Japan Marks 31st Anniv. of Great Hanshin Earthquake

Kobe, Jan. 17 (Jiji Press)–Bereaved families and others renewed their commitment to passing on their experiences and lessons from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in western Japan to future generations on Saturday, the 31st anniversary of the disaster, amid concerns over a decline in the number of memorial events. At a memorial gathering in a Kobe park, participants lit bamboo and paper lanterns and offered a silent prayer at 5:46 a.m., the exact time the earthquake struck. The disaster claimed 6,434 lives. On the day, about 11,000 people visited the park by 7 a.m. Etsuko Sato, 62, whose mother, Masako, went missing in the disaster, attended a memorial ceremony hosted by the Kobe city government as a representative of the bereaved families. “The earthquake is not over just because the shaking stopped,” Sato said in a speech. “I want people to know that there are people who continue to look for their families and want to meet their loved ones.” At another memorial ceremony, hosted mainly by the Hyogo prefectural government in Kobe, participants offered a silent prayer at noon. “We will keep in mind the experience and lessons learned from the disaster and make use of them for preparations in peacetime,” Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito said in a speech at the ceremony. While memorial events have been held in areas hit hard by the disaster, a survey by a civic group showed that the number of such events fell by 20 from last year to 37 this year, the lowest number since the survey began in 1999. On Saturday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi posted on X, formerly Twitter, “I offered my sincere condolences to the souls of the victims this year as well.” “I have renewed my determination to protect the lives of people in Japan, one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world,” she added. Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, offered a silent prayer at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo to mark the disaster anniversary, according to the Imperial Household Agency. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]