英語訳
**[Upper Section]**
(The person was caught up in the tsunami,) but fortunately suffered not even a scratch and was able to make it ashore. This must truly be called a stroke of miraculous fortune.
○ Ando (安渡) is a district incorporated into Ōtsuchi Town under the Municipal System. The degree of damage here was extremely severe; apart from a small portion on higher ground, it was nearly completely destroyed, and the scene of devastation was beyond words. The death toll is reported to have reached ninety-eight people.
○ Kirikiri (吉里吉里) was formed by combining two sub-districts — Akahama and Namiita — and, like Ando, was incorporated into Ōtsuchi Town. The damage in this area was also extremely severe, with so many deaths as to be beyond enumeration; its catastrophe yields nothing to that of Ando. Of Kirikiri's 160 households, 120 were washed away, with 288 deaths; of Akahama's 60 households, 12 were washed away, with 27 deaths; of Namiita's 27 households, 15 were washed away, with 58 deaths; the number of survivors was 38.
○ **A Married Couple Reunites on a Single Piece of Driftwood** A fisherman from Ōsuga named Nani Matsunosuke set out that night carrying his aged mother on his back, while his wife carried their nursing child of about two years, and fled together — only for the couple to become separated. Matsunosuke had his mother torn from his back by the raging waves, and clung desperately to a drifting house. At that very moment, his wife also came floating toward him, and the couple had a miraculous reunion, both surviving — which was fortunate — yet not only had they lost the old mother, but at the very instant the wife tried to climb up onto the house, the infant on her back was cruelly swept away by the fierce waves. The baby cried out one last "Hiiiii—!" before vanishing beneath the surface.
○ **I Just Want to Save Ichizō** The house of Sasaki Suekichi, who ran a rental lodging establishment in Ōsuga, was tossed and spun around by the violent waves as it drifted along. The thirteen household members (including six female entertainers) clung desperately to the second-floor railings and pillars, praying to the gods and Buddha, leaving their lives to fate. Meanwhile, a fisherman named Matsunosuke, carrying his aged mother on his back, latched onto the eaves of the second floor from the surging current — but at that very moment, his mother was swept away by the waves. Before they could even cry out, Matsunosuke's wife also came drifting up, carrying their two-year-old child on her back, and likewise grabbed hold of the eaves — whereupon the child let out one piercing scream and was once more snatched away by the raging waters. Amid the miraculous reunion of husband and wife, the grief of losing both mother and young child simultaneously nearly drove the couple to madness. Suekichi
**[Lower Section]**
did his utmost to pull them up to the second floor and tend to them. Suekichi's eldest daughter Osaki (age 17), even in the midst of this peril, cried out, weeping: "My younger brother Ichizō (age 15) went to play at the neighbors' an hour ago and hasn't returned — surely he cannot have survived. I have already resigned myself to death and don't mind dying, but I just want to save Ichizō!" Upon hearing this, Tsune (age 6), Suekichi's youngest daughter on his back, sobbed and clung to him: "Then is big brother dead? I promise I won't cause any more trouble — please save me, Father!" The whole group embraced one another, crying and screaming together. Meanwhile the waves grew ever more furious, and the house began to crack and crumble. Just as they had all resigned themselves to their fate, they were unexpectedly thrown up onto dry land, where two men — a certain Akasaki of Yokkaichi-machi and a certain Tōbai from Kamaishi — came running to rescue them. Ichizō, who had been presumed dead, had in fact fled to the hills, and there was a joyous reunion.
● Higashi-Hei District, same prefecture
● Funakoshi Village
○ **The Great Devastation of Funakoshi Village** The survivors could not obtain so much as a single grain of food, a single drop of soy sauce, or a single handful of salt, and were reduced to eating unripe barley. As this situation would lead to starvation within days, arrangements for relief were being made through Ōtsuchi Town.
○ **The Woman in the Tree** In the vicinity of Funakoshi Village, some were carried by the tsunami up onto the mountainside and had their skulls crushed against rocks, while others were caught in trees and had their bodies torn. Among them, one woman was caught on the branch of a large tree, her abdomen ripped open by the branch, and yet she remained alive until about ten o'clock the following morning (see illustration).
● Omoe Village
○ Omoe Village is a fishing village consisting of more than ten hamlets extending seven *ri* to the south of Miyako Bay. Facing the open sea directly, it appears to have been struck with extraordinary ferocity by the tsunami. In the main district of Omoe, more than sixty private residences were completely destroyed and more than two hundred residents killed, leaving no more than twenty survivors. In the sub-district of Otobe, of forty-two households, only a single house situated in the mountains remained; 203 people were swept away, along with 4 visitors from other villages, leaving only 23 alive. Every other hamlet in the village likewise suffered the same disaster without exception, and of the village's 232 households, a full 160 were swept away or destroyed—