Motohiro Kisoi (23)

Kazumi Kisoi (Father, living in Aichi Prefecture)
On that day, my son, Motohiro was crushed to death during sleeping in his apartment in Rokko-cho Nada-ku. The ground floor was crushed. In the afternoon of the next day a rescue team dug him out.
He had come back from ski tour with his friends of the study room the day before and the earthquake in a moment while he slept well. It was my only comfort that he had died with peaceful face.
If he had come back a day late, he would not have died.
He liked Doraemon (popular Japanese cartoon) that have dreams come true. He went on to Graduate School. He presented his research in 1994 autumn.
I learned of his busy but full life in Kobe for five years of his friends. The life was part time jobs of tutor and pub, volunteer in children meat, baseball and football with classmate.
He told his friends that he was not sorry about his life. His friends told me that.
It is regret for us that his selecting finished short life of 23 years old for unexpected result.
He died in January 17. January is his father's birthmonth. 17th is his mother's birthday. As his tape 'Ya Ya Ano Jidai Wo Wasurenai(we never forget that age)' by the Southern All Stars (Japanese popular rock band) which was recorded by him, January 17 1995 is unforgettable day.
Good luck the citizens in Kobe.

Koji Masutomi (24)

Fusako Masutomi(Mother, living in Yamaguchi Prefecture)
In the early morning of January 17, the creak of a hospital bed woke me up. Immediately, I turned on the radio, I changed from the radio to TV because I heard the news of the earthquake. When I heard the word 'Kobe', I was worried about my son. I called him, but there was no reply. My anxiety grew progressively more pronounced as I wished he was safe. I tried to have contact with him. In spite of many calls for the superintendent or a neighbor, there was no reply. It was becoming more difficult to connect a line after 6 a.m..
The line of a neighboring electronic shop was connected in the afternoon. I asked, "Is Koji Masutomi there?" The answer was "The second floor fell down on his room." I couldn't say a word. "Is his motorbike there?" "Yes." I waited for contact by the telephone all the time in expectation that he would call me and say he was alive.
In the afternoon of 18, I heard from his friend that his toe was beneath the debris. I had to go there as soon as I could.
My young brother from Osaka came to pick me up at Okayama and took me to the scene through Rokko Tunnel.
It was so disastrous that I cannot see it straight. I could faintly see his toe which was white, like a wax figures. It was so cruel. There was no care.
He was lying properly in his bed clothes with a thick beam on his chest. He looked as if he was sleeping. He died because of the pressure to the chest. Some pillars fell down, some pillars split verticaly. The time of death was presumed to be four minutes after the earthquake occured. It was so cruel that I could not shed tears.
A few days later, I heard from his teacher that he fell 1 meter down on the plate. I could not even find without the help of friends, students and neighbors. After that, Self-Defence Force members had me dig him out. It took 4 hours. I bowed unconciously with many thanks.
From our view, he was very poor because he had to stop studying halfway. I think he feel mortified at that. I clearly remember his telling me, "Mom, I'm very happy I can study Kobe University!"

Tomoyuki Shimizu (22)

Masao Shimizu (Father, living in Kochi Prefecture)
I arrived at south-bay in Osaka at 6:20 a.m. on 18 from Kochi Prefecture. My sister and her husbund live in Shijonawate City, Osaka Prefecture, so we went from together to Nishinomiya-kitaguchi Station. We went to his apartment on foot, it took us almost 3 hours. In fact, while I was on the ferry, the owner of the apartments had called my brother and told that Masao was crushed while we were under the sailing.
When I arrived my son's apartment, someone mentioned that my son was in the morgue but actually he was still under the ruins. That night, people including the owner and I dug him out. It was around 5 p.m.
The walls, sliding doors and the ceiling of the 1st floor were piled up. Maybe he was sleeping, and he was laying on his side under the Kotatsu (coverd table with a heat source underneath).
The autopsy took a long time. It took until midnight on 19. Only in Oji Gymnasium, there were nearly 300 bodies,I suppose.
After finishing the undergraduate course, he was planninng to study for his master's degree.
The members of the Mandolin Club did a lot for us. I appreciate the fact that many people visited Kochi. When he was in Oji Gymnasium, Mr.Yamamoto, the professor of the Faculty of Engineering, and friends from the club went to say good-bye to him.
People from Mr.Yamamoto's office gathered his personal things from his collapsed apartment and deliverd them to us. We found his pictures, his wallet and cassette tapes of the Mandolin Club.

Mayuko Okamoto(the Faculty of Law, 3)
I also belonged to the Mandolin Club, after Mr. Shimizu joined our club improved. He was wise and handsome. He was especially strong at Mah-jong. When we played Mah-jong until midnight, he used to play a kind of bass cello loudly. He loved musical instruments so much. He had dozens of mandolin music CD's.

Ryuichi Sakamoto (22)

Hideo Sakamoto (Father, living in Hyogo Prefecture)
Ryuichi was attracted to Kobe University. When he was a high school student, he went to Kobe and wondered around the campus of Kobe University. He seemed to be happy with his friends at the university.
The day before earthquake broke out, he was back at our house in Okubo, Akashi City. His sister and us went out to eat roast beaf. We talked about his job hunting. As we didn't want him to go to Kanto Area, I told him that there might be earthquakes and the life could be tough there. I saw him off at Nishi-akashi Station after 9:00 p.m.. I regretted that I did not tell him to stay home for another night. If he had stayed at there, he would not haze had such a thing.
I met the owner of his apartment at last. He told me that he had never seen my son. I thought it was all over with me. I had to dig. I dug with a fellow worker. I met Mr.Suzuki whose son lived in the Nishio-so apartments. We also dug around the room of his son. We found some burnt bones when we were digging.
A few days later, I was shocked to read an article at the Nishio-so apartments on the Asahi Shimbun Newspaper about the fact. I did not know at all that they had to give up helping him out because of the intense fire. My son told his friends to leave him and go away. I was so stressed to learn that.
I feel angry now. I think he would get position in some good company and spend the wonderful New Year Holiday. I want to think that he has his free life somewhere. He just doesn't call us at all. He lives somewhere. He goes to university. I think that he will graduate the university after several years.
I was not able to show gratitude for many friends coming to his funeral and the pre-Bon festival (for honoring the spirits of ancesters and the deads). I want to show gratitude for them from the heart. I hope they live their lives for Ryuichi for more several ten years.

Shiro Jintoku (22)

Itsuro Jintoku (Father, living in Nagasaki Prefecture)
Naoki Tokuda, his friend, called me up in the afternoon, Jan. 18. He asked me if my son contacted with me. He told me that he could not find Shiro though he had come by motor bicycle from Higashiosaka City to look for him. I went to Kobe because I thought that it was serious situation. I made connections airplanes and arrived at my brother's house in Amagasaki on the evening of 19th.
His friends were waiting for me at an open-air fire in front of Shiro's apartment when I arrived there after 9:00 p.m.. They said sorry with crying that he could not have helped Shiro. I was glad that they had tried to rescue my son. It was very glad of me that over 40 members of Jiyuugekijo (a drama club) and colleagues visited my brothers house in Amagasaki for my son. The best consolation for my son's soul was that as many as 20 of his friends visited our house in the Goto Islands, Nagasaki Prefecture.
When I called him on the phone, it was always only an answering machine. I scolded him that he should contact his parents. This was the last conversation with him.
I found an incomplete play book written in a loose-leaf notebook in debris. Atsushi Maeda, a member of Jiyugekijo and a good friend of him, said that my son had asked him to produce that play book which he had made.
My son wanted to work at general contractor to create something on maps in the future. He told that consturuction fields agreed with him.

Photo: With his mates at Jiyugekijou. Shiro is in the back row, the third from right, wearing white shirts.

Nobuhiro Suzuki (22)

Faculty:Engineering , 3
Major: Architecture and Civil Engineering
Alma Mater: Shizuoka prefectural Hamamatsu-kita High School
Club:Rubber-ball Baseball Club
Striken Area: 1st floor, the Nishio-so Apartments, 2-4-5 Rokko-cho, Nada Ward, Kobe

Hiroshi Suzuki (Father, living in Shizuoka Prefecture)
I woke up by the shock of the earthquake in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. My eyes were kept on TV, and spent the night waiting for the phonecall from Nobuhiro. I went to Kobe after we received words from my friend early in the next morning.
The scene of burnt ruins was something far beyond my imagination. We looked for him in many shelters at school and gymnasium. It was not until talking with the owner of his apartment that I learned of my son's death.
It was the most miserable for us that we parents had to find his ashes. I felt that time passed by quickly this year, and I cannot believe his death yet. I have been filled with loneliness day after day.
When he came home for the New Year holidays, we talked about his course, sports and other stuff. He said that his apartment was near his university, in a convenient place and comfortable to live in. I never forget those words he said.
He liked baseball very much since he was a child. His most favorite professional baseball team was Hanshin Tigers. He played in a baseball team in junior high school, high school and the university. In his longing Kobe University, he applied himself to studies and sports at his best. He was considerate of others and trusted by his friends. I think he lived a full student life.
It was a pity that he died at the age of 22 years and 8 months. We have made up our mind to live for him. I thank his professors and friends for their kindness while he was at the university. I have to thank many people for their kindness in his funeral.

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Shinji Nagao (20)

Faculty:Engineering, 2
Major: Chemical Science and Engineering
Alma Mater: Ehime prefectural Matsuyama-minami High School
Club:Aiki-do Club
Striken Area:1st floor, the Kiyoshige-bunka Apartments,1-3-12 Shimmogawara-dori, Nada Ward, Kobe

Kuniaki Nagao(Father, living in Kagawa prefecture)
I cannnot forget that day all my life.
My son died because a fallen beam of the ceiling hit him at downstairs of his apartment in Nada Ward. On January 15, he joined the coming-of-age day ceremony. We told him to stay, but he went back to Kobe.
Since one year has passed, I can think of him without much stress. His life was like a whirlwind and ended earlier than usual people.
He was a treasure and a joy for my wife and me. We don't know how to express our regret to his death.
He was born in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. When he was in primary school, he played an active part on his baseball team. We enjoyed watching his baseball games. In spring when he was in the 6th grade, we moved to Ehime Prefecture because I was transfered. Then he spent 7 years of his youth in Matsuyama: junior high school and high school days.
He belonged to the table-tennis team at junior high school. He was lucky to pass the entrance examination and went on to high school. He belonged to the baseball team again. Then he devoted himself to study and sports. Looking back upon his past, I think that his life was busier than of others.
He had been treated well at the Aiki-do (one of fighting methods mainly for self-defense) Club since he entered Kobe University, I learned, after he died, that he had a lot of good seniors and friends
I miss my poor son, loved by many people and did not annoyed us at all. There is nothing I can say.
Finally, I thank his former teachers, seniors and friends in Kobe University on this paper.

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Mu Zhibin(28)

Faculty: Graduate School of Science and Technology
Major: Department of Mechanical Engineering
Alma Mater: Harbin Engineering School (China)
Nationality:China
Striken Area: 4-3-7 Tokui-cho, Nada Ward, Kobe

Mu Yalin (Younger sister, living in Akashi City)
He worked for a laboratory of machine in Dalien. He hoped to study in Japan. So my husband stood surety for him . He came to Japan 3 years ago. At first he studied as a research worker. As he had succeeded in the examination, he was supposed to be a Trainee in the next spring.
I telephoned to my mother, but she didn't get a call from my brother. It was unusual for him. I got flustered because my brother didn't even telephone to her at night of 18.
In the morning of 19, I went to my brother's house with my husband. We arrived at his apartment house at 2 p.m, and asked people there whether there were any victims. Since some people told us that no one was killed, we looked in the shelter for him. But we couldn't find him. We went back to his apartment, and asked about him again. Just then, a woman said, "There were absolutely dead under the debris." For a while, I almost gave him up. My brother was dug out 4 days later.
We burned his body to ashes in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, and then carried them back to Dalien on 26. My mother did nothing but cry. I could not say anything.
If he had lived with us, he wouldn't have dead. His life was too short to do many things.

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Fu Jianhong(26)

Faculty: Engineering
Major: Department of Mechanical Engineering
Alma Mater: Hepei Broadcasting Electronic University (China)
Nationality:China
Striken Area:Room 2, the Toshin-so Apartments, 3-4-2, Kaminoki-dori, Nada Ward, Kobe

Mr. Li Taoyen(Guarantor,living in Kobe)
Mr.Fu came to Japan on September 1993, after he had graduated from the department of Mechanical Engineering, a branch school of Tianjin University and Hepei Broadcasting Electronic University. He entered the Faculty of Technology in Kobe University as a scholar on October 1994, after he had studied Japanese for a year in Kobe YMCA. The chance that he came to Japan was due to his father who was a professor at Tianjin University. His father had sudied at Tokyo University before, and recommended him to study in Japan. Once he said that he wanted to take a master's degree in Japan and a doctoral degree in U.K. or U.S.
The day before the Great Hanshin Earthquake on Jan.16, Mr. Fu stayed at his friend's house late at night. Usually he spent the night, but he went home because he had a lecture the next day. That choice distinguished him between death and alive.
Mr.Fu had a girlfriend in China. He often called her on the phone. "I hope that you come back China soon, even if you can't take a digree".She always cried to him on the phone .He had never come back to China since he came to Japan.
I met him on Jan 11th .He said "I drew an oracle at Nishinomiya Shrine, and it showed I was bad luck. I feel blue". I said "Don't worry. It's just a superstition".

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