirits and inspired us. I hope you find it just as inspiring.
The Heroes of Mizuhama
(Author’s note: The story that follows is a summary of an article published in Japanese by Sankei News Japan MSN in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. My intention was to provide a link to the source article. Unfortunately, the original link is broken. So I did the next best thing; with the help of Japonica’s excellent editors, we found a similar article from the Japanese blogging site AMEBA. Also keep in mind that this article was not a word-for-word translation from the source article; it is a summary of the source article’s key points, along with my personal thoughts and observations.)
On March 11th a small fishing village on the Eastern coast of Japan called Mizuhama was about to be hit with a devastating one-two punch from nature: a 9.0 earthquake followed by a deadly tsunami, a disaster now referred to by the Japanese media as the “Higashi Nihon Dai Shinsai”, or “Great Eastern Japan Earthquake”.
Mizuhama is no stranger to tsunamis. In recent history it’s been hit with the Showa Sanriku Tsunami in 1933, then in 1960 an extremely destructive tsunami from the famous Chilean earthquake (the largest ever recorded in history), not to mention last year’s 70-centimeter tsunami from the most recent quake in Chile, a mere ripple by comparison.
What is incredible about this story is the short window of opportunity the Mizuhama villagers had to evacuate, although they had no way of knowing at the time just how precious every second was. Reports vary on how long it actually took the tsunami to reach shore, but if you believe the residents interviewed in the article, it hit Mizuhama roughly 15 minutes after the quake.
Imagine 380 people evacuating within this small window of time. What are the chances of getting most villagers to high ground in 15 minutes? How many would you expect to make it?
Well, according to the Sankei article, out of their population of 380 people — many elderly, mind you — one person had been confirmed dead at the time, with 8 more missing (all presumed dead). In the worst case scenario, that’s 9 out of 380, just over two-percent of the entire town’s population.
Quoting statistics sounds a bit cold when discussing loss of life. The villagers’ deaths are sad and tragic. But try to imagine how much worse it could have been. Think about it: a 30-plus-foot tsunami is on its way (the article said 20 meters), the village has less than 20 minutes to evacuate and 98% of the residents still survive? That’s an incredible accomplishment.
It Takes a Village to Dodge a Tsunami
The backstory behind the villagers’ timely evacuation has many layers. It’s about the human intellect working in harmony with the power of community. It’s about a culture — a particular subculture in Japan — with the right values, discipline and knowledge to prepare for a disaster and get its citizens out of harm’s way on very short notice. It’s about practice, cooperation and the sum total of many small acts of heroism.
In light of Mizuhama’s long history dealing with tsunamis in an extremely vulnerable location on an earthquake-prone coast, it makes sense its residents would be savvier than most when it comes to disaster preparedness.
A monument in a nearby district highlights the acute level of tsunami awareness in this part of Japan. Inscribed in it are the following words: “When earthquakes occur, beware of tsunamis.” In a cruel twist of cosmic irony, the March 11 tsunami washed that monument away. But these villagers didn’t need that monument anyway. They knew exactly what to do.
Akiyama Katsuko (67) escaped with even less warning than most of her neighbors, as she lives just 30 meters from the coast! When the earthquake hit she and her husband immediately headed for high ground. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the evacuation area only to see a massive wave consume their entire village. Of the 130 homes in Mizuhama, over 90% were washed out to sea.
How Did They Do It?
Practice, practice, practice. The community periodically practices safety drills designed to quickly evacuate all villagers to high ground. Residents of Mizuhama all know by heart the quickest route to the designated evacuation area.
Some households, according to the article, even keep their valuables, photo albums, etc. in backpacks at all times so they’re ready for quick retrieval at a moment’s notice.
Keep in mind that Japan has an aging population: 20% are now over 60 years old, a demographic that continues to grow. Mizuhama, like many villages in outlying prefectures, has more than its share of elderly, many of whom live alone.
To ensure the elderly aren’t left behind, residents throughout the village are expected to learn who lives in every single home around them. Able-bodied neighbors take responsibility for helping elderly neighbors get to high ground. During this recent quake, for example, the district Chair, Ito-san, said he went immediately to the home of an elderly neighbor who lived alone, and got him safely to high ground by actually pushing him up the hill.
If getting residents evacuated wasn’t challenging enough, the community was immediately presented with a new challenge after they evacuated: the moment the tsunami hit they were isolated from the rest of the world.
Note that Mizuhama is a geographically remote coastal region to begin with, more than 30 kilometers from Ishinomaki City (which also, by the way, turned into a 10-foot lake as the entire village dropped a few feet in elevation thanks to the quake). As you might imagine, the roads in and out of the city were impassible. The villagers would be on their own for the next 4 days.
And yet, no one panicked.
That’s because the residents of Mizuhama, already isolated in their remote little community far from the city, are always prepared for disasters. Most residents keep reserves of water, fuel, and non-perishable goods such as rice, canned food, etc. just for these kinds of situations. It’s called being prepared for the worst.
The Power of Community and Teamwork
While preparation is certainly a key prerequisite for survival in these kinds of situations, it is meaningless without the power of community and teamwork.
Fortunately, Mizuhama had this part covered as well. Shortly after the water receded, residents returned to the village to retrieve food reserves from homes that survived — then shared it with all the other villagers. They pooled the village gasoline reserves and agreed to use only one car to conserve. Then after a few days, they organized a shopping run to the stores within reach, and also found orderly, organized ways for everyone to get in contact with friends and loved ones.
As of April 2nd (in 2011), about 120 people were still living in the evacuation center at high ground. At the time they were without electricity, water and phone.
You’d think that this little village with an economy built on harvesting sea scallops would despair after losing all but 4 of its 50 boats. But the villagers are upbeat, especially Mr. Ito, who said, “We won’t let this defeat us. If we support each other we can come back and do it again.”
Lessons from Mizuhama
This is a text-book case study of a community prepared for the worst. What strikes me is that success came from a low-tech place: people putting their heads and hearts together to harness the power of the team.
One could also argue that harnessing the power of a community is more complex than any high-tech device known to man. An old colleague used to say that the “technology of the mind was the highest of all technologies”, and that knowing how to harness the power of the human mind was the difference between mediocre teams and great teams. I can’t help but believe that the incredible survival rate of Mizuhama residents after this tsunami had everything to do with their “mind technologies”, a strong community spirit, and the discipline and dedication to master the basics of survival.
The Mizuhama story inspires me. It proves that a community can, as a collective, be heroic.
The uncomfortable reality is that a mega-disaster could happen anywhere, any time. For this reason, communities around the world would do well to study and adapt a Mizuhama-style community model for dealing with disasters. I can only speak for myself, but if Mizuhama is the benchmark, I still have a very long way to go.
© Tim Sullivan 2022
