The boss who led 20 trainees to safety before being swept out to sea is among a host of inspirational figures, write DAVID MCNEILLand NANAKO OTANI
OVER THE past fortnight, remarkable stories have emerged of individual bravery from Japan’s tragedy, almost invariably by ordinary people.
Here are some of the Japanese who have become heroes, often posthumously.
Miki Ando (25) was a clerk in the crisis management department of the local government office in the ruined town of Minami Sanriku, Miyagi prefecture. In the minutes between the quake and the arrival of the 10-metre wave of water, she repeatedly told people over the town’s PA system to flee, reportedly saving hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, before her building was engulfed by the tsunami.
All that remains of the city office is the metal red framework. Ando was washed out to sea.
Shigeru Yokosuka (60) was a manager at a hospital in Rikuzen- Takata, Iwate prefecture. Hundreds of people, including hospital staff, patients and local residents, sought shelter in the four-storey building after the quake.
When the tsunami hit, engulfing the building up to the fourth floor, they rushed to the rooftop, but Yokosuka ran down to get the satellite phone – the only means of communication with the outside world.
He managed to hand it to a colleague on the third floor before being taken by the water. The phone later saved the surviving patients in the hospital.
Motoko Onodera (29) was a high-school teacher in Rikuzen- Takata on March 11th.
After checking to make sure her students were safe, she sped to the shore in her car to look for dozens of swimming club members practising near the sea. She and the swimmers are still missing.
Onodera had got married only a year ago to Hiroshi, who teaches at another school, and had recently told the school principal that they might soon have a baby.
Michi Kon (32) was a housewife expecting her first child in Hachinone, Aomori, on March 11th. A few hours after the quake, she went into labour.
Her husband, Hirohito, drove her to a local clinic. With no power, the hospital was cold and dark while continuous aftershocks shook the building.
The delivery began with one flashlight and a pillow to support her back. About an hour and 30 minutes later, the 7.3lb baby boy was safely born.
Mitsuru Sato was managing director of a processed seafood company in Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture. When he saw the tsunami approaching, he led his 20 Chinese trainees up to a shrine on high ground.
The trainees had no knowledge of Japan’s evacuation policy. Sato was swept into the sea. The story was picked up by the Chinese media, giving two nations often at loggerheads a much-needed joint hero.
Kimihiro Oshikawa (61) is the only doctor in Noda, a small village in Iwate. Since the tsunami struck, he has been living at an evacuation centre, continuously helping the victims amid a severe lack of medicines and medical equipment. His clinic was washed away by the waves, along with medical supplies and the records of thousands of patients. He spends hours every day travelling around evacuation shelters and visiting the elderly in their homes.
Tsuyako Ito (84) is the last active geisha in the town of Kamishi, Iwate. She survived the tsunami, which wrecked the once rich town, and has vowed to continue being a geisha until her retirement at 88.
After seven decades in the city, it was her fourth encounter with a tsunami. She lost many friends and customers, as well as her priceless kimonos and samisen, but she says she is still positive and proud to be a geisha.
Tokiko Kitano (60) lives in Fukushima about 100km from the stricken nuclear plant. She has become a leader of the relief effort in her community, housing 17 refugees in her home and taking food and other supplies door-to-door via wheelbarrow in the freezing temperatures.
She has publicised the effort on a website and people from Tokyo have been sending food and clothes for the refugees in her home and in the community.