Newly Published Book Compiles Reporting by Child Reporters in Disaster-Struck Japan’s Miyagi Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:00 JST, March 8, 2026

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi — A book compiling the children’s newspaper reporting of elementary, junior high and high school students from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake was published ahead of the 15th anniversary of the disaster.

The book, titled “Ishinomaki Kodomo Kisha Damashii!” (The spirit of Ishinomaki’s child reporters!), is authored by Kaori Nakano.

The “Ishinomaki Hibi Kodomo Shimbun” (Ishinomaki Hibi Children’s Newspaper) was launched on March 11, 2012. The first issue, produced by 14 boys and girls ranging from fourth grade in elementary school to the second year of high school, expressed gratitude for the preparation of baths and free meals at evacuation centers. Twenty thousand copies of the four page broadsheet were distributed to citizens.

Michiko Ota, 57, founder of the general incorporated association “Kodomo Mirai Kenkyusho,” which oversees the newspaper’s publication said, “I remember the children’s delighted expressions when it was printed.” She began volunteering in her disaster-stricken hometown of Ishinomaki, but was troubled about the children’s lack of smiling. She wanted to give them a way to express their true feelings.

The Ishinomaki Hibi Shimbun, which had continued publishing handwritten wall newspapers immediately after the disaster, agreed to handle the printing of the children’s newspaper.

In 14 years, more than 200 children have participated in working on the paper. The newspaper is now published in a tabloid format. The most recent 47th edition, dated March 11, features the activities of people such as traditional kataribe storytellers.

Ota said, “Although now the reporters are all children who didn’t experience the disaster themselves, we want to keep passing on lessons [learned from the disasters to future generations].”

The book published by Say-Zan-Sha Publications Ltd. this year is 160 pages and priced at ¥1,650 including tax.