The Bravery Of Firefighter Fujio Koshita
Naoko KawamuraMourners visit the cemetery where hero Fujio Koshita is memorialized in Otsuchi, Japan.
When the earthquake hit the town of Otsuchi in northeastern Japan, thousands of residents were relegated to the whims of fate, including one firefighter who climbed to the station’s roof. There, 57-year-old Fujio Koshita rang the alarm that alerted locals to evacuate because of the impending tsunami — and died after saving countless lives.
The fishing village of 15,000 was cataclysmically situated at the epicenter of the magnitude-9.0 tremor on March 11, 2011. Koshita was already on the roof when his peers arrived. During the electrical blackout, he waved them off and rang an old-fashioned bell kept in storage as a backup for the station’s siren.
“I think he was desperate to save as many people as possible,” said Toru Suzuki, a 41-year-old colleague of Koshita, according to Dawn. “Fujio was trustworthy. He was like a Japanese of old, very scrupulous. He often talked to us about the spirit of firefighting.”
Koshita defied regulations by remaining steadfast and ringing his bell, which echoed across the village for several minutes before the colossal waves arrived. He routinely recorded such tremors. According to another peer named Akira Sasaki, Koshita responded with the last one with utmost bravery.
“On March 11, I was busy guiding factory workers to higher ground, and I yelled to him, ‘I’m sorry I can’t follow you,'” recalled Sasaki. “Koshita replied, ‘It’s alright. I will take care of it from here.'”
While Koshita’s bravery allowed countless people to evacuate in time and escape with their lives, the loyal firefighter tragically died when tidal waves barreled through his village. After sweeping over the beach and forging inland to swallow the station, the water consumed the watch tower and Koshita himself.
The natural disaster saw 540 locals killed and 1,051 others missing forever. Nationwide, the death toll was nearly 20,000 people — while more than 2,500 others were never seen again. Koshita’s body was never found, but his sacrifice is now regularly honored by affected families as they pass by the rebuilt firehouse.
