Municipalities in the Higashi Mikawa region in Aichi Prefecture have been busy examining records of major earthquakes and tsunami that hit the region in the past.

Last August, four cities in proximity to Mikawa Bay and the Sea of Enshu — Toyohashi, Toyokawa, Tahara and Gamagori — came up with ¥4.2 million to pay the Higashi Mikawa Regional Research Center in Toyohashi to conduct the research.

The study has found paintings, texts and stories passed down depicting situations such as countless fishing boats swallowed up by tsunami and disaster-stricken residents getting relief rice.