Monday marked 10 years since the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, which killed 185 people, including 28 Japanese. The bereaved offered prayers for the victims at a memorial gathering held at Toyama College of Foreign Languages in Toyama, as 12 of its students lost their lives while studying English there.
At 8:51 a.m. Japan time, the time when the earthquake occurred, about 100 people who included the college's current students and bereaved families offered a silent prayer and laid flowers.
Kazuo Horita, who lost his then 19-year-old daughter Megumi, could not attend a memorial gathering in Christchurch because of travel restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I felt like I was taken back to 10 years ago," he said after the gathering. "I couldn't go to [Christchurch], but no matter where I am, I remember my daughter and grieve."
Naohiro Kanamaru's daughter Kayo was learning English in a six-story building that collapsed when the earthquake struck the New Zealand city. She was 19.
"Not a day has gone by in the past 10 years that I don't think about Kayo," he said. "Her birthday is in February, and I feel depressed every year."
As a high school student, Kayo was a member of a dance team for the professional basketball team, the Toyama Grouses. Kanamaru said he will never forget when his daughter made it on the team. Kayo was so happy, she rushed out of her room, he said.
He drove her to practices and games, and she would often tell him about her dreams, saying that she wanted to find work that would let her use her English abilities.
"She was such a caring daughter. I would drink every day, and she would tell me to give my liver a rest," he said.
In February last year, Kanamaru met with Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel when she visited Japan. The mayor apologized for the first time for having approved the construction of the building that collapsed.
"I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest," he said.
Kanamaru initially planned to attend the gathering in Christchurch with his wife but gave up on the idea due to the pandemic. The couple attended the event in Toyama, instead.
"I felt connected, and I told her we had come back to visit her," he said. "I pray we can meet her again somewhere."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
