ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi -- A closing ceremony for Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, which was hit by tsunami triggered by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, was held Saturday.
Due to the tsunami, 84 schoolchildren, teachers and school staff died or remain missing.
The city-run school is set to conclude its 33-year history at the end of this academic year, due to the decline in the number of schoolchildren in the area for such reasons as part of the school district having been designated a disaster hazard area.
The school opened in 1985 as Okawa Elementary School, run by what was then the town of Kahoku. After the 2011 disaster, the school resumed classes in the building of a nearby elementary school. In January 2014, the school moved to a prefabricated temporary school building.
The city's education board decided in November 2016 to merge with the city-run Futamata Elementary School because the number of children had decreased. The results of a survey of guardians of schoolchildren was taken into account when the decision was made. The number of students now at the school is 29, compared with 108 students before the disaster.
About 350 people including students, graduates and local residents attended the school's closing ceremony. Kunihide Abe, superintendent of the Ishinomaki city board of education said, "Although many precious lives were lost in the disaster, the history and spirit of Okawa Elementary School will remain for a long time."
Yorinobu Kagi, the principal of the school, then returned the school flag.
Yuri Karino, a second grader, said, "It's very sad, but I will never forget the days with friends at Okawa Elementary School."
Noriyuki Suzuki, 53, who lost his second daughter Mai, then a 12-year-old sixth grader, said, "Okawa Elementary School will be closed, but I'd like to continue to talk about the disaster at the former school building, which will remain a remnant of the disaster."
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