Iwaki 3.11 Memorial and Revitalization Museum (Miraikan), Aug. 19, 2020. (いわき震災伝承みらい館 2020年8月19日)


Today, I visited 3.11 Memorial Museum Miraikan at Usuiso, Iwaki City. It was located on the foot of Shioyazaki Light House, and in the back of Usuiso seaside beach. Both are popular attractions in the area. The museum opened this year for passing down the memories and lessons of the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, as well as showcasing the revitalization of the region. One of the temporary exhibits was a “miracle piano”, shown above, which suffered severe damage from the tsunami and lost the sound, but afterward was repaired by a local tuner in the city. There were scars on the surface but the gentle sound resumed. The piano had been placed in a gym of Toyoma Middle School at the time.
本日は、いわき市薄磯にあるいわき震災伝承みらい館に行きました。塩屋崎灯台の麓にあり、薄磯海岸の裏に位置します。今年オープンし、東日本大震災と津波被害の事実と教訓、それに復興を後世に伝えるためのものです。臨時の展示品として、写真の「奇跡のピアノ」がありました。津波がかぶり音が出なくなりましたが、地元の調律師が修復させました。外観の傷はありますが、音は蘇りました。ピアノは、当時豊間中学校の体育館に設置されていたものです。

A picture above shows Shioyazaki Light House near the center, an attraction site in the area, and the museum building toward bottom right. The picture was taken from a bus stop “Todai-iriguchi” which was the nearest bus stop by a local bus from JR Iwaki Station. It was about 30-minute bus ride through Iwaki countryside with green rice fields on both sides.
上の写真は、中央近くに塩屋崎灯台、右下にみらい館が見えます。写真は、「灯台入口」バス停から撮りました。JRいわき駅から路線バスで、ここが最寄りバス停になります。バスは、いわきの郊外の田んぼ道の中を約30分進みます。

A picture above was a view of the Pacific Ocean with Usuiso beach in the middle and disaster prevention green belt in front. Due to coronavirus outbreak there were few people on the beach. This picture was taken from an observation deck on the 2nd floor of the museum.
写真は、太平洋と中間に薄磯海岸、手前に防災林地帯が写っています。海岸は、コロナで閉じていて人は殆どいません。みらい館2階の展望デッキから撮りました。

Photo above shows the entrance and exterior of the museum building.
みらい館の入口と外観の写真です。

A sign board stood on site that said tsunami wave was 8.51m at the time and the ground where the museum stands now is 10.3m above sea level.
看板が立っていて、この場所は8.51mの津波が襲い、みらい館の土地は海抜10.3mと書かれていました。

There was a blackboard display on which many messages were written by the grads of Toyoma Middle School, where graduation ceremony took place just in the morning of 3.11.
写真の黒板の展示があり、これは豊間中学校の卒業生の寄せ書きでした。大震災当日の午前中に、卒業式が行われたばかりでした。

There were many display panels for passing down and learning the facts of the 3.11 earthquake disaster. One of them shows the seismic intensity at the time over the wide area in eastern Japan triggered by M9.0 earthquake as shown above.
震災の事実や教訓を伝えるパネルがたくさん展示されており、例えば写真のような当時の東日本一帯の震度記録もありました。
The museum was taking thorough measures against coronavirus such as body temperature check, hand sanitizing, registering name and other information of the visitors, providing groves for touch panels.
みらい館では、コロナ対策を念入りにやっていました。入口での体温チェック、手消毒、入場者の名前他の登録、タッチパネル用の手袋など。
The exact route and locations are shown in the map below. The map can be scaled up and down with a click and scroll.
ルートと場所は、下の地図を参照ください。地図は、クリックとスクロールで、拡大・縮小が可能です。
