A member of a firefighting team recalls the heavy emotional toll of losing half their members during the Great East Japan Earthquake and shares a letter meant for new recruits emphasizing safety and survival.
In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, fire brigade member Shuichiro Kanno from Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, recalls the harrowing experiences he faced when half of his brigade members perished while aiding local residents during the disaster. On March 11, Kanno was directing evacuation at an intersection when he saw the incoming black tsunami, prompting him to help neighbors escape to safety. Tragically, his brigade lost many dedicated members, including some of Kanno’s childhood friends, as they attempted to reach the citizens trapped by the overwhelming waves.
The fire brigade faced immense challenges, with Kanno describing the grim duty of recovering bodies from the rubble and maintaining the mortuary. The emotional weight of these experiences has marked him deeply, compounded by personal loss, as his own brother was also claimed by the tsunami. He reflects on how community members died while trying to perform the simple act of saving others, highlighting the bravery yet terrible risks that come with emergency response roles during catastrophes.
Today, Kanno remains committed to his role in the fire brigade, having learned vital lessons from the disaster. In response to past tragedies, the city now emphasizes the importance of self-evacuation for firefighters in their operational manuals. Kanno has left a poignant letter in the brigade’s station for new recruits, urging them to prioritize their own safety—so that they may keep helping others long into the future, even beyond their own lives.
