KOBE — Forgetting the massive earthquake 15 years ago that devastated Kobe and its vicinity would be hard for those who lived through it, but keeping memories alive and sharing them with others can be equally difficult.
The city appears to have returned to normal, with collapsed buildings reconstructed and traces of the magnitude-7.3 quake that struck Jan. 17, 1995, killing more than 6,000 people, now hard to find. However, for Kazuko Sasaki, the years since the Great Hanshin Earthquake have been a fight to ensure it is not forgotten.
The 57-year-old has collected all kinds of records related to the quake, such as fliers on aid given out at emergency shelters and research papers on damage to buildings. She began by visiting some 1,000 former emergency shelters and temporary homes as a researcher and has continued to be involved in such work with several organizations, including Kobe University.