Students Write Messages on Candles for Memorial of Hanshin Great Earthquake; Memorial Service to Take Place in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:34 JST, January 11, 2025

ITAMI, Hyogo — Students at a junior high school in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture, wrote messages to the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake on candles that will be lit at a memorial service starting Thursday evening at a park in the city.

The 6,434 candles — the same number as the victims of the Jan. 17, 1995, earthquake — will be lit at the ceremony, which is being hosted by a volunteer organization from Nishinomiya in the prefecture.

About 230 students wrote message such as “I will cherish my life without forgetting what happened 30 years ago” and “Rest in peace.”

A second-year student wrote, “I will not forget that some people are still suffering.”

“I learned from a newspaper article that some people are still suffering today because they lost family in the disaster,” the student, 13, said. “I want to regularly keep earthquake preparedness in mind so that I can protect my family’s lives and my own life.”