Hiromi Yasui, a Kabul-based Kyodo News string correspondent, became the only Japanese national to be evacuated on a Self Defense Forces plane from Afghanistan in the tumultuous days following the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country, as U.S. forces moved to complete their withdrawal before the end of August. She describes her experience as follows:
Aboard the Air Self-Defense Force plane bound for Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, I busied myself with a gaming app on my smartphone. It didn't have to be a game, but I wanted to do something just to distract myself as much as possible.
I was leaving Afghanistan, on Aug. 27, after living there for 20 years.