1 Year On: Man Trying to Move Forward after Losing Wife, 3 Children

   Kanazawa, Ishikawa Pref., Dec. 28 (Jiji Press)--A man who lost his wife and three children in a huge earthquake in central Japan a year ago is trying desperately to move forward.
   "My wife and children fell victim (to the disaster), but (they) kept me alive," Keisuke Oma, 42, an officer of the police department of Ishikawa Prefecture, says. "I'm not only living my life, but also living my family's lives," adds the resident of Kanazawa, the prefectural capital.
   His wife, Haruka, then 38, the couple's daughter, Yuka, then 11, their first son, Taisuke, then 9, and their second son, Sosuke, then 3, were at the home of Haruka's parents in the Ishikawa city of Suzu when the 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in the prefecture on Jan. 1 this year.
   A landslide on the hill behind the house hit the property, claiming the lives of nine people including Haruka, Yuka, Taisuke, Sosuke and the parents of Haruka.
   Oma says he experienced severe loneliness after the disaster, noting that he could not go to work and kept thinking about his family in his home.

(2024/12/28-10:30)

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