Epilogue
| Epilogue |
About 30 years ago I passed by the Taisho Bridge and found a big, grey rectangular, stone memorial. The inscription stated that tsunamis had hit Osaka and caused serious damage. At that time I did not know about tsunamis had hit Osaka, despite having grown up in Osaka City. On Dec.26th, 2004, a large tsunami hit the coasts around the Indian Ocean; it was the first time for me to watch a terrible tsunami disaster on television. I remembered the memorial by the Taisho Bridge and went to see it and reread the inscription.
My study of the Ansei Nankai earthquake tsunami began by copying the memorial's inscription, sitting for a while in front of the memorial in the winter sun. The inscription says that when the earthquake hit, many people fled into boats to escape. After a while, the tsunami rushed into Osaka Bay; large ships anchored at the mouths of two rivers were carried up canals in Osaka City, where they destroyed bridges and many smaller boats. Consequently, many people boarding the boats died.
It says "Always be careful of a tsunami when a big earthquake occurs, and don't try to escape into boats."
The people that experienced the Ansei Nankai earthquake tsunami regretted that they had not learned the lessons of the Hoei earthquake tsunami. They built the monument not only as a memorial but also to teach future generations of this fearful tsunami and to warn them to take precautions against the next Nankai earthquake. People living in Saiwaicho have preserved the memorial and still hold a memorial service during the Bon festival in August every year.
We should learn from past disasters and also presume that new disasters will occur. In modern times, Osaka City has expanded and developed. The lowland has become densely populated and, what is worse, the land has seriously subsided. If a tsunami hits Osaka in the future the damage will be more serious than that of the Edo era. We should anticipate different disasters from the Edo era and take precautionary measures accordingly.
While writing this article, foreign language teachers helped with my English translations from Japanese. Without their kind help, I could not have completed this article. I am deeply grateful to them.
Assistant English translators: Todd Meyers, Chie Mori, Brendan Hurley, Simon Oetle, Erika Luley, Robyn Smith, Emily Long, Reena Redcar, Tony Malloy, Jonathan Brown, Jeremy Larsen.
References
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