We slept the wrong side of this wall which are being rebuilt and extended all along the east coast of Japan. There are tannoys everywhere in all the towns to announce 7am, 9am, midday and 5pm. Initially this felt disconcerting, as if we were being told to get up, start work, eat lunch and then to finish the working day, but we quickly realised this was to reassure everyone that the tsunami alerts systems were in place, working and ready to let everyone know when to evacuate to higher ground.

Everywhere the road signs indicate when you are in a low lying tsunami risk areas. Heights from sea level and distances to the coastline are marked with a graphic of a breaking wave incase there’s any doubt about what’s being communicated.