Japanese Blog｜A University Student’s Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

They said Japan is one of the countries which always have big earthquakes. And they say, Japanese people are so used to it that some small earthquakes doesn’t bother them anymore.

Hello!

I am a Japanese blogger “Komo“.

This time, I would like to write about my experience of The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake.

Twelve years ago, an earthquake occurred.

I think there are many people who have suffered serious damage.

In such circumstances, I was reluctant to write about this topic on my blog, as I had not suffered much damage.

However, there were changes in my daily life, and I cannot forget the story of the day of the earthquake.

Please read till the end if you like.

When the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake happened

I was a freshman in college when the earthquake struck.

March 11th was just spring break.

I was a member of the lacrosse club at the time, so that day I was practicing at a university ground in Suginami Ward (Tokyo).

The earthquake occurred at 14:46.

After practice, I was doing training.

After that training, just when I came out of the training room, I felt a big tremor.

“Well, this time it’s pretty big”.

“Oh, are you okay…?”

“Eh, can’t you notice this shaking? It’s dangerous”!

When it happened, I was talking to my friend who came out of the training room together.

However, at that moment, I never imagined that an earthquake would cause such damage.

After that, I returned to my daily life while saying, “This time it was a little big.”

I got ready to go home as if noting had happened and headed to the station.

The train had stopped |The Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

When I arrived at the nearest station to the university, the train had stopped.

In 2011, smartphones and SNS were not so popular, so I didn’t grasp the situation at all.

I waited at McDonald’s in front of the station, thinking that the train would move if I waited.

But it didn’t move at all

I was so bored, and said casually to my friend, “Do you want to go to karaoke?”

We actually went.

After about two hours, when I headed to the station, the train was still not moving.

Good grief, We are in trouble.

At that moment, I was called from behind. 

“It looks like the trains won’t run today!”

When I looked back, there was a senior from the lacrosse club.

I stayed in a girls’ dormitory |The Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

“You guys, the trains aren’t running today, what are you going to do?”

My friend and I, who have been casually going to karaoke until now, were surprised.

Of course, no plan.

“Umm… what should we do?”

I asked the opposite question.

“Hahaha, then do you want to come to my house?”

It seems that the senior were walking around looking for members who couldn’t go home.

Too kind! ! !

“Are you sure? Thank you!”

We, who were driven by anxiety, were grateful for his kind words.

On our way home, I was told a shocking truth.

“Well, it’s not my house. It’s my girlfriend’s house, and it’s a girls’ dormitory.”

I’ll leave it to your imagination how I felt at 19 years old.

In the girl’s dormitory 1 |The Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

When we got home, she was away.

“Well, just relax. There are games, too.”

The senior who treats us as if it were his own home.

We started the game while saying, “Oh, thank you.”

I forgot about the earthquake and was absorbed in the game.

“I’m going to visit the university for a while!”

What?

At that time, communication was exhausted, and emails and telephones could not be reached.

And SNS was not popular.

Of course, she didn’t know we were there.

When I asked, “Um, isn’t it bad when she comes home?”

“Oh, it’s okay, it’s okay.

The door was slammed shut and only my friend and me were left in the room.

I still remember the grinning face of my senior at that time.

I think he knew exactly what he was doing.

In the girl’s dormitory 2|The Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

I was left in the room with my friend.

The only thing we can do is continue the game.

I had no choice but to continue the game.

After a while, I heard the sound of the door opened.

Then, on the other side of the front door, there was a woman who asked with a thin voice, “Gen-chan (the senior’s name)…?”

Yes, we are not Gen-chan.

sorry! I’m really sorry.

I’m really sorry!

I explained the situation to her and told her that we were not suspicious people.

I heard later that she was in Shibuya when The earthquake happened.

Of course, the train didn’t move, so she took 2 hours to walk back.

So she came back exhausted and found two strangers playing games in her room.

I’d be crazy if I were her.

In the girl’s dormitory 3|The Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

After a while, the senior came back.

When we got tired of playing games and watching TV, I saw a really shocking video.

She said, “I’m worried because my house is in Chiba.”

On that day, we went to bed early without anything like, “Let’s have a good time.”

What’s next for everyone? I think I fell asleep while being tormented by such anxiety.

The next morning, the train was already running, so I went home.

That’s all for the story on March 11, 2011.

On that day, I think everyone spent their time in a different way than usual.

I had a day like this.

After it happened |The Experience in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

After that, our club activities were banned for a while due to the danger of radiation.

Also, I started using SNS.

At that time, communication was out of order and we couldn’t use the phone or email, but it seemed that SNS was functioning.

All club members were ordered to start using Facebook and Twitter.

And we were forced to follow each other with seniors and coaches.

It is the birth of SNS that can not be said carelessly (thinking about SNS flames, this was good now)

A lot has changed since that day.

I didn’t suffer much damage, but I clearly felt that my daily life had changed.

Lastly

12 years have passed since the earthquake.

Needless to say, the damage was enormous.

Still, do you remember the earthquake?

Because a lot of people usually tend to forget about it

It seems that my colleague has. decided to do this.

“Review disaster prevention goods once a year on March 11”

It might be a good idea to do something like this once a year.

I’m going to check the disaster prevention goods at home today too.

If you would like to read other articles, please click on this link and read the articles.