“High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants.

Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis.

The waves stopped just 300 feet below the stone.

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Many carry simple warnings to drop everything and seek higher ground after a strong earthquake.

Others, such as the ones in Aneyoshi, specifically instruct where to build homes and where not to.

Unfortunately, in the bustle of modern life, many of these ancient warnings were forgotten or simply ignored.

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Others chose to disregard the warnings as coastal towns grew in the boom years after World War II.

Many of these were wiped out on March 11, 2011, along with hundreds of miles of coast.

One stone marker in the coastal city of Kesennuma read, “Always be prepared for unexpected tsunamis.

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Choose life over your possessions and valuables.”

It was a tightly knit community who revered their ancestors and their advice.

The first one stuck in 1896 and left only two survivors.

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The second tsunami stuck in 1933 that left four survivors.

Repeated tsunamis have swept away a large number of these stones.

At some places, new monuments were created to serve as tsunami warnings replacing the old stones.

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Photo credit: AP

A tsunami warning stone in Honshu.