When he grows up, Toshihito wants to save people. No one could help his parents, but maybe, just maybe, someday he will have the opportunity to help some other little boy's parents.
When he grows up, Toshihito wants to save people. No one could help his parents, but maybe, just maybe, someday he will have the opportunity to help some other little boy's parents.
But for now, this 9-year-old is simply grateful for all the people worldwide who want to help him.
"Thank you for sending me the game and the other gifts. When I grow up, I will definitely visit your country and meet you. Let's play together then," Toshihito Aisawa wrote to a pen pal in Perth, Australia, in May.
Toshihito, who lived in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, is among the hundreds of thousands of victims of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.
"I don't really understand how to play the game because it's all in English, but don't you think these are wonderful gifts?" Toshihito said, showing off the game and stationery the pen friend had sent him.
When the tsunami struck northeast Japan, Toshihito and five other members of his family tried to escape, but their car was washed away.
Toshihito, out of desperation, broke a cracked window and squeezed out of the car. Hours later he found himself lying on a piece of lumber.
An Asahi Shimbun reporter met Toshihito on March 15. At that time, he was visiting evacuation centers alone, looking for his missing parents and other family members.
The next day's newspaper ran an article on the boy. The Asahi Shimbun translated the article into English for global readers.
Ripples from this article spread. More than 100 letters and gifts--from overseas and Japan--were sent to Toshihito.
A elderly couple, who had collected 500-yen (about $6.20) coins over the years, used the savings to send him a game console.
The owner of a Japanese "izakaya" pub in Tokyo raised money from his regulars for the child.
Toshihito sent thank-you letters to nearly everyone.
The pen friend in Australia heard about Toshihito's ordeal when his mother read an article to him. Shortly after learning of the tragedy, he wrote letters to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Does Prime Minister Kan even know about Toshihito? Is he eating foods he likes? The boy even suggested that if Toshihito cannot find his parents, he would be welcome to live in his house. The boy added he would love to play with him and go to school together, in a letter to Gillard.
When Gillard visited Japan in April, she handed his letter to Kan.
A team from Australian Broadcasting Corp., who visited disaster-affected areas in May, delivered the gifts from Australia to Toshihito.
"I felt I now have so many friends across the country and even overseas. When I grow up, I want to see them all," Toshihito said.
As reported, his parents and grandmother were found dead. Although his cousin, Yuto Shima, 13, survived, Yuto's sister is still missing.
Toshihito has lived in Yuto's house since late April. Yuto's father and his father's older brother are taking care of him.
Toshihito gets up at 5 a.m. every morning for a 30-minute jog with Yuto's father. He also joined the Kama FC soccer club and plays soccer on the weekends.
Through playing soccer with his new friends he appears to have become more expressive. He looks serious before taking an important shot; there is a big smile on his face when he jokes around with friends; and Toshihito looks quite depressed when scolded by his coach.
Although he did not play in the area's regional preliminary round in late May, he wore Kama FC's uniform for the first time.
While not particularly good at sports, he seems to take pleasure in physical activities and communicating with the other people around him.
There is good reason why he is so serious about getting into shape: "When I grow up, I want to be a member of Self-Defense Forces or a rescue squad so I can save people when a big tsunami hits Japan again," Toshihito said.