Dad's father's back April 22 17:23

It is
a word exchanged between parents and children who have become parents and children after the Great East Japan Earthquake. A man who runs an electronics store in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, sometimes said, "I'm fine with me," and encouraged my son with these words. The son graduated from high school this spring. I started walking toward the same path as my father. I watched the new spring that came to the two people who walked together. (Morioka Broadcasting Station reporter Toru Oyama)

9 years from that day, graduation day

On March 1, one high school student graduated from Takada High School in Rikuzentakata City.
Yoshihiro Yoshida (18)

After the Great East Japan Earthquake, I lost my grandmother Shizuko (72 at that time), my mother Makiko (at that time 33), and my brother Masahiro-kun (at that time 5).

Mr. Hiro's father (42) is watching Yoshihiro enter

While running an electronics store in the city, after the earthquake, he brought up Mr. Yoshihiro by himself.

9 years since that day. NHK has been staring at the two people.

A strange life

Before the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Yoshida family ran an electronic store in the center of the city.

However, the house that also doubled as a store was washed away by the tsunami of the earthquake, and three people other than Hiro and Yoshihiro died.

The first time we interviewed two people was immediately after the earthquake. My father and two children were alone, and I was still spending time at the shelter.

From this time on, Hiroshi started to say a certain word to Yoshihiro. When he came home crying because he had a hard

time at "the world's most beloved"

school, Mr. Hiro says he occasionally sent this word.

Hiro-san:
“Children who have experienced the earthquake are a bit of anxiety. There is no other person other than me. I thought that I would be okay if I followed him.”

The lives of the two people who changed completely due to the earthquake were tough. Mr. Hiroshi, who was an elementary school student at that time, had to do everything by himself, such as childcare, housework and work.

When I opened a new store and resumed my work as an electronics store, the number of local electronics stores decreased significantly due to the earthquake, and the number of construction requests from people who rebuild homes increased sharply.

When I got home, it was always late at night, and Mr. Yoshihiro had one day to finish his homework and meal while he was away.

Yoshihiro-san
: I often laughed so that I wouldn't worry about it, but I was so sad that I couldn't sleep unless I was attached to my mother. ”

Hiro-san: It
was impossible to balance work and child rearing. It was almost like I wasn't raising my child. Even though I couldn't eat without working, I still regret that I made my son feel lonely. I am. ''

A son who grows up without his father's knowledge

Hiro had a conflict in his days when he couldn't face his son.

On the other hand, Mr. Yoshihiro gradually overcame the night spent alone and became independent.

One of them is food. Since he was a junior high school student, Mr. Yoshihiro began to cook meals himself. My specialty is meat dishes. It is said that I made my own lunch for the 3rd year of high school.

Mr. Yoshihiro is now in charge of preparing dinner.
On the day I interviewed, I tried the first katsudon.

How to season and fried meat. Even though it was a bit of a struggle, I completed it while watching how to make it with a smartphone.

“Isn't the taste

light ?” Mr. Hiro was worried, and Mr. Hiro was happy to say, “It's exceptionally good.”

Like my father ...

Mr. Yoshihiro also helped his father's work by spending time in club activities and studying. What I witnessed here is the appearance of a father who has earned the trust of the local people.

Hiroshi can call all the customers' requests from the sale of products, installation, and repairs with a single phone call. We also worked on the installation of a disaster prevention radio built in Rikuzentakata city.

Yoshihiro-san
"I thought it was amazing. I can be proud of my friends when I think that my parents also made the disaster prevention radio that I casually listen to. I am proud."

Looking at his father's back, Mr. Yoshihiro decided to aim for the same "electric store in the city" as his father. After graduating from high school, I left Rikuzentakata and decided to study the basics while working at an electrical construction company in Sendai from May.

And one day, I want to go back to my hometown.

Yoshihiro-san
"The work of an electrician is based on trust. So I want to be an electrician who is appreciated and respected. To that end, I want to come back as a person who can pull people with solid knowledge."

Hiro-san:
“My son is my son, I think I should do an electric shop with a different name. I will be the subcontractor. I want my son to pull me rather than my father pulls it.”

You lived. I want you to be alive

The tripod that has been going on for 9 years since that day. My son will leave his hometown, and once he comes to a break.

At that time, the father called on his son, and his son called on him to be alive.

Yoshihiro:
"My dad started from scratch when the house was washed away by the tsunami, and I'm most grateful to be able to continue working and stay alive. I haven't lived here right now. I am grateful that I can live normally now. "

Hiro-san
"I have only one son, so if it's alive, I think it's more than anything. I want you to survive even when you go to Sendai. I don't think you need to do anything. Yoshihiro says I've been doing my best since the earthquake. "

Hiro expresses her love for her son straight.
And Yoshihiro who expresses his appreciation to his father.
Is there such a father and son ...
The two of them calmly looked at me, who kept their eyes hot, and continued like this.

"I wouldn't tell my son that my wife would love me if I was alive."
"Before the earthquake, I thought I was just a scared father."


"-Unless there was that earthquake," he

said. I was worried.

I think the strong bond between Mr. Hiro and Mr. Yoshihiro was born in the days when the two people desperately piled up after the great earthquake that deprived their family.

With that in mind, I could not help feeling the magnitude of the natural disaster that struck the parents and children that day, and the weight of the nine years.

"I don't want to make the earthquake disaster,

so please ask me anything ." I would like to continue the interview to respond to the feelings of the two people.

Morioka Broadcasting Station Reporter 
Toru Oyama
Joined in 2009 
and was in charge of prefectural government. Father of three children. We also cover child care and medical care.