Families of dead and missing in 2011 disasters gather for memorials

[yuiyoshida]

MINAMISANRIKU, Miyagi -- Five years after the deadly 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, a mourning ceremony for the victims was held here next to a monument to 119 locals who perished or remain unaccounted for.

Akio Miura, 76, is the father of Takeshi, then 51, an employee of the town's risk management department who vanished in the tsunami while he made tsunami warning announcements at the disaster prevention headquarters building. Miura wiped tears away while praying at the ceremony.

When graduating from junior high school, Takeshi had been advised to advance to a local prep school but instead opted to enroll in a marine-products vocational school, where he obtained radio certification. He then got his job at the town government.

When the March 11 tsunami struck, he took turns with his coworkers calling on the radio for evacuation of residents up until just before the tsunami hit.

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160311/p2a/00m/0na/024000c