04/04 Young children taken under uncle's wing after losing parents in tsunami

Young children taken under uncle's wing after losing parents in tsunami

RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate -- Three children orphaned by a tsunami that devastated the town of Rikuzentakata on March 11 have found a new home with their uncle.

Masanori Matsuda, a 41-year-old resident of Rikuzentakata made the decision to take his sister's three children into his home after learning of her death. He remains uncertain how the new family will survive, but was adamant not to leave the children by themselves.

Matsuda found the siblings -- 8-year-old Mitsuho, and Mitsuho's 7-year-old twin sisters Akari and Minori -- after he fled from the tsunami on March 11.

Shortly before the tsunami struck, a frantic voice warned of the impending disaster over the town's loudspeakers.

"The tsunami is going to break the levee. Flee immediately."

Matsuda got his mother and quickly drove with her toward a shelter in the town. Behind him he could see the tsunami knocking down telephone poles as the spray of waves rose into the air. As he sped toward higher ground, he saw his 4-year-old daughter Honomi being led barefoot uphill by a nursery worker. He pulled her into the car through the window. At the shelter he found his 7-year-old daughter Yukina and his sister Kaoru's three children.

After taking the five children to his aunt's home, he continued to search for his sister. The following day he met a person who reported his sister heading toward a gym designated as a shelter, along with his sister's 46-year-old husband Tomoyasu, a volunteer firefighter, directing traffic in front of the gym. But the gym was engulfed by the tsunami, leaving hardly any survivors. His sister's home was also struck by the tsunami, and after the waves receded, only the foundations remained.

On March 18, one week after the tsunami, Matsuda found the body of his sister in a morgue. Her husband and her husband's parents remained missing.

Matsuda's nephew and nieces attended the same school as his daughter and the children often played together. He knew how much his sister loved her children and it was heartrending when he thought about what had happened to her. Matsuda couldn't bring himself to tell the children about their mother's death.

"When the phones start working I want to call mom right away," one of the children said. The siblings were longing for their mother's comfort and Matsuda was seized with emotion.

Still, he wanted the children to be able to say a final farewell to their mother, and on the evening before her body was cremated, he decided to tell them about her death.

"What, what?" the children innocently asked as Matsuda prepared to break the news to them. He gathered his courage.

"Your mom and dad have both died. Today you can cry, as much as you want."

The room was filled with sadness. At that moment Matsuda's 41-year-old wife Aya spoke up.

"From now on Yukina's dad and I will be your dad and mom," she told the three.

An Iwate Prefectural Government survey of 350 shelters in the prefecture, conducted between March 25 and 31, found that the parents of 50 children under the age of 18 had either died or were missing. However, like the three children that Matsuda took into his home, there are believed to be many children who are being looked after by relatives after having lost their parents, and the total number of orphaned children remains unknown.

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 4, 2011

東日本大震災：津波で亡くなった姉、残された３児　弟一家迎え入れ－－岩手・陸前高田

　◇みんなのパパになるよ
　東日本大震災の津波で自宅や勤め先の会社を流され、避難所生活を送る岩手県陸前高田市の会社員、松田雅範さん（４１）が津波で亡くなった姉、新沼薫さん（４５）の幼い子供３人を新しい家族として受け入れる決意をした。松田さん自身も妻と２人の娘をもち、生活の見通しはまったくない。だが「震災遺児」となったおい、めいだけにするわけにはいかなかった。【沢田勇】

　松田さんが家族として迎え入れたのは薫さんの長男実歩（みつほ）君（８）と双子の姉妹の朱莉（あかり）ちゃん（７）、美尭（みのり）ちゃん（７）。薫さんは遺体で発見され、夫友康さん（４６）や友康さんの両親は行方が分かっていない。

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　「津波が堤防を越えます。今すぐ逃げてください」。３月１１日、松田さんは母を連れて車で避難所に向かった。拡声機から聞こえる防災無線の絶叫にも近い声は、事の重大さを物語っていた。背後で電柱がなぎ倒され、水しぶきが見えた。急いでハンドルを切って高台を目指すと、保育士に連れられ素足で坂を駆け上る次女穂乃実（ほのみ）ちゃん（４）を見つけ、運転席の窓から車内に引き入れた。その後、避難所を訪ね歩き、長女由希菜（ゆきな）ちゃん（７）と、薫さんの子供３人の無事を確認した。

　叔母の家に５人の子供を預け、薫さんらを捜し続けた。翌１２日。避難所の市民体育館に向かう薫さんと、消防団員として体育館前で交通整理をしていた友康さんの姿を目撃したという人に出会った。体育館は、津波にのまれ生存者がほとんどいない避難所だった。薫さんの家も基礎が残るのみだった。

　震災１週間後の１８日、松田さんは遺体安置所で薫さんと再会した。薫さんの子供たちと自分の長女は同じ小学校。一緒に遊ぶことも多かった。どれだけ子供たちを愛していたか、よく知っている。姉の無念さを思うと、やるせなかった。

　薫さんの死を子供たちに告げられなかった。「電話が通じるようになったら、早くお母さんに電話したいな」。甘えたい盛りの子供の気持ちを思うと、胸が締め付けられた。それでも「最期の別れだけは立ち会わせたい」と火葬前日の２３日夜、事実を告げることにした。

　「なに、なに」。無邪気な子供たちを前に、声を振り絞った。「お母さんもお父さんもみんな死んじゃいました。今日はいっぱい、いっぱい泣いていいからね」

　悲しみに包まれる部屋。そして松田さんと妻あやさん（４１）は、こう告げた。

　「これからは由希菜のパパとあやちゃんが、みんなのパパとママになります」

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　岩手県が３月２５～３１日、県内約３５０カ所の避難所で行った調査によると、幼児～１８歳未満のうち、両親が死亡・行方不明になった子供が約５０人確認された。しかし、薫さんの子供のように親族に引き取られ避難所にいない子も多いとみられ、全体像は分からない。

　陸前高田市教育委員会が各小中学校を通じて行った調査では、市内の小中学生だけで２７人（２日現在）が震災遺児となっている。市の担当者は「まだ増える可能性もあり、実態を早急に把握する必要がある」と話す。

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　松田さんは自らも家や職を失った。「正直、この先どうしていいか分かりません」。表情には不安も漂うが、姉の愛した子供たちをどうしても見放すことはできなかったという。

　「逆の立場だったら姉も同じことをしてくれたと思いますよ」