JAL Jet Crash Victims Remembered on 41st Anniversary

Ueno, Gunma Pref., Aug. 12 (Jiji Press)–Victims of the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet were remembered at the mountainous accident site in eastern Japan on Wednesday, the 41st anniversary of the tragedy. From early in the morning, bereaved family members and others went on a memorial hike, climbing to the 1,565-meter-high Osutaka Ridge, the crash site in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo. They prayed for the deceased in front of memorial markers scattered along the trail where the aircraft crashed after leaving Tokyo’s Haneda Airport for Osaka International Airport, killing 520 people on board. Toru Izutani, a 67-year-old self-employed man from the western city of Osaka, walked up the trail step by step in heavy rain to remember his sister, Junko, who was 20 at the time of the accident. Placing a picture of his father, who died last year, at her marker, Izutani said with a smile, “I wonder if (my sister and father) were able to meet in the afterlife.” “My sister remains 20 years old (in my mind). I try not to think about her in my daily life, but coming here makes me think of her,” he said. Those bereaved and others also gathered in front of a monument to the victims at the crash site and rang a bell to pray for aviation safety. From around 6 p.m., a memorial ceremony is scheduled to be held at a memorial garden at the foot of the mountain, attended by bereaved relatives and JAL officials, including President Mitsuko Tottori. Participants will observe a moment of silence at 6:56 p.m., the time of the accident, with candles lit for the victims during the ceremony. On Tuesday, about 240 lanterns were lit and floated on the Kanna River, which flows at the foot of the ridge, by bereaved relatives and others to remember the victims and pray for the safety of air travel. During this year’s event, elementary school children from Fujioka, Gunma, drew pictures of airplanes and mountains on some lanterns and added messages for the victims. At the time of the accident, school and other gymnasiums were used to house victims’ bodies. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]