Pope embraces student from Fukushima

Pope Francis embraces Matsuki Kamoshita at a gathering of survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake held in Tokyo on Monday. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Pope Francis attended a gathering on Monday in Tokyo of survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and one of the participants was a 17-year-old student who suffered from bullying in Tokyo, where he had evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture after a nuclear disaster related to the quake.

It was second-year high school student Matsuki Kamoshita's second meeting with the pope since March, and Kamoshita vowed to keep sharing information on issues involving disaster-hit areas.

"I had had tough days that made me want to die," recalled Kamoshita, who voluntarily evacuated from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, to Tokyo after the 2011 nuclear accident triggered by the quake.

At an elementary school in Tokyo, Kamoshita was treated like a "germ" by his schoolmates, and the harsh experience made him feel that he did not want to live.

He enrolled in a junior high school outside Tokyo and lied to his schoolmates by telling them that he was from Tokyo. But then he began suffering from not being able to share with anyone his hardship in living as an evacuee.

Kamoshita was encouraged by a Catholic acquaintance last autumn to send a letter to the pope seeking relief. In March, he was able to meet the pope at the Vatican. Kamoshita asked the pope in English to come to Fukushima and pray for people there. The pope nodded calmly. Given a supportive push, Kamoshita decided to talk about his experience and allow his name to be published.

During a speech at the gathering on Monday, Kamoshita referred to his experience of being bullied and of post-disaster reconstruction work that remains only half done.

"It's impossible to fully convey our suffering. Please pray together," he said.

After the speech, the pope and Kamoshita embraced.

"Do you remember? We can meet each other again," said the pope. His words moved the student to tears.

Kamoshita was excited to hear the pope's speech, in which he called the gathering a great support for victims of the quake.

"I would like to keep talking about problems that sufferers have at such events as lectures," Kamoshita said.

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