Structure

Ghosts of the Tsunami is divided into five parts, each of which contains several chapters which follow a certain theme or time period, depending on how the author chose to differentiate that part from the others. The book loosely follows a chronological order through which it introduces the tragedy at Okawa Primary School and then proceeds to unpack the truths and lies surrounding the entire matter and the ensuing court case. For the most part, however, the book follows a flowing structure and jumps back and forth in time as the author sees fit to introduce new information or a new person.

Part I is called “The School Beneath the Wave” and contains all of the chapters from “Having Gone, I Will Come” to “Jigoku.” It primarily serves to introduce the reader to the Okawa Primary School tragedy. Part II is called “Area of Search” and contains...