WATARI, Miyagi Prefecture -- On Sept. 18, 8-year-old Nozomi Ono received an unexpected and poignant letter, written by her mother, Yumiko, who was swept away by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
WATARI, Miyagi Prefecture -- On Sept. 18, 8-year-old Nozomi Ono received an unexpected and poignant letter, written by her mother, Yumiko, who was swept away by the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
Using mainly hiragana characters so even an elementary school child could read it, Yumiko wrote, "The day after the school entrance ceremony you walked by yourself to school. At night you were so tired you went to sleep without eating dinner. When we tried to wake you, you were in a bad mood. You made such a fit that we could not do anything."
However, Yumiko went on to write, "I felt very at ease when you would go off to school in a healthy way."
Yumiko wrote the letter two years ago after purchasing a school bag from Kyowa Corp., a Tokyo-based company that called on parents to write letters to their children in the future.
The envelope Yumiko used to send the letter to Kyowa was postmarked May 8, 2009.
Nozomi is currently in the third grade at Nagatoro Elementary School and lives with her father, Yoshinobu, 51, an older sister and an older brother.
In the letter, Yumiko asks Nozomi, "Are you helping out with chores at home now?"
The letter continues, "I look forward to the day when we can all read this letter together and I will do my best from now on."
Letters were also included in the envelope to Nozomi's brother, Katsutoshi, 17, who is in his second year of senior high school, and sister Konomi, 14, who is in her third year of junior high school.
In her letter to Katsutoshi, Yumiko wrote, "I am hoping that you have become a big brother who is kind to his younger sisters."
The letter to Konomi said in part, "I am grateful for your help with chores."
Before the March 11 disaster, the Ono family lived in a two-story home about 1 kilometer from the coast. There were eight family members then, before Yumiko and Nozomi's great-grandmother died in the tsunami.
Yumiko worked at a company in Watari. After the quake struck, she became worried about her family and drove home, where she was likely swept away along with Nozomi's great-grandmother.
The Onos now live in a single-family home further inland on a plot surrounded by rice fields.
It is Konomi's task to prepare meals. If she is asked by Konomi, Nozomi will wash everyone's tea cups.
Her mother's death was not easy on Nozomi. She often said, "Why did Mom have to die? She never did anything wrong."
Nozomi would become tearful at night and would hold her father's hand until she fell asleep. She often refused to go to school, and when she did go, she would often lay her face on her desk and cry silently.
"I feel like I can meet Mom again," Nozomi said after she received the letter. "I will no longer be selfish and say 'I don't want to go to school.' "
Konomi was also happy to find a letter for herself. However, she shook her head when she read her mother's gratitude for helping out and said with her eyes red with tears, "I talked back to her all the time. I should have helped out a little more."
Yoshinobu added, "Although the family's clock appeared to have stopped on March 11, I now feel that these letters will help us move forward."
Kyowa began its service of having parents write letters to their children in the future in 2003. This year the company sent about 60 letters to customers living in the disaster-stricken areas.
However, because Yumiko was the only parent whose death was confirmed, a company executive personally delivered the letters to the Ono family.