10 March

Buildings of a high school in northeastern Japan that were heavily damaged in the 2011 tsunami have opened to the public as a memorial to the disaster.

About 60 people, including city officials, took part in a ceremony in the city of Kesennuma on Sunday. They observed a moment of silence for the victims of the disaster. In 2011, the tsunami reached the top floor of the four-story school building. City officials have been working to preserve the school as a reminder of what happened.

City mayor Shigeru Sugawara said he is hoping that the memorial will continue to remind people of the threat of tsunami, as the disaster-hit areas are changing from moment to moment. Visitors are allowed to enter the school buildings to see classrooms where debris and books remain scattered about. They can also see an automobile that was washed into a third-floor room.

Visitors closely listened to their guides while viewing the school buildings that bear scars from the disaster. A woman in her 20s from western Japan said what she saw left her lost for words. She added she wants to tell her acquaintances back home how she felt at the school.—NHK