A 19-year-old in a Coming-of-Age Day ceremony in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, clutched a photograph of a friend killed in the March 11 tsunami, one of the many reminders of the devastation inflicted by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
A 19-year-old in a Coming-of-Age Day ceremony in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, clutched a photograph of a friend killed in the March 11 tsunami, one of the many reminders of the devastation inflicted by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
“Thinking of my friend’s regret at not surviving, I will push myself even harder to persist with my life,” the 19-year-old said.
Coming-of-Age Day events, for young people who have turned or will turn 20 years old by the end of March, were held throughout Japan on Jan. 8, but were tinged with tragedy in the Tohoku region.
In a shopping area in the Suehiro district in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, a 150-meter red carpet was rolled out for 60 new adults. About 300 onlookers applauded as the young adults arrived to the sound of firecrackers.
“This is just great! It makes me feel I have to help revive my hometown,” said one participant who had returned from Tokyo for the event, organized by a local shopping area promotion association.
On March 11, the city was struck by a nearly 2-meter-high tsunami. Some of the stores in the shopping area carry messages on their walls reading: “Ready to be demolished.” Other stores have been shuttered.
(This article was combined from reports by Satoru Ogawa and Tomoaki Ito.)