Nine years before the NZ earthquake, bereaved family attending memorial ceremony departure

Nine years before the NZ earthquake, bereaved family attending the memorial ceremony left for the locals on February 19 at 13:07

It has been nine years since the earthquake in southern New Zealand killed 28 Japanese people, including students at a vocational school in Toyama. On March 19, a bereaved family from Toyama departed to attend a local memorial service.

Nine years ago, in February 2011, an earthquake in southern New Zealand in February 2011 destroyed the building that housed the language school in central Christchurch, resulting in 28 Japanese students, including students at Toyama Foreign Language College in Toyama City. Was sacrificed.

Of these, Kazuo Hotta (65) of Toyama City and his wife Seiko (60), who lost their 19-year-old daughter Megumi at that time, and their wife Seiko (60), are celebrating the memorial ceremony held on the 22nd of this month, nine years after the earthquake. Departed Toyama Station on the morning of the 19th to attend.

Prior to this, Mr. Hotta said, "I go there every year to comfort my daughter's spirit, although it is a place I really do not want to go to."

Regarding the collapsed building, the local police had been investigating the design staff etc. on suspicion that there was negligence in the building design, but in 2017 the case has been turned off.

The Mayor of Christchurch will visit Japan this month and will officially apologize to the bereaved family at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo.

Mr. Hotta said, "I've always been asking for an apology, but now that it has been fulfilled, I have a different feeling of tension from the mayor about what I can tell. Dad has done this far. '"

During his stay, Mr. Hotta will attend a memorial service and meet with the mayor of New Zealand's bereaved family.