JAPAN: One child is missing in kindergarten graduation in earthquake-hit Kesennuma

Record ID: 461723

  • Title: JAPAN: One child is missing in kindergarten graduation in earthquake-hit Kesennuma
  • Date: 29th March 2011
  • Summary: ENTRANCE TO SCHOOL ASHI NO ME KINDERGARTEN WITH SIGN THAT READS IN JAPANESE "KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION CEREMONY" GRADUATION CEREMONY STUDENTS SITTING AT GRADUATION CEREMONY, SOME SEATS EMPTY MORE OF STUDENTS SITTING AT GRADUATION CEREMONY STUDENTS RECEIVING DIPLOMA CHILDREN BOWING AS THEY RECEIVE DIPLOMA MORE OF CHILDREN RECEIVING DIPLOMAS STACK OF DIPLOMAS BEING HANDE
  • Embargoed: 13th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,People
  • Reuters ID: LVAHJCJ1PMR7RT0L1Y6GGSY2V12
  • Story Text: As the city of Kesennuma begins to pick up the pieces left by the devastating tsunami that pounded Japan, one kindergarten school held a graduation ceremony, one student short.
    The tsunami ripped through the city of 74,000 inhabitants, and several quarters were burned to the ground by fires that broke out in the aftermath.
    Less than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the destruction, the Ashi No Me Kindergarten was spared from damage, although its sister school lower in elevation was inundated.
    Students gathered on Monday (March 28) to receive their diplomas in a simple ceremony, as their parents watched.
    The school principal called attention to the one child who would not be able to graduate.
    With many of the students' homes destroyed by the raging water and fires, some were not able to come in school uniform and were instead dressed in jeans or sweatpants.
    Parents who watched the ceremony expressed their conflicted feelings about celebrating amid the devastation felt by the community.
    "There's still one child who has yet to be found, and others have lost relatives and family. So while the graduation itself is something congratulatory, I feel like I'm presently half congratulatory and half sad," said 41-year-old parent Yasushi Tsubota.
    One of the mothers, 36-year-old Mika Yonekura, saw the graduation as the silver lining in the calamity. They lost their house to the tsunami, and her six-year-old son Hayato came dressed in a red jacket and whatever clothes they could salvage.
    "My house was washed away. But I'm extremely happy that my son was able to properly graduate from kindergarten. But when I think of his friend who wasn't able to graduate with him, it makes me quite sad. But all I want to do now is be positive and look ahead," Yonekura said.
    The school's principal Junichi Onodera expressed concern that the disaster may have inflicted deep psychological scars on the children.
    To help begin the healing, the children should be allowed to relax and live normal lives, he said.
    "We can't tell the children to be stronger or endure any more than we have already. What we need them to do now is to play, and study so that we can raise children who are actually able to help rebuild Kesennuma to what it was," Onodera said.
    Onodera was careful not to say that the missing child had passed away, as the mother was still searching for him, and instead simply that he could not attend.
    In addition to the one missing child, four children in younger grades also lost their parents when the massive tsunami hit the city.
    Miyagi, which envelops Kesennuma, is one the three worst hit prefectures.
    The latest death toll from the quake and tsunami stands at 10,804, with 16,244 still missing 17 days after the disaster. About a quarter of a million people are living in shelters.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
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