2011 Japan Tsunami - Kesennuma City, Fish Market. (Full Footage) 

Videos like this one should be preserved for future generations, thank you for archiving them

I watch these videos regularly to keep myself grounded. To remind me that whatever problem I have, there are people who are worse off and have bigger problems to deal with. I know the Japanese people are still recovering from this catastrophe and have achieved so much since. My heart, thoughts and respect I send to you all.

I have visited some of these impacted areas twice over the past few years. The Japanese people worked so hard to rebuild and bring life back to these areas. Very resilient and absolutely impressive!

After all these years and all the times I've watched these videos, my heart still races, I still cry, and I just can't wrap my brain around what I am seeing. My mother - who was Japanese - always told me, "When you see the ocean retreat, run for the hills or the highest place you can find. A tsunami is coming." She lived through so much; as a child running through the streets of Tokyo to get to a bomb shelter, being sent to the countryside to her Uncle's farm to keep from starvation, losing her mother during the war, coming to the States.......... Despite all the tribulations the Japanese people have gone through, they are resilient, maintaining their grace and move forward.

I CANT BELIEVE AFTER 11 year these videos are still so crazy too watch i must say they are the calmest people and so brave and strong

I used to think as a kid that a tsunami was just one massive wave hitting once, then done. But this is actually far more terrifying and mind-blowing. I can't imagine what these people experienced.

I was in the Air Force stationed in Japan in 2011 when this happened. It was absolutely horrible to see the damage the tsunami caused when we were sent out to do search and rescue missions.

その日は仕事で東京にいました。非難しながら携帯でニュースを見て手が震えました。 何回、何十回、何百回、何千回 見ても衝撃を受ける…。 しかもその日の夜や翌日、その後の映像まで…

Even though this happened 12 years ago it's still terrifying and devastating to watch, there's really no words that can express the horror these people must've been dealing with! My heart goes out to every single one of them that was impacted, survived and died in this horrible thing!

So much complete destruction. Survival from the earthquake, then survival from the tsunami. Then surviving the loss of everything and everyone you knew and loved. It was so tragic.

Thank you for the footage, especially because you risked your own life capturing it. Also I am so sorry for the victims involved.

I came here to watch these videos after visiting Japan recently, I have nothing but respect for Japanese people and their resilience and hard work to rebuild their country. May this never happen again to any nation.

I cannot seem to wrap my head around the sight of such a massive deluge of water swallowing everything in a real life footage! Each time I watch this I get a better sense of how massive this tsunami was!

私はトルコから日本人に愛を送ります. 私たちはあなたをとても愛しています. あなたは本当に善良で文化的な人々です. トルコ人として, 私は日本人を愛しています.🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷

I was here in 2011 several months after the tsunami, and I was just floored at the scale of the destruction. Much of what is seen in here was cleared out, but I have photos I took of several buildings (the Shell station near the giant boat in Shiriori, for example, as well as the Coast Guard building) and saw them in the video. I’ve never seen any of the footage in here before, and I watched everything I could find - in English AND Japanese. Thanks for putting this together, it’s very impressive.

The emergency siren noise, eerily calm weather, and a gradual and steady fast intensity. Life is the Movie we all are apart of

The power of the ocean. I sailed it for years.

One's mind has difficulties processing what the eyes are seeing! The sheer magnitude of the event is almost beyond comprehension, the once familiar landscape now unrecognisable. This video serves a very important historical document, recording the unimaginable events of that day, which forever changed the country and its people...

Successful people don't become that way overnight.most people you see as a glance-wealth, a great career, purpose-is the result of hard work and hustle over time. I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life.....

What can’t be communicated from a video is the stench following major flooding events like this. Rotting fish (if near oceans) and food (from fridges/freezers), garbage, sewage (human waste from flooded out sewer systems), diesel fuel and whatever else you can imagine. As a retired Homeowner Insurance estimator flood claims were some of the nastiest I/we had to deal with. Horribly tragic.

So many people not only lost loved ones, their whole families but also everything they owned, their lively hood and their communities. The footage is horrifying to watch but to watch it all unfold before your eyes is on a totally different level.

After 11 yrs. I still feel for these people . The memories remain . The Japanese are a beautiful people and resilient .

Japanese people are so resilient they had three horrific events that day and they picked them selfs right back up I have ALOT of respect for them ✌️🇬🇧👍

The best video about the tsunami I have seen yet... and I have watched most of them! My thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people 🙏

Wow. I watched a lot of live coverage on this back when I was a freshman in college. I remember actually skipping class because of how mind blowing this was.

The amount of water displaced was just unfathomable. So much power and force at work.

The fact the Japanese recovered from this is inspiring. Such heart breaking devastation...

I wonder if those guys on the two fishing boats survived, probably not judging by the immense power of that water streaming in. It was surreal watching them both try to leave the harbour just as the tsunami started to come in. Were they choosing to ignore the warnings and carry on with their work or were they just trying to save their boats by going out to sea before it arrived, if so they tragically miscalculated how quickly the Tsunami would come.

This is still spine-tingling to watch. You really have to respect such incredible power.

I always had the idea in my head that a Tsunami was a giant single wave that swept inland. When in reality it's more like an extremely high tide. Cool to see and learn but terrifying for the people that had to live through it!

🇹🇷😢bir daha olmaz inşallah 🙏 sizleri seviyoruz 🇯🇵

My wife and i were living in our home on the North Eastern coast of Cebu Philippines when this earthquake and following tsunami occurred near Japan. The authorities in our area, made an announcement by vehicle loud speaker warning that the tsunami could reach the Philippines in a couple of hours. We immediately went in our vehicle to high ground for a couple of hours. As far as i know, our neighbours right alongside the sea, just stayed in their houses.

We think that these towns were rebuilt and life carries on but it's not like a replica of each town was reconstructed - that would be both impractical and impossible. How strange it must feel if 50% or more of the town you grew up in was destroyed and replaced by new buildings, so that within a short time, a whole new town appeared and only the mountains surrounding you were familiar. Maybe the main roads stayed the same, but the skyline, the buildings, shops and parks must have been altered greatly. The shortcuts and alleyways you knew, maybe your neighbours, the woods, all gone and replaced. The memory of the town you remember mixed with the image of the town you now see - it's hard to imagine how that must feel

Probably watched this 50 times and how everything can change in minutes is unreal

The fact that there was only 14,000 killed by this tsunami in all of Japan is mind boggling. Feels like there should be 100,000 killed in this one city.

Watching this reminds us to enjoy our time on Earth. Live in peace, harmony and joy. Our time here is too short. You never know what could happen in a second.

Finally a new video about the disaster in Japan 2011, haven't seen this before. The worst thing is that nothing to do about the big fire.

A floating dock from this event, ended up on a beach in Oregon. The power of water is truly scary.

I remember watching documentaries on tsunamis in the late 1990s. At the time there wasn't much by way of footage at all, except for grainy film of the Alaskan tsunami in the 1960's, and that footage by no means captured the actual influx of the water. The Boxing Day and Japanese tsunamis allow us to now understand how the destruction occurs.

Shows just how fragile life is. Looking at the world now seeing just how badly people treat each other. Such a shame

I thought I had watched every single 2011 video a 100 times each. I can't believe I've never seen this particular low angle before! Absolutely mind-blowing.

God bless these people for everything they went through. I can't even imagine...

Drowning is my worst fear ever since I jumped in an adult pool by mistake as a kid that was extremely deep. The panic I felt realising I was so far down was the worst feeling I’ve felt but luckily a coastguard had seen me and got me out just as I felt seconds away from breathing in water. I feel so bad for all the people who had to deal with this, the fear of seeing the ocean rush at you and your town with such force with absolutely no time to prepare and nothing you can do must be awful. I really hope they have managed to rebuild and recover best they could. I’ve just seen the date on my phone. 11 of March that’s eerie , 12 years ago today this happened. Pray🙏🏻 ❤💜❤️✌🏻

I'm in awe of the massive power of mother nature . And we are so small and helpless against her.

It is so creepy when the whirlpools start. It seems the water is going in two directions at once

A natureza é implacável. Dá mto medo . Pior de tido é a perca de vidas . Parabéns pelo vídeo. 🇧🇷

Gosh, I can't get my head around the sheer volume of water - gives a small sense of the energy released by the quake.

It's unbelievable the amount of energy required to move this much water in such a short amount of time. I still cannot wrap my head around it and I still to this day feel for the Japanese people who lost their homes, communities and loved ones in this disaster. I am sorry you had to experience this.

Не дай Бог никому такого!🙏 Природу не победишь! 😢 Мое восхищение силой духа японцев!

Funny how this came across my feed!! I was there, of course. March 11, 2011. We first responded from Malaysia, and got to Japan (where I lived) in three days. When I saw Kesennuma, fishing port, it was in ruins. One truck was thrown against the back wall like a toy. Our craft could now beach where the quaywall used to be 8 feet above sea level. Now it WAS at sea level so we could pick up the engineers and their trucks, which were radioactive. We went to Oshima Island to get the residents food, water and get the electricity going. We did this for about two weeks. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen, and the residents were grateful- they had no power for ten days, and it was freezing. BTW, that LCU the 1634? I was the craft navigator on that boat. We were embarked on the USS Essex for Spring patrol at the time. I can say without a doubt this was the most frightening thing I have ever seen. I left Japan in 2012 after living there twice over a period of six years.

i still cant believe when you first posted this in february (before it got taken down), we were a day apart when we posted these. and we didn't even know eachother!

If you've ever looked at the edge of The Niagara Falls....the power of water forces is amazing. Reminds me of this.

Just...WOW! I just don’t have the words! Great footage, scary as hell too. Thanks so much for posting this!🙀🇺🇸

To this day I have felt overwhelmed by the destruction that the tsunami caused and the people who were killed, injured and displaced. The one thing it shows is the resilience of the Japanese people. 👍🏻😁🇦🇺

My thoughts are with the good people who are still recovering from this absolute tragedy, all these years after.

I always wondered where the ferry ended up. Now o know, sad but great video. Thank you.

It's crazy how much chaos we tend to forget

i have so much love and Aloha for the people of Japan who went thru and endured this very tragic natural disaster. they are still healing from their losses and overcoming their suffering. love you Japan!

貴重な映像ありがとうございます

私はインドネシア出身ですが、日本の兄に起こった災害に深い悲しみと悲しみを感じています。

This is one of the most astounding videos I’ve seen of this event. The powerful eddies seen in the middle distance around the left hand point shown in the early moments is caused by the rush of waster being detained from the harbour as the tsunami approaches land. The awesome power indicated by this alone is mind numbing. What follows is beyond words. 4:14 OMG! Here it comes! 15:00 After witnessing the tsunami and then the fires at night must have truly felt like the end of the world.

The air siren sends chills down my spine. RIP all those who perished.

Watching the current develop as the water exits and then reverses with the speed increasing such that the outbound fishing boats can't make forward speed is one thing. But then the final rush is something out of my civil engineering hydraulics course BUT ON A GIANT SCALE. It's been a long time since I watched the videos for days of the power of a tsunami. Deep respect to the Japanese and so sorry for the loss of life and damage.

What chaos. Otherwise, what resilience these great Japanese people possess!❤️❤️❤️

That was heartbreaking. Really did feel bad for our friends in Japan. Much love from Texas.

Foi muito triste, pois muitos perderam suas vidas, seus bens, foi devastador, como tudo aqui neste mundo, mas o tempo faz com que tudo volta o normal, o bem mais precioso e a vida daqueles que foram, e não volta mais. E muito triste. Foi uma tragédia.

🇹🇷🇯🇵 başımızdan gelen bir çok iyilik ve kötü olaylarda insan büyüyor. Başımız sağolsun ölenlere rahmet kalanlara sabır.

These were the first videos of good quality that documented a powerful tsunami.

Over the years I have watched hundreds of hours of video of this tragic event. Yours is the first time I've seen the destruction taken from a boat on the water. Good job and God Bless the people of Japan!

New sub, Ive always been so curious of nature, Tsunamis have got to be the most devastating. I try to watch all natural phenomenons to see there cause and effect. To see how people react to such a power. To learn what to watch for or how to escape. Its truly devasting and my heart goes out to all involved. Heartbreaking. Blessings and Thanx for sharing.

Still terrified to watch it even it's been 12 years since the tragedy occured...

亡くなられた方、安らかにお眠りください。 日本は世界的にみても災害がとても多く、そう言った現象ひとつひとつに神の存在を信じ、八百万の神として信仰してきました。 だからこそ、人間の力で抗うことが出来ないのだと、受け入れ、耐え、忘れ、不屈の精神で生きてきた。 こんなに悲惨な災害が起きても、東北の人は今も負けずに、強く生きているのでしょうね。 たくさんの悲しみがあったと思うけど、その分たくさんの幸せを噛み締めているのでしょう。 同じ日本人として、311は忘れられないし、忘れてはならない。 共に負けずに頑張ります。

This is madness, at first it all looks so harmless!

311經過這麼多年了、看一次難過一次，人無法跟大自然對抗、天祐日本🇯🇵

The slow crescendo is terrifying. It's just keeps getting more intense until everything is under water.

I just cant comprehend the utter tragedy and despair these people must have felt and are still experiencing 😢

Imagine the next day thinking "Well I guess we better start clearing up." How would you even start?

あの悲しくて悲劇的な日に人々が経験した感情の半分を想像することさえできません.

SUPERB, but very distressing, footage. I can only imagine your horror at losing EVERYTHING... Thank you for documenting the incredible destruction. I have watched the Kesennuma school clips from inland, up the river, multiple times (and seen the white kappa fleeing the tsunami up and over rooftops - like both the black and white kappa fleeing the fields in the Sendai aerial vids). But, I had never seen THIS footage. What most impressed me, were a) the resilience of the Japanese people, b) the "let's get it done" attitude - the next day, clothing and bedding were already washed and neatly hung, drying in the March 12th (my bday) sun, and c) the honesty and integrity of the Japanese - I saw/ heard of very little thieving from stores. I contrast that with the hurricane/ flooding in Houston, Texas, where I watched all sorts of videos of people breaking into the stores and stealing every thing from TVs & other electronics, to expensive sneakers. Really? You have no food or clean water, and you steal sneakers? How incredibly low - as the store employees and owners are ALSO suffering in the flooding. Anyway, there was very little of this in Japan (though I understand some looting did occur). The 13th anniversary has just passed, and I so hope that folks are healing, and recovering, and returning wiser and stronger. All best wishes from this Canuck!

It hurts my heart that no one mentions how many beautiful animals were lost in this event. They matter.

We had some destructive quakes in New Zealand the same year as this one happened in japan. News from Japan put us even more on edge and every time we had a decent sized quake, our coastal suburbs would be evacuating n middle of night just in case. These videos gave us nightmares. Some unfortunate Japanese migrants went back to japan after our first big quake, only to be home in Japan at time of their quake too 😢 horrific.

2011那一年 我在北京正忙着出国留学的事情，很少很少看电视关注新闻，只有听说日本发生了大地震，但是并没有看到影像记录。多年后的今天 看了netflix的unsolved mysteries关于日本海啸这一集，才看到真实的画面…😭整个人已经哭到无法呼吸… 竟然带走了近2万人，那么多无法安息的灵魂，活着的人比死去的人更加的痛苦，而我们今天依然为那一次的灾难付出沉重的代价…… 太令人悲痛了。

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this! These videos allow those who study the tsunami phenomenon to greatly improve their understanding. You are an angel😇 to the study of sub-sea earthquakes. My sincerest compliments!!!

Terrible témoignage du tsunami de 2011 et de ses ravages !! Merci pour ce partage. Il en faut du courage pour affronter tout cela et se projeter dans le futur…. 🙏🙏🙏

Thanks for uploading!😭

This Is the first time I’m seeing this footage and I’ve looked up lots of videos regarding this tsunami but this one never popped up in my searches and now today it gets randomly recommended to me

Anyone who lived through this horrific event will carry it with them for the rest of their lives. May God give them strength. 🙏

11 yıl önce canlı yayında izlediğim bu görüntüler çok korkunçtu. Şimdi güzel ülkem Türkiye acı içinde. Canım ülkem artık acıların son bulsun.

The person who filmed this has done an amazing job getting the tragedy across. Thank you.

At 9:32 - if you look in the upper part of the picture in the "smooth" water... there is a white line that shoots across the entire channel (right to left). Does anyone know what that could be?

Как это страшно. И пугает полная беспомощность и абсолютное бессилие перед разгулом стихии.

They had built a sea wall, specifically to ward off flooding from tsunami's, but it was not built quite high enough. They never thought it could be this bad.

Wow! That's my response to this type of footage every time I see it. Feel so bad for the ones it affected. So sad.

11 yıl geçmiş, rastladığım bütün videoları belgesel olarak indirdim hala içim burkularak izliyorum.

BOY THAT WATER SURE TRAVELS FAST.

Çok gecmiş olsun Japonya 🇯🇵 sizi çok seviyorum

So many souls were lost, we can't imagine what you all went through, but my wife and I think about what has been taken 🇬🇧❤️ Our throughs from the UK

Can you imagine being on a boat while the tide is getting pulled back and you're just kinda stuck on there? No escape? Big fear.

its sad thinking how many animals and people are in that deluge

Strange how often fires follow flooding. The night scenes of the fires will stay with me for a long time. Even though they are destructive they seem oddly peaceful as the dead-still water reflects their brilliant glow. It is all just a reminder that when Nature moves man has no power to stand in her way.