Survivor of March 11 Quake in Japan Reflects on Day of Disaster; A Police Officer Works to Pass on Lessons Learned

By Hiroki Minai / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

15:04 JST, March 11, 2025

FUKUSHIMA — Kei Saito, a police officer with the Fukushima prefectural police, sees it as his mission to share the lessons learned from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, as he is a survivor of the massive tsunami that followed the quake.

On March 11, 2011, Saito, now 40, attended his graduation ceremony at the Fukushima prefectural police school and was on his way to his new post when the earthquake struck.

He has spent the last 14 years asking himself what his life’s purpose is since surviving.

As he is a police officer, he sees the preciousness of life every single day.

Saito has never forgotten what happened to him during the March 11 disaster.

After the graduation ceremony, he headed for the Soma Police Station, where he was to be assigned.

When a large tremor hit at 2:46 p.m., the train he was riding on the JR Joban Line made an emergency stop at Shinchi Station.

He remembers his body floating in the air as if he were on a trampoline. He saw the station building collapse and the dust rise.

Saito, who was wearing a suit, showed his police identification to the passengers on the train and he, as well as other police officers on the train, checked to make sure everyone was safe.

He learned that a major tsunami warning had been issued for the coastal areas. He spoke with the train conductor to allow about 40 passengers to evacuate to the town hall, which was located on higher ground about 1 kilometer to the west.

Saito persuaded some reluctant people to evacuate. As he helped an elderly woman at the back of the line, he saw a terrifying sight — a wall of water slowly approaching.

He braced himself for death, thinking, “If we keep walking at this pace, we’ll get caught in it.”

He saw a driver of a light truck and asked them to give him and about 10 passengers who were in the back of the line a ride.

They huddled together in the back of the truck. A few seconds after the truck started moving, they heard a loud crash and saw the train completely engulfed by the tsunami. The train’s body bent into a U-shape.

Saito’s entire group, including those at the front of the line, made it to higher ground and survived.

Saito, who is originally from Fukushima, studied criminal psychology at a university and became a police officer.

He initially wanted to become a detective, but after the earthquake, he hoped to work in a field that was more directly connected to the lives of ordinary people.

He has worked in the traffic division of the prefectural police for a long time and now has subordinates, as he is a team leader in the Iwaki Branch of the Expressway Traffic Police Unit. Whenever he goes to the scene of a fatal accident, he is reminded of the preciousness of life.

While working as an officer, Saito has given about 80 lectures at police schools, junior high schools and companies, sharing his experience of the earthquake.

Gradually, Saito said he began to think: “By telling the story of what I’ve experienced, I’ll be able to pass the baton in the relay of life. This is my life’s mission since surviving.”

“There’s no point if my story just ends with an act of heroism,” he added. “I sincerely hope that my experience will trigger people to think about disasters.”

Saito still keeps in touch with some of the passengers from that day.

He received a New Year’s card again this year from an elderly woman in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, whom he helped escape the tsunami.

The card read: “I’m living the life you saved. Thank you.”

Saito wrote in his New Year’s card, “I will continue to work hard this year to pass on the baton in the relay of life to as many people as possible.”