Victims Mourned 7 Years after Western Japan Rain Disaster

   Kurashiki, Okayama Pref./Hiroshima, July 6 (Jiji Press)--Local residents on Sunday prayed for over 300 victims of a deadly rain disaster that mainly hit western Japan in 2018, including those who died due to indirect causes.
   Sunday marked the seventh anniversary of the issuing of the first in a series of special heavy rain warnings in the disaster, in which torrential rains caused floods and landslides.
   The city of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, which saw many casualties in the disaster, set up an altar for memorial flowers at its branch office in the city's Mabi district, as in last year. Visiting the site, Mayor Kaori Ito offered flowers and observed a moment of silence. Later, she told reporters, "We must never forget that day and must tell many people about it."
   A woman in her 50s whose house was completely destroyed lost two colleagues at her workplace in the disaster. She said, "The hot summer reminds me (of the disaster)."
   Takuro Honda, 64, who was principal of a local elementary school at the time of the disaster and now serves as head of a community center, said, "I renewed my determination not to let the disaster fade away and to pass it on to the younger generation."

(2025/07/06-16:14)

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