0:00:14 > 0:00:24Remarkable pictures of one of the most destructive earthquakes the
0:00:24 > 0:00:26
0:00:26 > 0:00:29world's ever seen. This was East Coast Japan just six months ago.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35TRANSLATION: There was such a terrible shaking, that even if you
0:00:35 > 0:00:38grabbed hold of something, things were being thrown onto the flor. --
0:00:38 > 0:00:44floor. TRANSLATION: When the earthquake
0:00:44 > 0:00:47happened, we all took cover under our desks. After the quake, they
0:00:47 > 0:00:53knew what would happen next, but no-one could have anticipated the
0:00:53 > 0:01:03scale of it. Tonight, we follow the tsunami
0:01:03 > 0:01:04
0:01:04 > 0:01:09which killed thousands and rocked the world's third largest economy.
0:01:09 > 0:01:17And we track down those swept away by the wave, who, miraculously,
0:01:17 > 0:01:26managed to survive. TRANSLATION: A mass of pitch
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Blackwater was writhing like a living thing.
0:01:29 > 0:01:39TRANSLATION: When it hit me, it felt like a huge gravitational pull.
0:01:39 > 0:01:54
0:01:54 > 0:02:01I couldn't breathe. I was Central Tokyo feels like it
0:02:01 > 0:02:06normally does. I've report -- reported from here before. Perhaps
0:02:06 > 0:02:10there are fewer lights this time, that's all. They're trying to
0:02:10 > 0:02:20conserve electricity. The quake was felt here, but its epicentre was
0:02:20 > 0:02:22
0:02:22 > 0:02:32200 miles away off the north-east coast of Japan. We spent three
0:02:32 > 0:02:38weeks travelling the disaster zone. 112,000 buildings destroyed, 20,000
0:02:38 > 0:02:43people dead and missing, all in a matter of minutes. This is the
0:02:43 > 0:02:52story of how Japan has coped with destruction and loss of life on a
0:02:52 > 0:02:58scale it hasn't endured since the Second World War. It begins here in
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Hakodate city, on an island in the far north of Japan. We met the crew
0:03:02 > 0:03:08of a coastguard ship, who were some of the first to see the tsunami
0:03:08 > 0:03:18coming. Six months ago, on the morning of March 11, they dropped
0:03:18 > 0:03:23
0:03:23 > 0:03:29anchor in a port on the East Coast TRANSLATION: There was a very loud
0:03:29 > 0:03:32rumbling from the ground and together with that there was a big,
0:03:32 > 0:03:42big extremely violent quake that shook this boat up and down and
0:03:42 > 0:03:42
0:03:42 > 0:03:48left and right. Seeing the size of the earthquake and the backwash, I
0:03:48 > 0:03:52was certain there would be a tsunami. But instead of abandoning
0:03:52 > 0:03:56ship, they set out from the port to meet the tsunami head on.
0:03:56 > 0:04:02TRANSLATION: I gave the order to get to as deep water as possible,
0:04:02 > 0:04:07to get off shore as fast as possible. On the radar appeared a
0:04:07 > 0:04:12thick white line, moving towards them. If they'd stayed in port, the
0:04:12 > 0:04:17boat would have been wrecked. This way, at least they had a chance.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21TRANSLATION: In front of the boat, at a height of 10 to 15 metres,
0:04:21 > 0:04:31there was a high wall, an overwhelming wall of water. We were
0:04:31 > 0:04:36
0:04:36 > 0:04:46heading for something just like the It passes safely beneath them, but
0:04:46 > 0:04:51
0:04:51 > 0:04:58the destruction is just about to There are several tsunamis,
0:04:58 > 0:05:07stretching 200 miles and travelling at speeds of up to 370mph. At
0:05:07 > 0:05:12thaeproch the north-east coast, they slow, but damager in height.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17The resort of Minami Sanriku lay in their path. It was a town of 18,000
0:05:17 > 0:05:27people, famed for its oyster fishing and ocean views.
0:05:27 > 0:05:37This was the satellite shot before the tsunami hit. This is how it was
0:05:37 > 0:05:39
0:05:39 > 0:05:48transformed, 95% of its buildings High on a hillside, where it was
0:05:48 > 0:05:52judged no tsunami could ever reach, is a pensioners' home. Among its
0:05:52 > 0:05:57deb ree, we found this video of some of the 68 residents who used
0:05:57 > 0:06:03to live here. Helping one of them is Kango Sasaki,
0:06:03 > 0:06:11one of the staff. His wife used to work here too, next door, in the
0:06:11 > 0:06:17day centre. After the quake, canningo went outside to inspect
0:06:17 > 0:06:22the -- kango went outside. From here I could see incredible disgust
0:06:22 > 0:06:30rising up from over there. The trees and houses were just being
0:06:30 > 0:06:36mown down. I was sure at the rate, it was going to reach us.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39He and his wife rush back in to begin the evacuation. But with 68
0:06:39 > 0:06:46immobile pensioners and just minutes to spare, where do you
0:06:46 > 0:06:51start? TRANSLATION: I came in here and
0:06:51 > 0:06:55stood shouting "evacuate", just yelling it out. I then took hold of
0:06:55 > 0:07:00the person, the gentleman in the wheelchair, right in front of me,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02and went straight outside, right the way through this park area with
0:07:02 > 0:07:12the wheelchair rattling away, heading for the high school at the
0:07:12 > 0:07:12
0:07:13 > 0:07:17top. I just kept going in a straight line. He doesn't look back.
0:07:17 > 0:07:23The tsunami has already consumed half the town, hundreds are dead
0:07:23 > 0:07:28and it's still advancing. TRANSLATION: I couldn't get any
0:07:28 > 0:07:33farther up than this. So I called a fellow member of staff over and we
0:07:33 > 0:07:41carried him up towards the higher ground at the high school. Right
0:07:41 > 0:07:45the way up there. You can see Kengo in the bottom
0:07:45 > 0:07:49left of screen, the wave surging behind him. He returns again to
0:07:49 > 0:07:55rescue more, before escaping himself up the hill.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Others weren't so lucky. The man in black, raced down to rescue another
0:07:57 > 0:08:03wheelchair user, there's a sudden wheelchair user, there's a sudden
0:08:03 > 0:08:07surge of water and he's swept away. This is the place from where they
0:08:07 > 0:08:11took that video. The coastline is about half a mile in that direction.
0:08:11 > 0:08:20And the place was standing something like 50 feet above sea
0:08:20 > 0:08:24level, yet still, the tsunami came roaring up this hillside.
0:08:24 > 0:08:31Still down there, a group of women are running for their lives.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36One of them is Kuniko Suzuki. Just ahead of her is her daughter in law
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Mayumi. TRANSLATION: I wanted to run away
0:08:40 > 0:08:47with her. But mother-in-law's legs are bad. She told me, "You go on
0:08:47 > 0:08:57ahead." I couldn't leave her behind. But at the same time, she must have
0:08:57 > 0:08:58
0:08:58 > 0:09:04made her decision to push me and say, "Go quickly." I just thought
0:09:04 > 0:09:10"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." That's why I kept crying out "grandma,
0:09:10 > 0:09:15grandma." On the far right of the screen, you can see her mother-in-
0:09:15 > 0:09:19law, trying to outrun the tsunami, but she's soon swept away. We
0:09:19 > 0:09:23traced each person in the footage and it turned out that the mother-
0:09:23 > 0:09:27in-law had, incredibly, managed to survive.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32TRANSLATION: I tried to run after them, but my legs were shaky, and I
0:09:32 > 0:09:41lost my shoes. Then I felt my feet off the ground and my body float on
0:09:41 > 0:09:47the waves. I could see a roof of a house coming towards me. I was
0:09:47 > 0:09:52swept away by the waves and ended up on the roof. The roof slips
0:09:52 > 0:09:57beneath her, raising her out of the water and floating her to safety.
0:09:57 > 0:10:07TRANSLATION: As I've lived a long time, I must have done something
0:10:07 > 0:10:10
0:10:10 > 0:10:14good in my life. I'd like to think so. After saving several pensioners,
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Mr Sasaki begins searching for his own wife.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23TRANSLATION: I didn't know where she was. I'd searched for her in
0:10:23 > 0:10:33the rubble, but she must have been forced back to where she worked by
0:10:33 > 0:10:34
0:10:34 > 0:10:44the tsunami. She was found trapped between the machines at the bath
0:10:44 > 0:10:47
0:10:47 > 0:10:54house where she worked. When they found her, I went to where our
0:10:54 > 0:11:04eldest, a 12-year-old son, had been evacuated. I told him how his
0:11:04 > 0:11:18
0:11:18 > 0:11:28that she'd died while trying to get people out. With my daughter,
0:11:28 > 0:11:37
0:11:37 > 0:11:46though, I have to say, I couldn't residents were left dead. 19
0:11:46 > 0:11:51survived, but even now, six months on, one is still missing. The town
0:11:51 > 0:12:01of Minami Sanriku, once a bustling port, had been transformed into
0:12:01 > 0:12:01
0:12:01 > 0:12:05this. It's a wasteland. This was the emergency centre which
0:12:05 > 0:12:15broadcast warnings across town that a snaum y was on its way. --
0:12:15 > 0:12:15
0:12:16 > 0:12:19tsunami was on its way. All that's left of the building now is its
0:12:19 > 0:12:27iron shell, but the woman's ghostly voice is still remembered by the
0:12:27 > 0:12:32hundreds she helped save. The woman behind the microphone continued
0:12:32 > 0:12:34immoring the local population to evacuate their homing, as the sea
0:12:34 > 0:12:40water surged through the ground floor and began to climb through
0:12:40 > 0:12:45the other floors. She would have known, of course, that her chance
0:12:45 > 0:12:53of survival was diminishing all the time. This was an act of self-
0:12:53 > 0:13:01sacrifice. Her name was Miki Endo. She was 24
0:13:01 > 0:13:05years old and recently married. Miki Endo has become a symbol of
0:13:05 > 0:13:14the Japanese spirit in all of this, putting her community before
0:13:14 > 0:13:17herself. Her colleagues, who survived, had to shin up the aerial
0:13:17 > 0:13:27on the roof of the four storey building. They were still clinging
0:13:27 > 0:13:28
0:13:28 > 0:13:32on as the wave receded. In the town's hospital, only the fifth
0:13:32 > 0:13:37storey remained above water, but there just wasn't enough time for
0:13:37 > 0:13:47patients on the lower floors to clam boar up there. Out of 107 of
0:13:47 > 0:13:52
0:13:52 > 0:13:56them, 71 died. (climor) -- (clamour) Even those who managed to
0:13:56 > 0:14:02get to a vehicle, there were no guarantees. The roads out of low-
0:14:02 > 0:14:08lying areas were jammed. The choice, abandon your car or
0:14:08 > 0:14:18hope it would float you to safe. Many of these drivers did the
0:14:18 > 0:14:20
0:14:20 > 0:14:25latter, and drowned. But elsewhere, there were remark yapbl stories of
0:14:25 > 0:14:29survival. -- remarkable stories of survival.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34We headed north towards the tsunami's furthest reaches, through
0:14:34 > 0:14:38areas still uninhabitable, where thousands have been moved to
0:14:38 > 0:14:48evacuation centres, waiting for their towns to be rebuilt.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53
0:14:53 > 0:14:56We were searching for a particular look like any of those people on
0:14:56 > 0:15:06the ground are running fast enough to escape, so we have come to the
0:15:06 > 0:15:16place where it was filmed to see if there were any survivors. Mrs Akiko
0:15:16 > 0:15:21Iwasaki, a local hotelier, was one of those in the video. TRANSLATION:
0:15:21 > 0:15:24First, I went up the mountain and got everyone to evacuate. Then she
0:15:24 > 0:15:34went back down to warn the others. Mrs Iwasaki took me to the place
0:15:34 > 0:15:38
0:15:38 > 0:15:40where the video was shot. You can see her running with a bag. I was
0:15:40 > 0:15:45wearing these baggy work trousers and wellington boots, and I was
0:15:45 > 0:15:50carrying bags. I ran as fast as I could. She doesn't know how close
0:15:50 > 0:15:56the water is until the last moment. You can see the wave pick up the
0:15:56 > 0:16:00bus on the left and spin it towards her. A bus had come up beside me.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05The bus was there, the wave was there. I was sure we would make it
0:16:05 > 0:16:11as I stepped up. But she didn't. Mrs Iwasaki was dragged under.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16She's in the water, somewhere beneath the bus. I could see a
0:16:16 > 0:16:20faint light from above. So I swung towards it and reached out my hands
0:16:20 > 0:16:25and grabbed on, thinking it was a piece of debris. I bumped into the
0:16:25 > 0:16:30tyre of that bus. Then I frantically climbed up to the roof.
0:16:30 > 0:16:37Then I grabbed on to a bamboo over here on the mountain. "I want to
0:16:37 > 0:16:40live. I want to live. I want to live". The water reached the third
0:16:40 > 0:16:50floor of the hotel, but she and everyone else in the footage
0:16:50 > 0:17:01
0:17:01 > 0:17:04survived. I think I was protected there was something else to contend
0:17:04 > 0:17:14with, an invisible legacy from the nuclear power station on the coast
0:17:14 > 0:17:15
0:17:16 > 0:17:25of Fukushima. Its sea wall was designed to withstand a tsunami up
0:17:25 > 0:17:29to five and a half metres. This was twice the height. The flooding
0:17:29 > 0:17:36short-circuited cooling pumps. The reactors began dangerously
0:17:36 > 0:17:44overheating. We managed to track down one of the nuclear workers on
0:17:44 > 0:17:47site at the time. TRANSLATION: Before the disaster happened, I
0:17:47 > 0:17:52thought nuclear power was 100% safe. It was precisely what people call
0:17:52 > 0:17:59the "safety myth". 25 hours after the quake, pressure in reactor
0:17:59 > 0:18:09number 1 built up. Then it exploded. It was the biggest nuclear accident
0:18:09 > 0:18:12since Chernobyl, in a country reliant on nuclear power.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15TRANSLATION: When the number 1 reactor exploded, I was in the
0:18:15 > 0:18:20middle of evacuating from my home to the evacuation centre specified
0:18:20 > 0:18:27by the town authorities. I was in the car. As the roads were chock-a-
0:18:27 > 0:18:30block, I was in a traffic jam. Cars were hardly moving. He didn't know
0:18:30 > 0:18:40it, but radiation was already leaking from the plant, and those
0:18:40 > 0:18:42stuck in traffic had no protection. TRANSLATION: I am prepared for the
0:18:42 > 0:18:49fact that we probably suffered some external and internal radiation
0:18:49 > 0:18:54exposure. Ken Togawa and his family now live in a sports centre with
0:18:54 > 0:19:00other nuclear evacuees. He has had medical tests, which show he has
0:19:00 > 0:19:03been exposed to high doses of radiation. But it's children who
0:19:03 > 0:19:10are more vulnerable. His youngest wears a radiation monitor at all
0:19:10 > 0:19:13times. He is still unsure how much exposure they have already suffered.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18Dangerous levels of radiation are still widespread around the
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Fukushima plant. The Government has evacuated all towns and villages in
0:19:23 > 0:19:27a 20 kilometre radius. They are still too dangerous to return to,
0:19:27 > 0:19:37six months on. The Togawas lived in Namie, well within the exclusion
0:19:37 > 0:19:40
0:19:40 > 0:19:46zone. But today, he and his wife are going back in, just for a
0:19:46 > 0:19:50couple of hours. It is all they are allowed. It's an operation being
0:19:50 > 0:19:56overseen by the Japanese military, scientists and the Red Cross.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Dozens of other evacuees have also signed up, despite the risks. Under
0:19:59 > 0:20:09heavy escort, they are bussed through the roadblocks and into the
0:20:09 > 0:20:10
0:20:10 > 0:20:16exclusion zone. Mr Togawa is filming the journey for us. There
0:20:16 > 0:20:18is an eerie emptiness. Deserted fields are overgrown and poisoned.
0:20:18 > 0:20:25The levels of radiation here are still dangerously high, six months
0:20:25 > 0:20:29after the leak. TRANSLATION: When fleeing, we came
0:20:29 > 0:20:32just with the clothes on our backs, and we didn't have any of the
0:20:32 > 0:20:41things we need. I wanted to go and fetch these things, and that is why
0:20:41 > 0:20:46I returned, despite the risk, for the sake of the children. This was
0:20:46 > 0:20:55their home. Windows and doors are left open. There is no one here to
0:20:55 > 0:21:02loot. Mrs Togawa can be heard calling for the missing cat. It
0:21:02 > 0:21:08never comes. Inside, the house is just as they left it after the
0:21:08 > 0:21:18earthquake. It may be the last time they come here. These towns could
0:21:18 > 0:21:19
0:21:19 > 0:21:25remain abandoned for generations. All of that has helped turn
0:21:25 > 0:21:35Japanese public opinion against nuclear power. Of the country's 54
0:21:35 > 0:21:37
0:21:37 > 0:21:40reactors, 43 are currently out of operation. But nowhere has touched
0:21:40 > 0:21:47the Japanese nation as deeply as the story of a group of
0:21:47 > 0:21:55schoolchildren. A mile away from the sea, along the Kitakami River,
0:21:55 > 0:22:01is the town of Okawa, with its long iron bridge. There was a junior
0:22:01 > 0:22:04school here, right at the heart of the community. This was last year's
0:22:04 > 0:22:14sports day. The pupils, aged between six and 12, are lined up
0:22:14 > 0:22:16
0:22:16 > 0:22:26and ready to compete. This was Okawa before 11th March. You can
0:22:26 > 0:22:36see the school in the foreground. This was the scene when the wave
0:22:36 > 0:22:42
0:22:42 > 0:22:46receded. The school clocks are frozen at the time the wave hit. We
0:22:46 > 0:22:55traced a 12-year-old survivor. He agreed to tell us about what
0:22:55 > 0:22:58happened on the day he lost so many friends.
0:22:58 > 0:23:04TRANSLATION: When the earthquake happened, first we all took cover
0:23:04 > 0:23:13under our desks. As the shaking gradually got stronger, everyone
0:23:13 > 0:23:15said things like "wow, it's big. You OK?", looking very worried.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19When the shaking stopped, the teacher straightaway said "we will
0:23:19 > 0:23:29go to the gymnasium, so follow me outside", so we all put on our
0:23:29 > 0:23:29
0:23:29 > 0:23:37helmets and went out. Tetsuya's mum rushed to the school to pick up her
0:23:37 > 0:23:40children and drive them to higher ground. When she arrived at the
0:23:40 > 0:23:44school, it seemed that she actually wanted to flee with me to higher
0:23:44 > 0:23:47ground, but as all the parents and guardians were lining up, she said
0:23:47 > 0:23:57"wait a minute, I need to fetch something from home", so I just
0:23:57 > 0:23:58
0:23:58 > 0:24:03handed over my bags to her and stayed there. They lived just down
0:24:03 > 0:24:05the road. His mother hoped to be back in a matter of minutes.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Immediately after the quake, the children were brought outside here
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and made to sit down in lines, and then some teachers said "it's not
0:24:12 > 0:24:21safe enough, we need to evacuate right up the hillside", and others
0:24:21 > 0:24:24said "this is high enough, we don't need to go anywhere else". That
0:24:24 > 0:24:28debate went on for about 40 minutes. Unknown to them, the tsunami was
0:24:28 > 0:24:33close. It didn't need the river to carry it. It was travelling across
0:24:33 > 0:24:36land. Another parent wanted to pick up her daughter, but was trapped at
0:24:36 > 0:24:46home. It was only later that she learnt what happened to the
0:24:46 > 0:24:48children between the quake and tsunami. TRANSLATION: During the
0:24:48 > 0:24:52entire 40 minutes that followed the earthquake, the children were just
0:24:52 > 0:24:54sitting there, crying in the playground. After 40 minutes, some
0:24:54 > 0:25:04of the teachers finally decided to move the children to slightly
0:25:04 > 0:25:05
0:25:05 > 0:25:07higher ground, over there by the bridge. But the decision was too
0:25:07 > 0:25:13late. As the children walked towards the bridge, the tsunami
0:25:13 > 0:25:20came straight at them. When it hit me, it felt like a huge
0:25:20 > 0:25:26gravitational pull, like someone with great strength pushing. I
0:25:26 > 0:25:29couldn't breathe. I was struggling for breath. Tetsuya was thrown
0:25:29 > 0:25:36against this hillside, buried up to his waist in mud and trapped
0:25:36 > 0:25:43beneath a broken branch. When I called for help, somebody shouted
0:25:43 > 0:25:46"where are you, Tetsuya?", so I said "in the mountain". Then they
0:25:46 > 0:25:54dug for me and then somehow, with my own strength, I squirmed upwards
0:25:54 > 0:25:59and was saved. Tetsuya's little sister, Mina, was drowned. His
0:25:59 > 0:26:08mother, who had rushed home, never made it back to school. Her body
0:26:08 > 0:26:18was found three weeks later. Out of 108 pupils at the school, 74 lost
0:26:18 > 0:26:23their lives. Naomi's 12-year-old daughter was one of them. Koharu
0:26:23 > 0:26:29had been due to graduate the following week. After five months
0:26:29 > 0:26:32of searching, her body still had not been found. I realised that if
0:26:32 > 0:26:35the authorities stopped searching, we would have to do it ourselves,
0:26:35 > 0:26:45because there was no way we could give up until our children were
0:26:45 > 0:26:47
0:26:47 > 0:26:51found. I just wanted to find her with my own hands, to do whatever I
0:26:51 > 0:27:01could. I heard that if I could get a heavy equipment licence, they
0:27:01 > 0:27:18
0:27:18 > 0:27:21might lend us another machine to daughter, but also to do something
0:27:21 > 0:27:31to help find the other five children and a teacher who were
0:27:31 > 0:27:34
0:27:34 > 0:27:37still missing, so that is why I got my licence. It was in August that
0:27:37 > 0:27:47Koharu's body was finally found, not by Naomi's digger, but on a
0:27:47 > 0:27:48
0:27:48 > 0:27:55beach seven miles from the school. A week later, Japan held its annual
0:27:55 > 0:28:02ceremony for the dead, the Obon Festival. This year, a nation was
0:28:02 > 0:28:10united in grief. Naomi, with the rest of her family, launched a
0:28:10 > 0:28:20lantern for the spirit of her daughter, Koharu. Another 5000
0:28:20 > 0:28:26