I was worried about the parents and grandparents who called Katsuya on “The Phone of the Wind”, whom I introduced on my blog on November 19, last year. I was looking for them to hand over Jiro somehow.
It was too difficult to find their information asking town office and police, because of privacy protection. But I told the story to a TV staff who visited us for an interview, he called me “There is a man who was looking for Katsuya by twitter when the Great East Japan Earthquake happened.”
The next morning, February 12th, I dialed the phone number from the company name and asked “Is there any employee in your company who is missing due to the earthquake, his name is Katsuya?” and the reply was “Yes.”
I talked about the situation and wanted to contact his parents, he said that he would consult with his boss. About three hours after that, I got a call from the company. “His parents seem to be going to Otsuchi now, so please call them directly.” and gave me their phone number. I called them immediately, they were just heading to my house and said, “I’ll be there soon.”
What a coincident!
When I invited the four of them who arrived soon and listened to the story, it was as follows.
Katsuya graduated from university in 2010 and got a job at a company in Miyagi prefecture. In November of that year, he stayed in Kamaishi for a long-term business trip to work. On the day of the earthquake, he was working with seven colleagues at a NTT-related warehouse in Otsuchi-cho Kodama, a region near the coast. Two people went up to the mountain and five people went upstairs to the voice saying “Run away from the tsunami” outside. The tsunami swallowed one person who ran to the mountain and five people on the second floor. Two of the six are still missing, and Katsuya is one of them.
Since that day, his parents and grandparents have come to the disaster-stricken area once a month to search clues. I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that I was able to hand over Jizo for the first time in four months after they left a message “Katsuya, let’s go home” on the notebook in “The Phone of the Wind.”
Katsuya’s mother has become unstable since the day of the earthquake and says, “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Through this matter, I wondered, “Are we providing the necessary care to those who really need it?”
The road to housing reconstruction, such as reconstruction town development, relocation to higher ground, securing of land for public housing, and land lot development, has become apparent, albeit slowly. However, as far as the recovery of the mind is concerned, it is not clear when, where, who, why, what, and how.
There is difficulty only in the problem of the mind that is hard to see on the table. This time, I got a glimpse of the feeling of loss and suffering by touching the feelings of the parents whose family (son) is missing. What we should do from now on is to create a circle of people in similar circumstances and create a place where we can express each other’s suffering and sadness and emotional distress. And I thought that it was an activity to alleviate those sufferings.
“Let’s go back to that hometown”
Itaru Sasaki
That day I left home without telling anyone
Many times on the way, the smiles of my family tried to pull me back
A big invisible power wraps me
Far from home
It was a strange city and I was lost and confused
I don’t have a favorite shop, a face I knew, or a nostalgic scent of flowers here.
A city with endless darkness
Where is the outskirts of the city here
Where is my whereabouts
I want to go home
Hometown with original forest and stream is good
All you need is a small market, a beauty salon and a small florist
I want to go home
Hometown where I laugh and you and your family laugh
It ’s nice that everyone can get close to each other.
I’m not talking with a smile right now
But you can see me
That hometown where you and your family live is my place
I’m always there
So that loved ones can live happily
I’m always there
So that you can always be close to me
Let’s go back to that hometown