Families praying for victims at early-morning ceremony held at exact time of earthquake (on January 17, 2015, in Awaji-shi, Hyogo Prefecture)
On January 17, 2015, tens of thousands of people in Hyogo Prefecture gathered at events to commemorate the victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. The memorial service to mark the 20th anniversary of the earthquake was also given in Awaji-shi, the city on the Awaji Island known for stock farming and growing onions and loquats, attended by a great number of people including quake-hit farmers. At 5:46 in the morning, the exact time of the earthquake, they prayed for the victims, reaffirming the importance of handing down the lessons learnt from the disasters from generation to generation.
The earthquake took the lives of 63 Awaji islanders including some who were living in the Awaji city. It also wrecked a great number of houses and did devastating damage to the agricultural industry on the Island. The service was held at the Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park, where an exposed fault line is preserved. It was a very windy and cold morning but more than 250 people attended the ceremony, laid flowers, sang for the victims, and floated paper lanterns to send off the sprits of the victims.
A farmer in Awaji-shi, Akiko Doi, 67, lost her husband in the earthquake. “My husband and I were trapped under the ruined house for two hours and I survived alone. I have been struggling to live since then. Thinking that exactly 20 years have passed from that day, I got a catch in the throat,” she said with tears in her eye.
Tadashi Ishida, President of Japan Agricultural Co-operative (JA) Awaji Hinode, also attended the ceremony. “For 20 years, which were long but short for us, we islanders worked really hard to recover the area, helping each other. We’ll keep the memory of the disaster from fading, keep praying for the victims, and continue working hard on the rehabilitation plans for local farmers and entire community,” he said.
(Jan. 18, 2015)