KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--Shoko Kobayashi graduated from high school, determined to make good on her promise to her father who was killed by the tsunami from the Great East Japan Earthquake a year ago.
KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--Shoko Kobayashi graduated from high school, determined to make good on her promise to her father who was killed by the tsunami from the Great East Japan Earthquake a year ago.
Shoko, 18, had almost abandoned her vow to pursue her dream of becoming a beautician.
Like many other graduates of Kamaishi Commercial and Technical High School who lost family members in the disaster, Shoko struggled with the decision on whether to start a new life elsewhere or stay to help restore the tsunami-hit city, which had already seen an exodus of young people.
After her father, Tsuyomi, 49, died on March 11 last year, Shoko said she would look for work, worried about how she and two other surviving family members--her mother and younger brother--would get by.
Her mother scolded her and told her to reconsider.
“What are you going to do about your promise with your father?” her mother asked.
When Shoko entered her second year at high school, she told her father that she wanted to become a beautician.
“I will trim your hair first,” she told him.
He responded, “Promise to give it your best shot if you are going to do it.”
Tsuyomi, who was the chief of a branch office of a fisheries cooperative, began saving money for his daughter’s dream.
Shoko will leave Kamaishi in spring to attend a vocational school for beauticians in Morioka. But she promised to return to her native city.
“I want to open a beauty parlor where anybody can easily drop in and feel relaxed,” she said. “I want to become like my father, who was well-liked by everybody.”
Kamaishi Commercial and Technical High School was established three years ago through a merger. The 149 students who graduated on March 1 were the first students to leave the prefectural school.
Tadanori Sato, a member of the graduating class, will remain in Kamaishi and work at Nippon Steel Corp.’s Kamaishi Works with his father, Tadato, 44.
“I feel lonely to see my friends leave,” said Tadanori, who lost his grandmother in the disaster. “But I want to tell them that I will defend Kamaishi so they can come back at any time.”
Tadato, who manufactures steel wires on three shifts, said he is glad his son will join him.
“The company has the longest history in our town, although work is tough on the body,” he said.
Decades ago, father and son teams at Nippon Steel were common in Kamaishi.
But the steelmaker closed the blast furnace, a key piece of equipment in a steel mill, at its Kamaishi Works in 1989. The fishing industry, another economic pillar of the city, has also dwindled.
The population of Kamaishi peaked at more than 90,000 in 1963. Even before the disaster, the population had fallen below 40,000.
“I want to revive our town,” Tadanori said. “I now feel I want to stay here more strongly than before the earthquake.”
Takaharu Tomehata, a friend of Tadanori’s since childhood, has different plans.
“Even if we stay here, it is no good if we can barely manage to get by,” said Takaharu, who will move to the Kansai region to work at a building contractor.
He could not find work at local companies, many of which were damaged by the earthquake.
Takaharu’s house was destroyed by the tsunami. His father, a fisherman, lost his boat in the waves. Since childhood, Takaharu had often helped his father catch sea squirts and abalone using that boat.
“I want to make it on my own by working out of the prefecture,” he said. “I will be able to contribute to reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas only after that.”
Shun Kumagai received support from many volunteers while living in an evacuation center for half a year. He hopes to eventually return the favor after studying social welfare at university in the Kanto region.
He said friendship and many other intangible things survived the tsunami.
“That is why I am confident that my heart will be with Kamaishi wherever I go,” Shun said.
Eriko Ikuta, a friend of Shoko’s, will work at a credit association in Tokyo, following the advice from her grandfather.
Eriko’s father died when she was young, and her grandfather, Masaaki, brought her up in his place.
Masaaki used to tell her: “You cannot do anything unless you know how the world is. You must go out of the prefecture at least once.”
When Eriko was engulfed in the tsunami, she managed to climb on a floating tatami mat. She attempted to pull up Masaaki but could not, and he was swept away. He was 71.
She blamed herself so much for his death that even ripples in her bathtub tormented her.
Eriko is finally smiling again, cheered up by Shoko and other schoolmates.
Her dream is to return to Kamaishi someday, build a small house where her destroyed home once stood and live with her family members.
Eriko could not stop crying at the graduation ceremony.
But her graduation album is filled with encouraging messages from her friends. She will move to Tokyo with the album in hand.
(This article was written Naoko Kawamura and Miki Morimoto)