The remaining foundations of homes damaged by the tsunami are preserved at this site, located about seven minutes on foot from Ruins of the Great East Japan Earthquake: Sendai Arahama Elementary School. The site aims to convey the terror of the tsunami and preserve the memory of residents’ lives and the community that thrived here before the disaster, as well as raise awareness of disaster readiness. Explanatory signboards explain the threat of a tsunami and provide photographs and testimonies of the community life that was lost in Arahama. By viewing the actual foundations of destroyed houses, visitors can get a visceral sense of the true extent of the tsunami damage.
Also located on the site is the “Arahama Memory Bell,” a monument built in tribute to those who lost their lives in the Great East Japan Earthquake that aims to ensure that Arahama will never be forgotten. The maximum height of the tsunami that hit Arahama that day is said to have reached 13.7 meters (measured from traces of dead pine trees immediately after the disaster), which is represented by the distance from the spherical stone (engraved with “13.7 m”) that leads to the monument. By visiting this site, visitors can get a felt sense of the massiveness of the tsunami.