The value of the words “Are you okay?”

Mr. Masafumi Fujimoto’s father, who is a teacher at a prefectural high school, had just married Ms. Takayo Fujimoto and moved from Koyoen, Nishinomiya City to a new apartment building for teachers in Mikage at the end of March 1994, only 10 months before the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. Their first son Masafumi was born the next month, and Takayo had a happy life, busy with raising her child.

At first, I thought a big truck had passed in front of the house. But the shoji and fusuma sliding doors in front of me opened and closed many times like automatic doors. When I looked out the window, I couldn’t believe my eyes, seeing that all the electric wires were cut and hanging down in the dark. Our television fell and almost hit my son’s head, but my husband saved him by a hair.

In the midst of all the furniture and other household goods flying around and falling down, her husband fetched their shoes from the entrance of the apartment. They stayed inside for a while, and then they heard a voice from outside saying “Are you okay?” They wrapped seven-month-old Masafumi in a blanket and escaped to the Mikage High School playground.

I think there were about 300 people on the school playground. We had just moved to the town and I had had a baby, so I hadn’t had the chance to get to know anyone in the neighborhood. But the 12 families in the same apartment building for teachers made me feel reassured. At the evacuation site, the teachers from our apartment building were a big help to us. They knew where almost everything was, even though it wasn’t the school they worked at, and found P. E. mats and first-aid kits to give emergency treatment to those who were injured. A P. E. teacher went around the neighborhood on a bicycle to find broken tree branches and made a fire, which was very helpful.

Photo: Takayo says that she never wanted to move to another city, even after the earthquake.

There was a high-class residential area in the north, and Nada, a town of sake breweries in the south. In Mikage, an old town situated in between with many wooden residences, many houses were almost completely or half destroyed. Many people died in the earthquake. The Fujimoto family stayed at their parents’ house in Osaka for a while, and returned to their apartment in Mikage at the end of March, when the electricity, gas, and water systems were finally restored. “The value of the relationships that we built with the residents of the apartment building and the neighbors was greater than the fear we felt of there being a next seismic intensity 5 earthquake,” she says. The family lived in the apartment for 14 years until they bought a new house near the apartment building.

A town where adults could connect with each other through children

The chief priest of Tsunashiki Tenmangu Shrine, located near their home, entertained children throughout the year by opening food stalls at Kodomo Danjiri, Bonodori, and other festivals, and hosting Kodomo Kai parties.

A chief priest of a Shinto shrine dressed up as Santa Claus! (Laughs) Unfortunately, he passed away two years ago, but he gave us so many great memories. We adults in the area could connect smoothly with each other through our children after the earthquake, and it was a very livable and comfortable place to live.

Masafumi, who had been listening quietly to his mother’s story, finally spoke.

Since I was in kindergarten, I grew up hearing about the value of life at home and from teachers every year nearing the anniversary of the earthquake, and in elementary school, we often sang “Bring Happiness to the World,” a song written to wish for recovery from the earthquake. But this is the first time for me to hear a deep and detailed story from my mother, which shocked me.

“Instead of telling him stories about the hard times, I tried to raise him so that he would grow up to be a person who could survive somehow by himself in any situation,” said Takayo. “I realized that, in a time of disaster, a stranger nearby is more valuable than a distant relative. I want him to always care for his friends and people close by more than anything,” she continued kindly.

I want to help those who want to live

Masafumi, who became a student at Rokko Gakuin, a Catholic combined junior high and senior high school, began fund raising activities and helping with a soup-run in Onohama Park in Sannomiya as a member of the Community Service Committee at school.

When I was in ninth grade, I had the opportunity as the representative of the school to go to India to see how our donations were being used. In Calcutta, I went to Kalighat Home for the Dying, a hospice established by Mother Theresa. I think my visit to this hospice, an institution dedicated to the last stages of the lives of those who are dying of poverty and illness, changed my attitude toward the activities, from “school committee activities” to volunteer acts.

Photo: Masafumi, visiting India in the ninth grade

Masafumi, wishing to help those who wanted to live longer, was studying hard to be accepted at a medical school by the time he became a high school student.

When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, I waited until the summer for the chance to go to Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, with the help of a Catholic church I was doing volunteer activities with. Although I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to the local people, I could meet and connect with the people who came from abroad and all over Japan with the same ambition as I had. I still communicate with them by Facebook and in other ways. I now realize that these relationships are what my mother refers to as “connection from a disaster.”

Photo: Masafumi did volunteer work in Shiogama (Miyagi Prefecture) in the summer after the Great East Japan Earthquake when he was in the eleventh grade

Photo: When he couldn’t go to Tohoku, he often went to do photo cleaning in Osaka. He always looks for things he can do to help

What he can do only by connecting with others, and what only he can do

Masafumi, who now studies at Kobe University School of Medicine and works on physical training in the rugby team, performs volunteer activities every weekend.

This time, I went to Ishinomaki with the clear intention of connecting with the local community. Although more than two years had passed, I was surprised to see that the city, which suffered the greatest damage from the tsunami, still remains the same as at the time of the earthquake in many places. However, many volunteer workers came to the volunteer center even two years after the earthquake. The city was becoming more lively, and I felt that the seeds of connection between people were beginning to sprout.

Last summer, I returned to India, a country that motivated me to become a doctor, to consider my ambition again. My first visit to Kalighat Home for the Dying in junior high school was just a tour, but this time, I did volunteer work, walked around the towns, breathed the air, and listened to the sounds, and I learned a lot more. The trip also made me think about disparity and human life.

Takayo’s anxious words, “Volunteer work is meaningful, but I think he tends to neglect his studies,” rings a bell for Masafumi, who says with a wry smile:

My world has certainly continued to expand through volunteer activities compared to when I was a child. Through these activities I realized that there are only a few things I can do alone. Instead of carrying everything on my shoulders, I would like to expand my capabilities by making the most of our teamwork and connecting with people. What my mother taught me about connection with people is a big key word for me, and it is an idea that I want to teach children the most. I will also not forget my father’s words, “Look for volunteer activities that only you can do.” I want to become an adult who can look for things I can do in places that need me.

Photo: Takayo, who says, “I want my son to become a doctor who can think from the patients’ points of view.”

Photo: A T-shirt with a message that he made when he was in elementary school. With him, aged 10

“I just remembered something,” Takayo said, and brought and showed us a T-shirt with an important memory. On the T-shirt were the words “Let’s make the best of the experience of the earthquake to make Kobe a more livable city,” a message from a 10-year old Masafumi. Takayo’s passion toward her town then flowed out in words:

At the time of the disaster, we were just thankful that our lives were saved. But, as time passed, we started to wish for more. The Great East Japan Earthquake gave us a chance to see things from the standpoint of the past disaster. Although the city has become new and beautiful, there are people who still suffer from bad memories, and many small but unsolved problems exist. But instead of remembering sad experiences, we want to think about what we can do for a better future.

Photo: Mother, thank you for raising me for the past 20 years. You made me a respectable (?) “child.” I will work hard to expand my abilities, look for them, and become an “adult” who can think in other people’s shoes. Thank you so much.
A message from Masafumi to his mother

(Photographed by Takuya Oshima, interviewed and written by Maki Takahashi)