Inquiry-Based Learning Expands as Students Visit Disaster Sites

Dec 27, 2025 | News On Japan

IWATE, Dec 27, 2025 (News On Japan) - Field-based learning that takes students out of the classroom and into real-world settings is gaining traction in Japanese education, with students from Dalton Tokyo Junior and Senior High School and Minerva University in the United States visiting the Unosumai district of Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture in November as part of an inquiry-based learning program to trace the aftermath of the March 11 disaster.

During the visit, the students walked through areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, when tsunami waves reaching nearly nine meters in height overwhelmed Kamaishi’s coastal defenses, destroying seawalls and leaving more than 1,000 people dead or missing. The program was designed to help students deepen their understanding of the disaster by observing the sites firsthand rather than learning solely through classroom instruction.

One of the guides, Anju Kawasaki, was a second-year student at Kamaishi Higashi Junior High School at the time of the disaster. Following evacuation drills practiced regularly at school, she immediately headed for higher ground at an elevation of about 50 meters and narrowly escaped the tsunami. As they listened to her account, the visiting students carefully observed their surroundings, reflecting on the scale of the destruction and the importance of disaster preparedness learned through direct experience rather than textbooks.

Source: 産経ニュース

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