英語訳
**[Right Page, Upper Section]**
With wounds bandaged all over his body — from his limbs to his back and abdomen — Yamazaki Zenzō recounted the events of that night. He had taken a wife, had one child, and was living together with many relatives, a household of eleven people in all. His house had been built on reclaimed land shored up with stones along the coast, and so it was among the very first to be swept away, scattering his family in all directions. Somehow, he managed to cling to a single plank floating on the waves, and when he looked, he saw a woman clinging to the same plank. When he asked who she was, it was — miraculously — his beloved wife, Take. "Are you hurt? Blood is flowing from your shoulder," she said, peering at him through the darkness with worried eyes while she herself rose and fell with the waves. "I am all right — what about you?" he began to say, but before he could finish, his wife vomited blood twice — apparently struck somewhere. Zenzō raised his voice to encourage her: "We must survive no matter what. This is Nakaami" — a place where large nets are cast, at the foot of a cliff five or six chō from Zenzō's house — "so even swimming, you can reach the shore. Keep your wits about you!" But, alas, she was already so exhausted in body and spirit that she could not swim a single stroke. Moreover, a single plank could not keep both husband and wife afloat. The wife, quickly perceiving that her husband's wounds were grave, said: "I feel no pain anywhere yet — please, save yourself with this plank. I will move to another one." Though he tried to stop her, saying "That must not be," he had no strength, and she let go of the plank, and they were separated. Zenzō was washed ashore on the sand at the base of the cliff, still with the plank; but it appeared his wife found no other plank, for she could be heard calling her husband's name again and again over the waves, pleading for help, until at last, receiving no answer, her reproachful words — "Have you not been saved?" — lingered only at the bottom of his ears. At that moment, he could not even produce a voice to respond. In the end, he lost every member of his family and survived alone — and even now, when that same man recalls those moments, how bitterly hateful the familiar white-crested waves of that sea must seem to him.
**○ A child saved by being caught in the fork of a tree**
An infant of five years old, belonging to a schoolteacher named Kikuchi in Tōni, was at home with his parents when the tsunami struck and both parents drowned. The infant alone was caught in the fork of a tree in a neighboring house's garden and was not swept away by the waves. The following morning, those who came to search for survivors looked up at the tree, discovered the infant lodged there, and immediately helped him down. The child is said to be presently in Imaizumi, in the same district. (Illustration appears in the first volume.)
**[Right Page, Lower Section]**
**○ A child on a tatami mat**
In Honchō, Tōni Village, a boy of about eight years old was found sitting forlornly on a single tatami mat, drifting atop mountainous, raging waves for a full night and half a day. The following afternoon, someone discovered him and rushed to rescue him from atop the mat.
**○ Mistaking the tsunami for a thunderbolt and bolting the door**
Unnan Jizaburō of Honchō heard a tremendous sound just as the tsunami was about to strike, mistook it for a thunderclap, and in a panic bolted the doors and shut himself inside with his family. The house was smashed to pieces by the furious waves, and the entire family met a tragic end.
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**● Minamiihe District, the Same Prefecture**
**● Kamaishi Town**
**○ The gallant exertion of the Kamaishi Telegraph Station Chief**
The most devastating damage in this disaster occurred at Kamaishi, where five thousand people perished. The telegraph station chief, Murai Gizō, narrowly escaped drowning in the tsunami with his life, only to discover that his entire family had already drowned. An ordinary person, overwhelmed with grief, would have been left dazed and unable to act. But Murai, a man of naturally resolute character, believed that dying in the line of duty was precisely for moments such as this. Despite his overwhelming grief and pain, he summoned his courage, searched out an old telegraph machine that had fortunately escaped the flood, and at last succeeded in restoring telegraph communications from that location. This is truly said to be the result of his gallant and spirited exertion. Most admirable indeed.
**○ Fish on land**
After the tsunami receded at Kamaishi, fish were found leaping vigorously in puddles here and there, and shellfish and other marine creatures were scattered in great numbers in dry areas. The starving survivors competed with one another to eat them.
**○ Ships on land**
At Kamaishi, for the transport of pig iron, vessels including the *Daisan-maru*, the *Chōan-maru*, and the *Kaijō-maru*… [continues on next page]
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**[Left Page — Illustrations]**
**[Upper caption:]**
*Illustration of a woman from Funakoshi Village caught on the branch of a large tree with her abdomen torn open.*
**[Lower caption:]**
*Illustration of a man named Maekawa from Kamaishi being rescued by a squid-fishing boat.*