Takayuki Tamura has always loved baseball. He played the game as a boy and young man, and eventually got some experience as an umpire. He knew that if he ever had a son, the toddler would grow up with a baseball and a mitt of his own.
Takayuki Tamura has always loved baseball. He played the game as a boy and young man, and eventually got some experience as an umpire. He knew that if he ever had a son, the toddler would grow up with a baseball and a mitt of his own.Tamura's dream came true when his first-born, Kenta, began playing as a catcher in elementary school. The highlight for Tamura was when Kenta was behind the plate for his high school baseball team when they reached the quarterfinals of the Miyagi prefectural baseball tournament.But the family’s world was turned upside down on March 11, 2011. Kenta, 25, was gone--swept away by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake.To honor his son, Tamura had a stone sculpture made replicating Kenta's catcher's mitt."The stone mitt will be displayed on the right side of Kenta's grave," the 52-year-old Tamura said. "That will allow Kenta to continue to live in our memories."Kenta was known as a supportive teammate, who had persuaded an injured teammate to remain on the high school baseball team, albeit as a staff member rather than a player.At that time, Kenta himself had hurt his back. In December of his second year of high school, he visited a massage therapist who also treated baseball players on corporate and university teams.His father told him, "You will not be able to play baseball if the treatment fails."However, Kenta refused to quit, even after the treatment led to such pain that he could not stand the following day. Although Takayuki thought his son would never play ball again, Kenta began the rehabilitation process by walking.In the new year, Kenta asked his father to buy him a much more expensive catcher's mitt. Takayuki understood his son’s determination to play ball, so they went to an outlet in Sendai to buy the mitt.Using that mitt, Kenta and his high school team entered the Miyagi prefectural tournament to determine the representative for the national high school tournament held at Koshien Stadium in the summer.His team, Furukawa High School, which was also Takayuki's alma mater, made it to the quarterfinals.Takayuki still vividly remembers his son thrusting his fist in the air whenever a good play was made.The fourth mitt that Kenta used during his entire playing career would also be his last.Kenta was working at the Onagawa branch of Sendai-based 77 Bank Ltd. in Miyagi Prefecture when the magnitude-9.0 temblor struck. Kenta and 12 bank employees ran to the roof of the two-story building, but he disappeared in the tsunami.Kenta had planned to introduce his parents to his girlfriend the following week.Days, weeks and months later, Tamura and his wife, Hiromi, walked the coastline in search of their son. Kenta's high school teammates helped in the search. His body was finally found at sea on Sept. 26.Kenta's remains are currently resting on an altar in the family home in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Tamura said they will eventually be interred at the neighborhood Sekiunji temple, where many relatives are buried.Tamura did not want his son's grave site to be a lonely place, so he decided to have the stone sculpture of Kenta's mitt made.The sculpture was produced by Masashi Hiraizumi, who lives in Kawasaki town near the border with Yamagata Prefecture.Hiraizumi used high-grade "ajiishi" stone from Shikoku.The sculptor created a stone catcher's mitt holding a baseball. He even captured the seams of the baseball in the stone."It's an exact replica," Hiromi Tamura said. "My son would be most happy with this."Takayuki touched the stone mitt and said, "I think this will make us visit the grave on our days off in order to keep it in good condition."Next year will mark the third-year anniversary of Kenta's death under Buddhist practice, and his remains will be buried at the Sekiunji temple.His parents plan to place his remains in the grave on a Saturday when many people can attend, including his high school teammates.