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Speech by Consul General Kiyokazu OTA at the Port of Seattle Candlelight Service for Japan (Mar.31, 2011)
Good evening, Port Commissioner Bryant, ladies and gentlemen, friends of Japan.
Thank you very much for gathering here tonight for this candlelight service in honor of my country.
1. Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11th
I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound appreciation of the messages of sympathy we have received so far in response to the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeastern region of Japan on Friday, March 11th. Your compassion is deeply touching for us.
Today, on behalf of the government and people of Japan, I would like to express condolences for the more than twenty thousand people who lost their lives or are missing, and also for their families and friends. There are no words in English or in Japanese to express our sorrow.
2. Tragedy at Friendship Ports
In the stricken region, friendship port cities of Shiogama, Ishinomaki and Kesennuma, the destruction was of heartbreaking proportions. The earthquake was, at magnitude 9.0, and the resulting tsunami was much larger than we ever could have imagined. Devastation on the scale experienced that day has not hit Japan for over 1,000 years.
The tsunami in the cities was well over 30 feet, and we have lost 47 friends in Shiogama, 4,926 in Ishinomaki and 2,071 in Kesennuma reportedly as of today. As for the displaced, there are eight-hundred 820, 22,745, and 12,656 in each town respectively. In Kesennuma, flames burned throughout the night in the town due to the oil reserves being swept away, leaking and catching on fire.
3. A Young Ishinomaki Life Lost
As you may have seen on the news, a Japan Exchange and Teaching Program participant from Richmond, Virginia, Ms. Taylor Anderson was living and working in Ishinomaki, sister city of Everett, Washington, on March 11th. After making sure her primary school students were delivered safely to their parents, she rode away on her bicycle and disappeared. Her body was found on March 21st.
On March 26th, her ashes arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport where her parents met with Ambassador and Mrs. Fujisaki of Japan. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson told the Ambassador that Taylor had enjoyed her life in Japan, and loved Ishinomaki and the people there.
The government and people of Japan are grieving with you, our family and friends in the Port of Seattle, for the loss of people in your friendship ports, including Ms. Anderson.
4. A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed
The United States has been assisting Japan through this calamity from the very beginning through on-site USAID disaster relief teams and Nuclear Regulatory Commission experts to aid the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations, not to mention the US military forces’ ongoing efforts through “Operation Tomodachi.” Donations are pouring in from many individuals and businesses. Your help and encouragement is indispensable to us, and I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for this aid from our Seattleite, Washingtonian and American friends.
Japan’s 128 million citizens are more united than ever in the spirit of maintaining disciplined and orderly society of people who help each other. We are determined to overcome this three-fold disaster and rebuild stronger than before, although it will take many years.
In closing, joining this candlelight service is very moving for me. My heart and soul, together with yours, goes out to those in Shiogama, Ishinomaki and Kesennuma.
Arigato gozaimasu!
Thank you for listening.