Descriptions:
It will soon be 13 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake. The mother, who lost her six-year-old daughter at the time, continues to work as a storyteller, despite some difficulties. A reason to face painful memories and continue communicating with them. I had strong determination as a mother. Mika Sato: “If I were still alive, I would have turned 20 this year, so I would have done a lot of things this year, such as wearing a furizode and taking pictures before my coming-of-age ceremony.” Mika Sato lives in Ishinomaki City. I lost my eldest daughter Airi during the Great East Japan Earthquake. I was 6 years old at the time and was unable to attend the kindergarten graduation that I was looking forward to. Mika Sato: “I wanted to hold several “ceremonies.” My child had an entrance ceremony and then a funeral. My child couldn’t even attend the graduation ceremony.” After this Airi there was a great earthquake. They took me to the kindergarten bus, which was located on the hill. The bus ran to the sea to drop off the children and was caught in the tsunami and subsequent fire. A life that adults were supposed to protect. Over the past 13 years, Mr. Sato has participated in various activities to pass on the lessons left by Airi. Last November, we expanded the scope of disaster prevention by collaborating with a training program to develop human resources involved in disaster prevention at the local level. Mika Sato: “I still haven’t heard these words: “I’m home!” “I don’t want you to feel that way again.” Mr. Sato continues to emphasize the importance of thinking daily about disaster prevention. Mika Sato: “I hope that adults will always think about how to protect the children in front of them, in order to protect the lives of children who have a future.” They say it wasn’t easy to keep talking about it. Mika Sato: “There are times when I’m walking as a storyteller or when I’m giving a tour, and the blade of words suddenly attacks me. It still hurts in those moments and I don’t think that’s normal. “Are you still doing this?” “How long have you been saying this?” – Heartless words hurled at Mr. Sato from time to time. Mika Sato: “But I have to keep spreading the word because I don’t want something like this to happen again, so I do it with all my heart.” Despite the fact that I had conflicts, I did not stop talking about it. In January, Mr. Sato visited a kindergarten in Tagajo City. Read aloud: “Gogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogogorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, a large, jet-black tsunami came towards the children at a tremendous speed.”A picture story that depicts what happened at that time in a way that is easy for children to understand. It was created by university students inspired by Mr. Sato’s thoughts. After carefully reading aloud, Mr. Sato addressed the children. Mika Sato: “Have you ever heard of the Great East Japan Earthquake? Many of your friends died during that time. So you had a lot of fun and you had a lot of fun with your friends and teachers, I want them. play and lead a healthy lifestyle.” These are the words I told Airi as she headed to kindergarten on the morning of March 11th… everyday life was taken away from me by the earthquake. Mika Sato: “I told Airi, “Come play with me more often,” because the graduation ceremony was approaching that day. I told Airi, “You come and play with your friends.” “She was looking forward to the graduation ceremony as well as the commencement ceremony. I was looking forward to this, but I can’t do anything now.” Almost 13 years have passed since the earthquake. Mr. Sato will continue to speak with the same feelings in his heart. Mika Sato: “There were times when I was very worried, but I continued to run as hard as I could for the past 13 years. I don’t want children to die like my daughters, going through such pain.” . I hope I can do my best to convey this message while I have the strength.”