ISHINOMAKI, MIYAGI PREF. – On April 22 last year, Akemi Karino did exactly what she had done on the same day each year for more than a decade. She made a cake, sandwiches and some other of her daughter Ai’s favorite things for her birthday.
On this occasion she decorated the cake with 12 candles, but there was a conspicuous absentee from Ai’s 12th birthday.
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