Faculty:Business Administration,4
Hiromi Fujiwara (Father, living in Mie Prefecture)
"I was accepted, Dad, I got the job!" It was in the beginning of October 1994 that I received the call.
As I had almost given up, I couldn't describe the joy I felt. He bacame extreamly busy after that. Finishing his graduation thesis, his job-training, getting a driver's licence, looking for an apartment... He came out here to the country only once at the end of the year, and he would have been here with us in January if it wern't for his thesis deadline.
And then the nightmarish 17th. It was old 2-story apartment , and my son was on the first floor. When we reached the apartment we saw that the second floor had become the first. On the afternoon of the 19th his story was found... our son smeared with blood and mud. I had gone through heaven and hell in those four months.
A year has passed since then. His picture taken at age 22, his smiling face, a diploma, and a accounting certificate are displayed on the Buddhist altar at home now. With it, a floppy disk with his nearly Our son accomplished so much... only to suddenly leave us. And before he could reach his final goals... he was so close. I know how he must feel now, for the people left behind probably feel more pain. It was nothing but luck, a twist of fate. Why did our kind , hardworking son have to die? If it wasn't his fault, who's was it? Ours? Why? I? I've been asking this unanswerable question for over a year. And I probably always will.
Faculty:Business Administration,3
Alma Mater: Nagoya City Koyo High School
Club: Movie Club Rick's
Stricken area:1st floor, the Nishio-so Apartments , 2-4-5 Rokko-cho, Nada Ward, Kobe
Fusae Nakamura (Mother, living in Aichi Prefecture)
I received the phone call from his friend, Mr.Iguchi, a little past noon on the 17th. We left home that night and arrived in Kobe the next morning. We walked through the charred remains of his neighborhood and found what we knew was our son. He was burnt to death. We took his body to the police station. They said that they couldn't identify him, and that we couldn't take him home until they did.
I keep thinking what might have been if the fire had not broken out. Iguchi said he rushed to the scene as soon as he could, he and other club members tried to save my son. They said they heard his voice...but the fire spread fast.
On New Year's Day, Koji and I went together to Atsuta Shrine. We looked for a suit for company interviews and bought a pair of shoes. He told me then that he would buy a new suit when he got back from his trip to China in March. That was the last time I saw him, at that department store.
Faculty:Business Administration,2
Sachio Tokaji (Father,living in Osaka Prefecture)
Michio was able to go to both high school and university of his first choice. He devoted himself to playing baseball and badminton, and during this time he made wonderful friends. I am sure his life was without regrets.
He lead his life with his willpower and exertion. He always had an aim and spared no effort towards it. Even now, when I am in his room or in the garden, I recall him studying or swinging his bat or racket. My wife and I were always encouraged by his lively talk. He was the perfect and ideal child for us. I am sorry that we were not able to see the life he would have built for himself and what kind of man he would have been.
I have bragged on and on about my son. While writing this, I can imagine Michio being annoyed with me, saying from the altar, "Have you gone mad boasting about me to other people?" "So what? Boasting about our wonderful son is about the only pleasure we have in life now"
Lastly, I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart to Michio's friends who supported him, and also to everyone who gave us warm encouragement after the earthquake.
Faculty:Business Administration,2
Keisuke Inoue (Guarantor, living in Osaka City)
Wu Jie, an intelligent and altruistic person, went back to heaven at the age of twenty-one.
I cannot imagine the grief of a parent loosing an only daughter in a foreign country. For no reason should a child die before their parent. The fact that it was an unexpected natural disaster and that she was killed
I first met Wu Jie when she was studying at the Japanese language school of the Kansai association. We met at a moon-watching party at Osaka castle park sponsored by Kansai seimeisen association. Strangely we got along and met once a week to dine together. She was as young as though she could be my grand-daughter. She called me "Papa" just as my only daughter does, and became a new member of our family. On holidays, she often came to stay at our house and we talked like best friends until late at night.
At first, when she entered Kobe University, she used to cry, saying,"I'm being discriminated. All the white foreign students have friends but nobody comes to talk to me." But by the summer vacation, she was happy saying her friends called her "J-chan."She also used to tell me, "The people where I work part-time are so kind. I really enjoy it." In the spring of her sophomore year, she had invited me, "I want to travel to Europe while I'm at school. Papa, come with me.""I'm not going to graduate school. I'm going to work at a Japanese trading company that does businesses with China. I want to do something for my parents. I'm going to buy them a bigger apartment. I'm not going to marry a Japanese. We may be able to understand each other but my parents will be confused by the differences in our historical practices. I want to marry a Chinese merchant residing in Indonesia. I wonder if I can become a millionaire." She was a sweet, gentle angel.
Right now, I just would like to express my appreciation to all of J's friends. Thank you very much. Wu Jie still lives in our hearts even until this day.