Victims Mourned 8 Years after Western Japan Rain Disaster

Kurashiki, Okayama Pref./Hiroshima, July 6 (Jiji Press)–Residents across the Chugoku western Japan region on Monday mourned over 300 people who lost their lives in a devastating rain disaster that mainly hit the area in 2018. Monday marked the eighth anniversary of the issuance of the first special heavy rain warning in the disaster. Flower-offering ceremonies were held in various parts of Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures in the region to honor the victims, including those who died due to indirect causes. In the Okayama city of Kurashiki, where 75 people died, Mayor Kaori Ito offered flowers and a brief prayer at a memorial event in the city’s Mabi district, one of the areas hardest hit by the disaster. “It is our great responsibility, as those left behind, to pass on to future generations the aspirations of those who died, memories of the disaster and the lessons learned from it,” she told reporters. Tomomi Ogura, a 53-year-old after-school child care worker in Kurashiki, also attended the ceremony. She recalled how her home was destroyed by flooding and said she has participated in the memorial event every year since. Her son, then a junior high school student, was inspired by the disaster to become a Self-Defense Force officer. “He has worked hard without forgetting how he felt back then, and I came here today to share that.” In the hard-hit Koyaura district in the town of Saka, Hiroshima, residents also observed a moment of silence. Tadamichi Mizushiri, 64, who lost his mother and aunt, said, “Broken things can be fixed, but lives can’t be brought back,” emphasizing the importance of disaster preparedness. Ahead of the disaster’s eighth anniversary, about 50 children from Koyaura Elementary School learned about disaster prevention. Haru Sakamoto, 11, a sixth grader who was three years old at the time of the disaster, said she checks evacuation shelters on a hazard map every year on the anniversary. “I want to increase the number of lives that can be saved,” she said. In the city of Hiroshima, the prefectural capital, Mayor Kazumi Matsui laid flowers at memorial stands set up at various locations. “I want to use the disaster as a lesson to strengthen disaster preparedness across the entire community,” the mayor said. The torrential rain affected 14 prefectures, resulting in 95 deaths in Okayama, 153 in Hiroshima and 33 in Ehime Prefecture in the Shikoku western region, including disaster-related deaths. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]