86-Yr-Old “Super Volunteer” Excited to Go Back to School

Oita, March 27 (Jiji Press)–Haruo Obata, an 86-year-old man who is known in Japan as the “super volunteer” for his disaster relief work throughout the country, looks forward to attending a night school from April. Obata is set to attend the first night junior high school in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan. “Life is a never-ending learning process,” he said. “I’m excited.” Obata was born as the third son in a family of seven children in what is now the Oita city of Kunisaki. As his family was poor, Obata was sent to work on a farm in the fifth grade of elementary school. He worked on the farm during the day and made “zori” sandals at night. Therefore, he could not attend junior high school much until graduation. Over the following 10 years, Obata trained, including in Shimonoseki in the nearby prefecture of Yamaguchi and the western city of Kobe, to become a fish merchant, after being told by his sister that the job would be perfect for him. He also worked as a construction worker in Tokyo to earn enough money to start his own business. At the age of 28, he returned to Oita and ran a fish store for 37 years. His passion for volunteering dates back to the time when he got involved in maintaining mountain trails on Mount Yufu in the Oita city of Yufu at the age of 50. After closing his fish shop at the age of 65, he became a full-time volunteer. “I was able to make a livelihood because so many people bought my fish,” Obata said, adding that he wanted to give back. His volunteering career began after the 2004 massive earthquake that rocked the Chuetsu region of Niigata Prefecture, central Japan. He then engaged in such work in many areas hit by disasters, including the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that mainly struck northeastern Japan, the 2016 strong temblors that hit the southwestern prefecture of Kumamoto, and the 2018 heavy rain disaster in western Japan. Following the 2011 disaster, Obata spent about 500 days in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, where he led a team that searched for cherished items belonging to affected citizens in the rubble. In 2018, he gained further public fame after finding a missing boy in the mountains of the Yamaguchi town of Suo-Oshima. Now at the age of 86, he remains an active volunteer. Last year, he searched for items belonging to people affected by a massive fire in the Saganoseki area in the city of Oita. Just last week, he went to Mount Yufu and reinforced mountain trail stairs using scrap wood and other materials. Obata has always valued learning. He recalled that the only time he could attend school after starting to work on the farm was on rainy days when he couldn’t work. “I always looked forward to the rain,” he said. “I ran to school without using my umbrella.” After learning about the opening of a night junior high school in Oita Prefecture, he decided to enroll without any hesitation. “I wonder what an 86-year-old man will learn from his teacher?” he said shyly. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]