Trumpet praying to the victims 26 years after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

In the park on a hill overlooking Kobe city, people mourning the victims gathered on the morning of the 17th, and the sound of the trumpet praying echoed.

At Suwayama Park in Chuo-ku, Kobe, trumpet player Akira Matsudaira (78) has been performing every year since 1999 in memory of the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

At 5:46 am when the earthquake struck, Matsudaira performed the song "Hana no Machi," which sang the desire to rebuild the postwar burnt fields into a peaceful city.

It reminds me of how the city of Kobe has risen many times from crises such as wars and earthquakes, and I hope that it will overcome the corona disaster.

Then, 10 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, I played the reconstruction support song "Hana wa Saku".

Mr. Matsudaira said, "I was worried about playing with the new coronavirus, but I played with the thought that I would not lose to Corona. I would be happy if I could stand in this place and continue to blow until I was 80 years old and convey my thoughts to the city of Kobe. I was talking.

Continue to play in memory from 1999

Akira Matsudaira (78), a trumpet player living in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, held a concert in Kobe City on January 16, 1995, the day before the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.

Matsudaira, who returned to his home in Kawasaki City that day, was shocked by the completely different sight of Kobe on TV news the next morning.

Since 1999, I have been playing the trumpet at Suwayama Park in Chuo-ku, Kobe on January 17, when the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck, with the desire to mourn the victims.

There was an event that pushed Matsudaira's back when he was wondering whether to stop playing because of his old age. Typhoon No. 19 was a record heavy rain in eastern Japan and Tohoku.

In Kawasaki City, where Mr. Matsudaira lives, the area around Musashi-Kosugi Station on the JR Yokosuka Line suffered great damage such as the flooding of a tower condominium, and the first floor of Mr. Matsudaira's house was almost flooded.

It was a disaster volunteer who rushed to reach out while the tatami mats of the house, which became heavy due to moisture, did not go as planned.

Mr. Matsudaira said, "I could understand the feelings of the victims only after I was affected by the disaster. I would be happy if I could share those feelings, help each other, and put encouragement into the tone."