The total number of visitors to the Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum in northeastern Japan, designed to share lessons learned from the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, reached one million on Sunday.
“We want to contribute to improving disaster prevention capabilities by sharing the facts and lessons of the earthquake and tsunami with people not only at home but also abroad,” said Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso, who is also chief of the museum in Rikuzentakata town, Iwate Prefecture, said in a statement that day.
The millionth visitor was Shinsaku Otomo, 97, who came with his wife and grandchild from the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, south of Iwate. Otomo received seven commemorative items, including a can developed after the disaster.
Otomo, a native of Rikuzentakata, said he was happy to become the millionth visitor, adding that the commemorative items are “souvenirs that will help me live longer.”
Otomo has occasionally visited Rikuzentakata after his family’s original home in the city was washed away by the gigantic tsunami and he also lost a family member in the disaster.
“I can never forget the disaster,” Otomo said. “I hope people will come and see (the museum) when they visit Rikuzentakata.”
The museum, which opened in September 2019, features around 150 artefacts, including a tsunami-hit fire truck, as well as information panels on the initial responses after the disaster and lessons learned about evacuation.
