Victims from Toyama Mourned 15 Years after New Zealand Quake

Toyama, Feb. 22 (Jiji Press)–A memorial ceremony was held at Toyama College of Foreign Languages in the central Japan city of Toyama on Sunday to mark 15 years since the February 2011 earthquake in New Zealand, which killed 12 students from the school. At 8:51 a.m., the time the earthquake struck, bereaved family members and the school’s current students and staff observed a moment of silence. The ceremony was attended by about 100 people, returning to the scale before the COVID-19 pandemic. “The grief over the loss of precious lives in the sudden disaster is beyond words,” the school’s principal, Hajime Minamijima, said in a speech. “We’ll engrave the unfulfilled wishes of each of them in our hearts and pass their stories on.” After the ceremony, Masatsugu Yokota, 70, who lost his 19-year-old daughter, Saki, in the disaster, said: “Seeing children the same age happily walking by makes my loneliness grow deeper. I want to see her again.” The earthquake claimed 185 lives, including 28 Japanese nationals. The 12 students were studying at a local language school, and a building that housed the school collapsed in the disaster. Regarding the building collapse, a local investigative body published a report citing design flaws and other issues. Local police also investigated the case but decided against criminal prosecution, citing insufficient evidence. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]