Olympic volunteers strive to share stories of 3/11 disaster Atsushi Muramatsu's handmade flyers are the size of a business card, written in several languages. "Welcome to Miyagi Stadium," one reads. "The gymnasium next door was the largest morgue for tsunami victims." On March 11, 2011, the magnitude 9.0 quake sent a tsunami that triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The disaster heavily damaged coastal neighborhoods and took more than 18,000 lives in all, with around 10,000 people killed in Miyagi prefecture. Over a decade after the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan, the Tokyo Games were supposed to offer a chance to showcase how much has been rebuilt. They were even billed as the "Recovery and Reconstruction Games," and the Olympic torch relay started from Fukushima prefecture, the heart of the nuclear disaster area. But the coronavirus pandemic means few spectators are coming to any of the Olympic events, including soccer and baseball, being held here. That leaves some Olympic volunteers having to find their own ways to recount their experiences to those rare fans who pass through, as well as members of the media. The stadium has a capacity of 49,000, but because of the pandemic, it's one of the few venues that allow up to 10,000 spectators. Photos by AP
