棚に置かれた週刊少年ジャンプは年末に新刊に置きかえる。ラムネとスナック菓子は大好きだった記憶そのままだ。
３月１１日前に、地酒とたばこを加えた。好きかどうか知るすべはないけれど。甘えん坊だった末っ子の長男は生きていれば、今年二十歳を迎えるはずだった。
宮城県石巻市立大川小の６年生だった故今野大…
Hiroyuki Konno added locally brewed sake and a pack of cigarettes to a memorial at home for his late son, who would have reached adulthood on Nov. 12.
Daisuke was a sixth-grader at Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, which was engulfed by the tsunami on March 11, 2011, that was spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake. He was among the 74 students and 10 teachers at the school who died in the tragedy.
The 56-year-old father doesn't know whether his son would have enjoyed smoking Mevius brand cigarettes or drinking his favorite alcohol.
Konno also replaces a copy of the Weekly Shonen Jump comic magazine at the shelf with the latest issue at the end of every year. Even for a grieving father, it’s tiresome to replace them every week.
A bottle of "ramune" soda pop and snacks bring back memories of Daisuke craving them.
Konno lost all his children, Daisuke and two daughters, who were 16 and 18, on that tragic day.
A metal shelf is filled with their favorite items and other offerings coupled with photographs of them.
Konno is the head of plaintiffs in a civil suit filed by the bereft families of 23 students at Okawa Elementary School who were killed in the disaster.
He has shouldered a solemn responsibility to win a ruling that will save future lives.
Nevertheless, Konno laid his heart bare, saying, “We didn’t give birth to our children for the sake of offering lessons for the future. I truly wanted them to have survived.”
On May 10, the city of Ishinomaki and Miyagi Prefecture appealed to the Supreme Court the Sendai High Court's ruling in late April that ordered local authorities to pay 1.4 billion yen ($12.8 million).
The Sendai High Court said local officials were negligent in preparing for a possible tsunami.
Konno will continue striving to achieve his goal, as the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.