KYOTO -- Messages sent to her daughter's smartphone have gone unread for the 10 and-a-half months since an arson attack on Kyoto Animation Co. studio killed 36 people, including Mikiko Watanabe.
Watanabe's mother, 69, spoke to the media for the first time since losing her daughter. The suspect was arrested, but her sense of loss has not healed.
She used to receive phone calls from her daughter, then 35, every night. This tradition was suddenly halted in July last year when the incident occurred at the company, popularly known as KyoAni.
"We got a call from Fushimi Police Station. The suspect was arrested in hospital at 7:18 a.m."
On the morning of May 27, she received a call from the Kyoto prefectural police, which reported the arrest of the arson suspect Shinji Aoba. She then texted a message to her daughter's LINE account. The message will never be read, but after the attack, it became her habit to send her daughter messages with updates on the family.
Watanabe worked for the TV animation series "Violet Evergarden" and its movie version, among other productions, as an art director in charge of background paintings. She also lectured at KyoAni's professional training course.
"It is definitely worth learning because there's an excitement that can only be experienced doing animation backgrounds," she is quoted as saying on the company's site.
Watanabe was always interested in painting since she was a child and chose to pursue it as a career after graduating from high school.
"I was a bit concerned," the mother said, recalling that back then she thought such a career would "not be enough to make a living."
Although she initially opposed her daughter, she eventually decided to support her when her daughter told her again she wanted to go to an animation school upon graduating from university.
"My daughter never gave up and continued to draw for four years while in university. I could tell she would stay so determined," she said.
When Watanabe left her family home to go to school in Osaka, she promised to ring her mother's mobile phone before she went to bed. After joining KyoAni, she continued the routine while living on her own in Kyoto Prefecture. Since the night before the attack, the mother has not received another call.
Wanting to feel like her daughter is still around, she decorated many places in her house with posters of the animation productions her daughter worked for and her photos and illustrations of New Year's cards. When she wants to hear her daughter's voice, she plays a Blu-ray Disc of the animation her daughter worked on as an art director. The disc contains a bonus track in which Watanabe explains about the work, all while smiling happily.
"Parents feel happiest when their child is smiling," Watanabe's mother said. "If you say it's a short life, maybe it is, but I can tell from her laughter that her life was filled with joy. If she was happy, then that's all that matters. Little by little I'm getting into that mindset, anyway."
Her feelings, however, have been a roller coaster, and there are days when she feels deeply depressed.
"Our family will forever be grieving the loss of [my daughter] Mikiko. I hope we can have a world filled with love, where no one like the suspect is born ever again," she said.
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