ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture -- A granite statue of a mother and child was unveiled Oct. 23 at Okawa Elementary School, which lost 84 pupils and teachers in tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture -- A granite statue of a mother and child was unveiled Oct. 23 at Okawa Elementary School, which lost 84 pupils and teachers in tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake.The statue, created by Shozo Hamada, a 67-year-old stone sculptor based in Fuji-Yoshida in Yamanashi Prefecture, has the word "ko-mamori" (protecting a child) engraved on its base.The unveiling ceremony was attended by families of the earthquake victims.Kazutoshi Ogata, 44, who lost his younger son Ryusei, who was in the fourth grade at the elementary school, and Karen, who was in the first grade, in the disaster said: "I wanted to see the statue today. All I can say is that I am so grateful."Hamada spent six months carving the statue. He said he hoped it would commemorate the disaster and help the survivors achieve peace of mind."I thought they might need something to pray before when they think of their loved ones," he said.