Japan is said to be a country of earthquakes, as approximately 20% of the world’s earthquakes greater than magnitude 6 are recorded around our country. The earth’s surface is covered by more than ten large pieces of rock called tectonic plates. These plates move, causing earthquakes. Around Japan, four of those plates meet, which is quite rare and makes the area one of the most complex places in the world. An earthquake could happen anytime, anywhere in the country, and historically the nation has faced the risk of huge quakes.
31 years ago, in 1995, at 5:46 on an ordinary morning on the 17th of January, the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred in the northern part of Awaji Shima. It was the first major quake to hit a large city in Japan after World War II, and its magnitude was 7.3. Kobe city, in Hyogo prefecture, was the worst hit area, while Awaji Shima and the Hanshin area were also immensely damaged. Immediately after the event, fires broke out in various places in the city, affecting 100,000 homes. In Hyogo, a total of 6,437 people were killed or remain unaccounted for, and it was not only the loss of life but also the damage to infrastructure that was enormous. The quake caused motorways to collapse, damaged roads and bridges, and brought water and power outages, telephone line disconnections, and more, resulting in total losses amounting to 10 trillion yen.
There were so many obstacles to reconstructing the city centre that it required a huge amount of energy and time to revitalize the areas. Many people felt stress from living in shelters. Children, elderly people, and those with disabilities were especially affected, while others struggled with unstable jobs. The slow recovery of water, electricity, and other services, as well as traffic congestion, also reduced city function and people’s standard of living. Some companies moved out of Kobe, some factories produced less because of the damage, and the collapsed highways and roads caused transportation problems, which brought about various losses to the economy of not only Kobe but also Japan. The long recovery affected industry, cities, and people’s daily lives. Additionally, the year 1995 is called the ‘First Year of Volunteering’ in Japan. This life-changing event showed that the government could not save everyone. Since many government workers were also victims and roads were blocked by rubble, the authorities could not reach people quickly, so residents played a significant role at the time. About 80% of those rescued from collapsed houses were saved by locals, and millions of people from all around Japan came to the disaster area to help victims. After the quake, the concept of volunteering spread throughout the country, and many people learned to protect themselves and help those around them during disasters.
Interviewee’s Background
Mrs. Masae Hemmi was born and raised in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture and is now living in Osaka. She has two sons and one daughter. Currently she does housework and takes care of her children. At the time she was only 11 years old.
The photo below was taken on the day of the interview with Mrs. Masae Hemmi.
Mrs. Masae Hemmi (the woman on the right)
Interview
Q: Who were you living with before the disaster?
I lived in Kobe city with my father, mother, and brother, who was three years younger than me.
Q. What are some simple things you can remember about your daily life before the disaster?
I lived with my family, one rabbit, and two java sparrows. My father worked in the electrical industry, and my mother worked part time. At the time, I was in the sixth grade, and my brother was in the third grade, and we both attended an elementary school near our home. The week after the earthquake, I was supposed to go to a ski camp with my sixth-grade class. My classmates were busy getting ready for the trip, but my mother had felt unwell, so I had not been able to prepare anything. I was thinking that I needed to get everything ready as soon as possible.
Q: Was there any prediction or sign of the disaster before it happened?
I am not sure if it was the sign of the earthquake, but I remember my mother saying ‘the sky looks strange’ while we were walking near our house on the day before the disaster. I do not recall what it looked like.
Q: Did you make any preparations for the disaster before it happened?
No, I had not made any preparations. At the time, earthquakes were not reported as often as they are today, and because I had not experienced one in Kobe, I never imagined that one would happen.
Q: What were you doing when it happened?
I was sleeping in the same room as my mother and younger brother. I woke up in the morning, and just as I looked at the clock to check the time, the ground started shaking. The violent shaking felt as if it would never end. My mother was desperately trying to stop the birdcage on the table from falling as everything around us was shaking.
Q: How did your lifestyle change right after the disaster?
Fortunately, our house was not damaged, and my school was temporarily closed, so I was staying at home. The water, gas, and electricity services were completely stopped. We found out that one faucet in a park some distance from our house was still working, so my mother and I walked there every morning. I remember washing my face with icy water during the freezing winter.
On the day of the earthquake, we still had some leftover hot pot from the night before. We added the remaining rice to it and ate it. Although we went to the supermarket, there was almost nothing left. We bought whatever food that was still available. After that, I do not remember how we managed our meals.
Immediately after the disaster, my father and mother had to return to work. During the daytime, I was staying at home with my younger brother, but aftershocks occurred frequently and we were so frightened by the shaking that we stayed under the kotatsu (a low Japanese-style table with a heater under it and heavy blanket over it) all day. My father usually commuted by car, yet neither cars nor trains were available for a while. Instead, he had to ride his bicycle over the mountains and spent lots of time getting to work.
After experiencing such a major earthquake, I started to feel a kind of warning sign before the shaking began as I became able to sense when an earthquake was about to strike. I also visited the town where my father was born, though it had been destroyed and turned into burnt ruins.
Q: How did you find out whether your relatives and friends were safe?
My family was together, and since I was only an elementary school student at the time, I did not contact or check on our relatives. I assume my parents had done that. I think some of my relatives fled to evacuation shelters, and I remember talking with friends of mine on the phone.
Q: Was there anything you did to feel safer?
It was to stay under the kotatsu from head to toe.
Q: How did the adults around you explain what was going on?
My parents and teacher explained what was happening, but I cannot recall most of that.
Q: How has life been personally since the event for you and your family?
Before the disaster, whenever the weekend came, my family often made bentos and went on a hike to Rokko-San or enjoyed cycling. However, my father worked in the electrical industry, and perhaps because of the reconstruction of the city, his workload became extremely demanding. He left for work at 5 or 6 every morning and came home around 11 at night, not only on weekdays, but also on weekends. In the following year, he was killed in an accident on his way from work. My mother said that ‘if the earthquake had not happened, he would still be alive today’. After his passing, life as a family of three began and my mother started going to work all day. I think the burden on her increased. She also suffered from several serious illnesses.
Q: How did the disaster affect your school life?
The elementary school reopened after being closed for a while. The ski camp that had been scheduled for a week after the disaster was cancelled. After the quake, I received a letter from an elementary school student in Hokkaido who experienced the 1993 Hokkaido Nansei-Oki Earthquake. I corresponded with the same girl for about 20 years.
In the following year, my father passed away and those experiences inspired me to become a nurse. My younger brother became a police officer. The disaster did not change my school life itself, but I think it affected my attitude toward school.
Q: What comes to mind when people talk about the earthquake today?
The fragmented memories like the ones I have described in my answers come back to me. My father would not be dead if the disaster had not happened, so that reminds me of him and the time.
Q: How do you sum up your experience of the disaster that you were involved in?
Since our home was in Kita-Ku, Kobe city, it did not collapse and the damage was relatively little. However, I will never forget the fear I felt during the shaking. I also came to understand how the grief of losing a family member can leave long lasting emotional wounds. After my father’s death, my younger brother and I have struggled with flashbacks to the experience. It was not until I was in my late thirties that they finally began to subside. I felt that such a scar from childhood can last much longer than those we face in adulthood. Even now, I sometimes dream about earthquakes, and I still live with a constant fear that another one could happen. To cope with that fear, I keep emergency supplies and stay prepared, which I never did before the event. In the future, I would like to move to a place where earthquakes are less frequent.
One morning, the lives of thousands of people changed – both directly and indirectly – and threw them into tragic circumstances. Without a doubt, the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake was unimaginably devastating. It required enormous amounts of energy, time, and manpower to reconstruct the city, which had been reduced to ruin.
Reflections
As Mrs. Masae Hemmi mentioned, she is one of those whose lives were deeply affected by the disaster. The passing of her father is one example of how exhausting the long-lasting reconstruction process was. Imagine surviving a historical disaster, only to lose your loved ones later because of its long-lasting effects. It still may not be easy for her to look back on the past and share her experiences in the interview.
Earthquakes are unpredictable. Typhoons can often be predicted, but earthquakes cannot. We do not know when they will occur, so keeping emergency supplies is one thing we can do to prepare. In a disaster-prone country like Japan, there is always a risk of such an event, and Tsunamis are also a serious concern because they can be triggered by powerful earthquakes. Even after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, Japan experienced other major disasters, such as the Great East-Japan Earthquake and the Kumamoto Earthquake. The Nankai Trough Earthquake is another major earthquake that is predicted to occur in the near future.
What we see in the news tends to be presented as numbers and statistics, but behind those figures there are lives, losses, and suffering of innocent people. Their experiences and voices must be remembered and passed down from generation to generation. The reality of disaster can be difficult to fully understand and easy to forget over time, but it is something we must never allow ourselves to forget.
References
Tanabe, M. Takeuchi, T. Taniguchi, Y. Mizuike, Y. Yakashiro, N., & Yamasaki, T.(2017) Kobe-no-150-nen (PP282-285). Published by Jurinsha.
Getting to Know Our Country / Surprising Facts About Our Territory. Japan Innovation Centre of Civil Engineering. https://www.jice.or.jp/knowledge/japan/commentary12
What is the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. BE KOBE. https://bekobe.smartkobe-portal.com/interview/sample-page-2/index.html
The Great Hanshin Earthquake: The Beginning of Volunteer Activity in Japan. SAKIGAKE. https://sakigakejp.com/202601134300/
Researcher
Hello my name is Shota Hemmi. I am 18 year-old and am currently studying at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies in Japan in the Department of Global Studies. I love talking with people who have curiosity about the world around them. I enjoy thinking about something ridiculous, travelling, listening to music, and trying something new. I appreciate your effort reading through my report, and hope you have learned something valuable.