With more than 2,600 people still missing in the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the remains of 114 victims are still awaiting identification in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.
With the passage of time, almost two and a half years after the March 11, 2011, disaster, it is becoming more difficult to find clues to identify them.
At Kichijoji temple, located on a hill in the Kirikiri district of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, chief priest Eigo Takahashi says, “Good morning,” to all of the 22 wooden boxes being kept there every morning. At that time, he raises his right hand in front of his chest as in prayer and places his left hand on each box.
Each box contains an urn holding ashes that are part of the remains of a victim of the 2011 disaster. Fifteen of the 22 boxes also contain a skull. Each of the other seven boxes contains the bones of body parts from below the neck.
The ages and genders of the 22 sets of remains are unknown. The boxes are identified by number.
On July 20, a person came to the temple to pick up an urn whose remains were identified through a DNA test. It was the first time since November 2012 that an urn placed in the temple was claimed.
“I was very surprised by the visitor because I was thinking that it may be almost impossible to identify remains,” Takahashi said.
In Otsuchi, unidentified remains are currently kept in three temples, including Kichijoji. Takahashi is proposing that the Otsuchi town government build a charnel house at a side of an evacuation center on the hill and place all of the unidentified remains there so that town residents can pray for the victims.
In Rikuzentakata, a grave site was constructed to accommodate the unidentified remains.
“There will be no recovery (of our town) without mourning the dead. I feel that unidentified ashes are asking us not to forget the victims who were killed by tsunami,” Takahashi said.
According to the National Police Agency, the number of remains of unidentified victims of the 2011 disaster stood at 71 in Iwate Prefecture, 42 in Miyagi Prefecture and one in Fukushima Prefecture as of Aug. 9. All of the 114 sets of remains contain skulls. If remains that do not contain skulls are added, the total will be larger.
Temples are keeping those unidentified remains at the request of local governments.
From DNA, teeth, surgical scars, clothing and other materials, police identified the remains of 348 people during the second year from the disaster--from March 11, 2012, to March 10, 2013. Since then, the remains of only 18 victims have been identified.
The number of new clues for identification is decreasing. In addition, there are cases in which missing persons reports were not made to police or DNA was not available for matching because all the family members have died, or the victims had no close relatives.
Showing the difficulty in identifying victims, on Okushirito island, off southwestern Hokkaido, which was devastated by a 1993 earthquake and tsunami, the remains of an unidentified person are still being kept at a temple there more than 20 years later.
Horyuji temple, in the Aonae district in the southernmost part of Okushirito island, is still keeping the remains of an unidentified person found about one kilometer off the coast four days after an earthquake and tsunami struck there on July 12, 1993.
According to police, the remains are those of a woman who is 149 centimeters tall and her blood type is A. She is believed to have been 55 to 85 years old at the time of the disaster.
After the body was found, no one contacted police to report that she could be a family member or relative. After more than one month passed, the remains were cremated. Then, the ashes were placed in Horyuji, the only temple in the Aonae district that survived the disaster.
“I hope that her family members appear as soon as possible. It is best for her to return to her family. I think that she is also thinking so,” a 51-year-old priest of the temple said.
Sunday 18 August 2013
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/life_and_death/AJ201308180028
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