A former elementary school in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, is helping to pass on the lessons learned from the massive tsunami caused by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
The facility now known as Remains of the Earthquake: Namie Town Ukedo Elementary School in the Ukedo district was developed by the Namie town government and is the first facility of its kind in the prefecture.

　福島県内初の震災遺構として浪江町が請戸地区に整備した震災遺構「請戸小」が、２０１１年の東日本大震災による巨大津波の教訓を伝える貴重な施設として多くの来場者を集めている。

　The tsunami claimed the lives of 127 people in the district and left 27 missing.
　Ukedo Elementary School－located about 300 meters from the sea－was devastated by the 15-meter-high wave. The 82 students in attendance when the earthquake stuck were led to safety by teachers to Mt. Ohira, about 1.5 kilometers away.

　請戸地区は津波による死者１２７人、行方不明者２７人と多くの犠牲が出た。海から約３００メートルに位置する請戸小も高さ１５メートルの津波に襲われたが、地震発生時に校舎に残っていた８２人の児童は、教職員の引率で約１．５キロメートル離れた大平山に逃れ全員無事だった。

　At the site, visitors can see the school gymnasium with its floor missing, the school kitchen filled with debris and a hallway with bent steel in the ceiling. The ravaged school, which has remained relatively untouched since the disaster, underlines the power of the tsunami and the importance of evacuation.
　More than 50,000 people have visited the site since its opening in October 2021－ some 70% more than the town's board of education had expected. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many people seem interested in the damaged facility.

　校舎跡には床が抜けた体育館や、がれきが散乱した給食室、天井の鉄骨が折れ曲がった廊下などが当時のまま残り、津波の威力と避難の大切さを教えている。開所から１年を迎えた１０月には、来訪者が５万人を超えた。町教委の予想を７割上回っており、新型コロナウイルス禍でも関心の高さが示された形だ。

　Trips to learn lessons from disaster-affected areas are usually referred to as"reconstruction tourism," but the Fukushima prefectural government has dubbed such outings "hope tourism" to help draw visitors. The phrase reflects the desire to let people know that Fukushima residents are moving forward optimistically.
　The school sits just 3.5 kilometers away from a prefectural museum that was also built to pass on lessons from the earthquake and nuclear accident－the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum, in the neighboring town of Futaba －and both facilities can easily be integrated into a single trip.

　被災地から教訓を学ぶ旅は通常「復興ツーリズム」と呼ばれるが、県は希望を持って前進する県民の姿も知ってもらおうと、「ホープツーリズム」と名付けて誘客している。請戸小は、隣接する双葉町に県が建設した、震災と原発事故の教訓を伝える「東日本大震災・原子力災害伝承館」から約３．５キロの距離にあり、二つの施設をツアーのコースに組み込みやすいのが強みだ。

　Ukedo's board of education is set to launch a cooperative project between the school and the prefectural museum and has created an official website in English (https://namie-ukedo.com/en/) to attract more foreign visitors.

（　Translated by The Japan News　）

　町教委は請戸小と伝承館の連携事業を展開する一方、英語にも対応した公式ホームページ(https://namie-ukedo.com/en/) を作り、外国人来訪者の増加も図っている。

　【　２０２２年１１月１１日付・福島民友新聞掲載　】