The residents of Murohama village in Japan were able to evacuate safely after the 2011 tsunami because of a 1,000-year-old story passed down through generations. The story described how two tsunami waves collided at a hill 1,142 years earlier, killing those who had taken refuge there. On March 11, 2011, rather than going to the hill, residents evacuated farther inland as the story had warned. At least one person died despite most heeding the ancient warning. The enduring oral history from long ago helped save lives from the modern-day disaster in a way that new warning systems did not.