The Japanese Should Have Listened To Their Ancestors

Sadly numerous Japanese overlooked ancient markers left by their ancestors. In the hamlet of Aneyhshi, a centuries-old tablet saved many lives.

Carved on the stone slab is "High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants. Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point."

Only around twelve house owners took the advice seriously and their homes emerged unscathed from the horrendous tsunami of March 11th.

The earthquake, registering 9 on the Richter scale, was followed by a 10 metre tsunami, which killed 15,000 people, with 11,000 still missing.

Along the Japanese coastline, that is situated on main fault lines, 100's of these markers formed a crude form of warning system. Many of the markers are more than six hundred years old. The area has repeatedly been the target of earthquakes and tsunamis across the centuries.

"Everybody here knows about the markers. We studied them in school" one 12 year old student said. His mother dashed him from school as the whole village scrambled to higher ground.

Another marker warned "Always be prepared for unexpected tsunamis. Choose life over your possessions and valuables". Many, who survived the earthquake, chose to go back to their homes to look at the damage, to gather up their valuables and store their 'tatami' floor mats, only to lose their lives in the tsunami.

Around 1000 tremours have followed since March 11. After a 7.1 tremour, cracks were discovered in a second nuclear power plant. All efforts to bring the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant under control have not yet succeeded. The TEPC affirms it could be many months before the damaged reactors are brought under control.

"It takes about three generations for people to forget. Those that experience the disaster themselves pass it to their children and their grandchildren, but then the memory fades" reported Fumihiko Imamura, a professor in disaster planning in Tokyo University in Sendai, a tsunami-destroyed city.

69 years old, Isamu Aneishi said his ancestors moved their family-run inn to higher ground more than a hundred years ago. His three grandchildren are still missing. They were attending school only 500 feet from the sea in Chikei.

One town was named 'Octopus Grounds', in memory of the sea life destroyed by previous tsunamis. Many temples are also names after past tsunamis. Yet the new generation ignored all this.

"In five years, you'll see houses begin to sprout up here again," said 43 year old Kosai, as he pointed out the broken foundation to what was once a two-meter high marker that had been swept away in the tsunami. It had warned 'If an earthquake comes, beware of tsunamis'. "I always told my parents it was dangerous here".