15 Years On: Orphans Need to Share Family Loss Experience

Tokyo, March 5 (Jiji Press)–Disaster orphans need a supportive environment where they can share their experience of losing family members with others, a Japanese survey has found. Published by Ashinaga Foundation on Wednesday, the survey covered 1,444 people who received support grants worth 2.82 million yen per person from the nonprofit organization after losing parents in the massive earthquake and tsunami that mainly struck the Tohoku northeastern region in March 2011. The survey was conducted between Dec. 20 last year and Jan. 15 this year. Valid responses came from 330 people. The survey found that respondents who said they had an environment where they could share their experience of losing family members and actually did so tended to feel less lonely and have higher self-esteem. Meanwhile, there were 145 respondents who did not talk about their loss even though they had access to such an environment. Of them, 40 pct who were elementary school children at the time of the disaster and 53 pct who were junior high school students said they did not share their experience because they thought doing so would have a negative impact on people around them. In addition, 36 pct who were elementary school children and 60 pct who were junior high school students said they did not know how to express their feelings. The survey also found that people tend to have a lower sense of loneliness and a higher sense of self-esteem when they have more places they feel attached to and stronger attachment to such places. Asked about relaxing and comfortable places, the largest number of respondents chose “my own room,” which was followed by “home.” “Workplace” was the least selected answer. The foundation emphasized the importance of environments where disaster-affected children can talk about their bereavement experiences without worrying about the impact on others, as well as creating more places where they can feel at home. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]