18/03 As snow falls, a tearful vigil for wife, mom

Hiroshi Sakamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

ONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--"Mom, Hiroko, you must be freezing. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," said Yoshikatsu Hiratsuka, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Hiratsuka, 66, was staring at the bodies of his mother and wife in the earthquake-ravaged town of Onagawacho on Thursday morning. Snow gently drifted down covering the bodies in a white mantle.

Although seven days have passed since the earthquake and tsunami, the bodies still have not been recovered.

Hiratsuka visits the site every day from his evacuation center to pray for his loved ones. There is nothing else he can do.

When the massive quake hit the town in the afternoon last Friday, Hiratsuka was at the home of a neighborhood acquaintance.

Rushing home, he found his 93-year-old mother, Minori, sitting on a chair on the road in front of their house.

His sister, who lived nearby, had rescued Minori, who had trouble walking, and his wife, Hiroko, 61, was helping out.

But while he was wondering how to evacuate the area, the tsunami hit.

In a moment, Hiratsuka found himself floundering about 10 meters away. Though he had a tight hold on Minori's arm, the two soon found water swirling around their chests and they were trapped in the rubble.

"It hurts, it hurts," Minori groaned, according to Hiratsuka. She died not long afterward.

"Mom, I'm so sorry," Hiratsuka said.

After managing to extricate himself from the rubble, Hiratsuka reluctantly left the site and headed for the municipal hospital. By that time, he had lost sight of his wife.

When he returned the following day, he found Hiroko's body under rubble. He sawed through the wood pinning her down, pulled her out and laid her body on the ground. He then covered her with a blanket.

Though he could see Minori's body under the rubble, he could not pull her out.

When he asked local government officials to recover the bodies, they turned him down, citing a manpower shortage.

Hiratsuka walks 15 minutes every morning from the town's gymnasium, where he is being sheltered, to the site where his loved ones are to offer prayers.

"You must be freezing. I'm so sorry I'm still unable to help you. Today marks the seventh day after your deaths," he said at the site.

He has yet to find his 38-year-old son, Masaru, who lived with them.

(Mar. 18, 2011)