Fifty-one minutes after the earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, a massive wall of water inundated the grounds of the Ishinomaki Municipal Okawa Elementary School in Miyagi Prefecture, killing 74 pupils, 10 staff and the school bus driver.

Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone, by Richard Lloyd Parry.288 pagesJONATHAN CAPE, Nonfiction.

The school was located a full 5 kilometers from the seashore and, had the victims only climbed the hill towering above the school, all of their deaths could have been avoided.