28 years since that day 3 people's trajectory January 13 21:55

On the 17th of this month, it will be 28 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.



A father who continues to tell the living proof of his daughter.



A woman in her 90s who healed the hearts of disaster victims with 12,000 rice balls.



An architect who works to engrave the history of the city in pictures.



How have the people who experienced the earthquake that day gone through the past 28 years?

Continuing to tell the proof that my daughter lived Masashi Ueno

Masashi Ueno (75) lives in Sayo Town, Hyogo Prefecture.

He was a teacher for many years, including serving as an elementary school principal.



A representative of his bereaved family will speak at a memorial event in Kobe this year.

Mr. Ueno lost his daughter, Shino (20 years old at the time), who had just celebrated her coming-of-age ceremony in the earthquake.



Shino was studying art at Kobe University at the time.

The apartment in Kobe where Shino lived alone was completely destroyed by a violent tremor.



Day after day, Ms. Ueno visited the apartment where Ms. Shino passed away, wanting to find as many things as possible, such as the items Shino used and the clothes she wore.

The picture book drawn by Shino tells

And find something in the rubble.

This is a picture book that Shino drew for a college assignment.



When you turn the page, a fish becomes a carp streamer and is swayed with her family.

Mr. Masashi Ueno


“At the end, it seems that everyone is swimming in the sky with a calm face. I made it with the thought that it is very good to spend time calmly, even if it is a peaceful and ordinary family. kana"

I want to convey the importance of life

Happiness that I felt in my casual daily life with my family.



In order to convey Shino's thoughts to as many people as possible and leave it as a proof of her life, Ms. Ueno made this work into a book.



In addition to donating the picture books she created to elementary schools and libraries, Ms. Ueno's storytelling activities are helping children who don't know about the earthquake to understand the importance of life.

Mr. Masashi Ueno


“The fact that there was a daughter named Shino Ueno in this world, and that it spreads in this way makes me think that my daughter is still alive.

I want to convey the weight of life by continuing to engrave the proof that my daughter lived.



Mr. Ueno will continue to convey the importance of life through this picture book.



(Kobe Broadcasting Station cameraman Suiko Abe)

12,000 rice balls that healed the heart Chihiro Fujiki

Chihiro Fujiki, who turns 93 this year, continues to volunteer.

He is actively working in his hometown, Tanba Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture, such as telephone consultations about the new coronavirus and fund-raising activities for Ukraine support.

Volunteering was inspired by an experience in the earthquake disaster

Mr. Fujiki is called "Sensei" locally because of his many years of volunteering.

His dedication to his activities was inspired by his experience in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.



On the day of the earthquake, Mr. Fujiki was at his home in Tamba Sasayama City.

When he learned on TV that Kobe had suffered great damage, he immediately contacted his local colleagues.

Let's deliver rice balls

About an hour after the earthquake, about 10 people gathered at the local community center at Mr. Fujiki's call.

Mr. Fujiki said, "The people of Kobe must be hungry. Let's all make rice balls and deliver them."

12,000 rice balls held

On that day, we made about 300 rice balls and delivered them to evacuation centers along with essential items such as sanitary napkins.

And every day, I continued to make rice balls with my friends.

In the 40 days since the earthquake, the number of rice balls that everyone made has reached 12,000.

12,000 rice balls delivered to the disaster area.

It all started with the spirit of volunteerism cultivated in the community.



At the time of the earthquake, Mr. Fujiki was delivering bento lunches to elderly people living alone in the community as part of the government's monitoring activities.

However, some elderly people were not happy about Mr. Fujiki's visit.

When I went to see elderly people who tended to be isolated, they would sometimes turn me away, but as I went there many times, they started to eat my lunch.

From that experience, Mr. Fujiki says that he came to believe that eating heals people's hearts.

From what he saw on TV that day, the devastation in Kobe made him feel that many people would be forced to live a hard life in the future.

I want to heal people's hearts, still unchanged

He continued to make rice balls, thinking that what he could do was to bring food to people so that they could heal their hearts even for a moment.



Fujiki will be 93 years old in March this year.

The smiles of the people who ate the rice balls delivered at that time support Mr. Fujiki.

My desire to heal people's hearts has not changed.

There is a word that Mr. Fujiki speaks like a habit.

"Volunteering is not something you do, but something you do."



Mr. Fujiki's words may still be comforting to many people.



(Osaka Broadcasting Station cameraman Daisuke Shiomi)

Engraving the history of the town into a picture Mr. Cho *Hongri

Born in Kobe City, Mr. Cho Hongri is an architect.

My life work is drawing the city of my hometown, Kobe, with watercolors with a gentle touch.

The reason I started painting was the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake 28 years ago.



* Cho = Cao's vertical bar is one

I could only stare

The night before the earthquake, Cao came home late and was staying at his office in Suma Ward, Kobe City when the earthquake struck.

At 5:46 a.m., a strong tremor pushed Mr. Cao's body up into the air.

When the shaking subsided and he looked out the window, he saw that the city was on fire.

Mr. Cao* could only watch as his hometown, where he was born and raised, was engulfed in flames.



Mr. Cao Hongli


"I felt like my hometown was stolen in an instant."

The scenery of my hometown that I thought was natural until the earthquake happened.

I have not kept any records such as photographs or drawings.

Looking back on his feelings at the time, Mr. Cao said, "To lose my hometown was like losing my feet."

Don't regret it anymore

Even after the earthquake, disasters continued to occur in various parts of the country, and Cao's heart ached each time.

I rushed to volunteer in areas affected by the Niigata Prefecture Chuetsu Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake, hoping to make use of my experience.

What I saw at the place I visited was a townscape whose scenery had changed due to the disaster.

It overlapped with former Kobe.

The current scenery may change again if we don't leave it.



Don't regret it anymore.



Mr. Cao began to draw the scenery of Kobe with sketches, which he was good at because of his work.

What I draw is the shops that are popular in the area and the people who gather there.

He has painted over 100 paintings so far.

Mr. Cao's painting sparked a lively conversation among the locals with smiles on their faces.

A city where the scenery changes little by little.

Mr. Cao will continue to draw his hometown as a "record for memory".



(Kobe Broadcasting Station cameraman Kaho Endo)

Suekori Abe


Worked at Kobe station since 1999.


Nishinomiya suffered damage in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

I value the relationships I have with people I meet through disaster coverage.

Osaka Broadcasting Station cameraman


Daisuke Shiomi


Joined in 2001 As


a news cameraman, he mainly covers and shoots news and documentary programs.

He went to Ukraine last year and did local coverage

Kobe Broadcasting Station Cameraman


Endo Kaho


Joined in 2017


After working at Shizuoka Station, he has been with the current position since 2019.

She became a news photographer with the aim of covering disaster prevention and mitigation.

Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake special website

January 17 marks 28 years since the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.


We collected images from the time and related program information and articles.