The Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum: Preserving the Past and Protecting Lives by Passing down the Lessons of Disaster

The miracle pine stands in the grounds of the Rikuzentakata Youth Hostel. Destroyed in the tsunami, the hostel is thought to have shielded the pine tree.

A viewpoint atop the seawall looks onto Hirota Bay. The peaceful waters give no indication of the great tsunami that swept inland.

The Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum viewed from the parking lot of the Takata Matsubara Tsunami Reconstruction Memorial Park.

Platforms for offering flowers adorn the Tsuitō no hiroba plaza.

The museum’s wooden interior provides a calm and quiet atmosphere.

The display to the left shows the chronology of past tsunamis and the geological strata along the Sanriku coast. The screen to the right shows recent earthquakes around the world.

A guidance film introduces the museum and its exhibits.

Museum deputy director Kumagai Masanori oversees the facility’s daily operations.

Artifacts from the disaster and scenes from before and after the tsunami.

A mangled firetruck from the village of Tanohata.

A panel traces events as they occurred at the time of the earthquake and tsunami and highlights various problems that were faced.

The control room where authorities oversaw evacuation and relief efforts in the tense days following the disaster.

School children listen to a guide describing how people worked to overcome the devastation.

Junior high school students read the text of one of the displays.

The Iwate Tsunami Memorial Museum, center, seen from a distance. The surrounding area remains largely bare, except for a handful of surviving buildings.

Inside the Michi no Eki Takata Matsubara. The facility is part of Zone 4 of the museum.