ID :
171670
Tue, 03/29/2011 - 19:25
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/171670
The shortlink copeid
Students in quake-hit areas express hopes, despair in interviews
SENDAI, March 29 Kyodo - Some secondary school students polled by Kyodo News in the quake-devastated prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima have expressed their hopes of moving on despite the severities they face, while others said they have not overcome their loss of friends and family members.
About 80 students at evacuation centers and other places in the region were interviewed about what they want to do now, what concerns them most and other matters after they experienced the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Moeka Goto, 15, a junior high school pupil in Sendai city, the capital of Miyagi, said she wants to ''definitely attend'' the graduation ceremony she had to miss. She cherishes most the graduation photo album that contains the photos of friends, she said. ''This is the only thing I took out with me.''
Takumi Torii, 15, a student at a junior high school in Iwate, said, ''I want to listen to music on the Internet and check out manga websites.''
When asked what they most regret, 16-year-old Hiroki Sato, a freshman at Takada Senior High School in Iwate, said of a deceased classmate with the same name, ''Hiroki died but I could not even go out and bid him farewell.''
Akari Nakamura, 16, a freshman at Ishinomaki Senior High School in Miyagi, also lost a friend. ''I didn't reply to her last text message. I just want to talk to her again.''
''The school building that I was supposed to start going to is gone,'' said Chihiro Tominaga, a junior high school pupil in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
Kentaro Miura, 16, a freshman at a senior high school in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, said his home has been washed away. ''I'm still panicking perhaps. I'm just still at a loss.''
Kazuto Kudo, 17, in Iwate, said, ''I'm just speechless at the huge scale of damage that has made me realize people can die so easily.''
Asked what things they take comfort in after the quake, Haruka Kanamaru, 13, a junior high freshman in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, said people's acts of thoughtfulness had touched her.
Many students also noted expressions of goodwill from others, such as a message that they should not give up attached to relief supplies.
To the question of what they would have done if they had been able to return to before the quake, 17-year-old Kasumi Ito of Takata Senior High said, ''I would want to cry out 'A tsunami is coming!' through the community broadcasting service to help save all the people.''
On their future 10 years on from now, 15-year-old Tomomi Moriya from Kesennuma said, ''I used to think I just wanted to get away from Kesennuma as soon as possible, but now I want to stay here and do the kind of job that would help reconstruction.''
Tomomi, who has a friend still missing, expressed her frustration at politicians who appear unable or unwilling to work together in a time of crisis. ''I felt sick when I saw in a newspaper about ruling and opposition lawmakers still unable to cooperate, when so many people are dying.''
About 80 students at evacuation centers and other places in the region were interviewed about what they want to do now, what concerns them most and other matters after they experienced the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Moeka Goto, 15, a junior high school pupil in Sendai city, the capital of Miyagi, said she wants to ''definitely attend'' the graduation ceremony she had to miss. She cherishes most the graduation photo album that contains the photos of friends, she said. ''This is the only thing I took out with me.''
Takumi Torii, 15, a student at a junior high school in Iwate, said, ''I want to listen to music on the Internet and check out manga websites.''
When asked what they most regret, 16-year-old Hiroki Sato, a freshman at Takada Senior High School in Iwate, said of a deceased classmate with the same name, ''Hiroki died but I could not even go out and bid him farewell.''
Akari Nakamura, 16, a freshman at Ishinomaki Senior High School in Miyagi, also lost a friend. ''I didn't reply to her last text message. I just want to talk to her again.''
''The school building that I was supposed to start going to is gone,'' said Chihiro Tominaga, a junior high school pupil in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
Kentaro Miura, 16, a freshman at a senior high school in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, said his home has been washed away. ''I'm still panicking perhaps. I'm just still at a loss.''
Kazuto Kudo, 17, in Iwate, said, ''I'm just speechless at the huge scale of damage that has made me realize people can die so easily.''
Asked what things they take comfort in after the quake, Haruka Kanamaru, 13, a junior high freshman in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, said people's acts of thoughtfulness had touched her.
Many students also noted expressions of goodwill from others, such as a message that they should not give up attached to relief supplies.
To the question of what they would have done if they had been able to return to before the quake, 17-year-old Kasumi Ito of Takata Senior High said, ''I would want to cry out 'A tsunami is coming!' through the community broadcasting service to help save all the people.''
On their future 10 years on from now, 15-year-old Tomomi Moriya from Kesennuma said, ''I used to think I just wanted to get away from Kesennuma as soon as possible, but now I want to stay here and do the kind of job that would help reconstruction.''
Tomomi, who has a friend still missing, expressed her frustration at politicians who appear unable or unwilling to work together in a time of crisis. ''I felt sick when I saw in a newspaper about ruling and opposition lawmakers still unable to cooperate, when so many people are dying.''
