National Jan 17, 2021
Memorial ceremonies to mark the quake that left more than 6,400 people dead were scaled down amid the ongoing coronavirus state of emergency in Hyogo Prefecture.
National Jan 17, 2021
Learning from Hanshin quake, Kobe web station delivers multilingual virus info
When the quake rocked the region on Jan. 17, 1995, many foreign nationals who did not have a good command of Japanese were unable to receive necessary aid.
National | Regional voices: Chubu Feb 10, 2020
Aichi students send Hanshin quake-linked sunflowers to disaster-hit areas
Sunflowers that students in Aichi Prefecture cultivated from seeds originally grown at the home of a 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake victim were displayed during a memorial ceremony on Jan. 17, marking the 25th anniversary of the disaster. Students of Chisato Junior High School and Shinshiro ...
National / History | JAPAN TIMES GONE BY Feb 1, 2020
The Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) was deluged with phone calls from mothers Monday morning after it presented a 45-minute television program on sex education, the first of its kind ever shown on the public broadcasting station’s channel.
National Jan 24, 2020
Special course on disaster prevention spurs Kobe survivor's mission to teach others
Early on the morning of Jan. 17, 1995, Kurumi Kishimoto was awakened abruptly by "earth-rumbling sounds" like something she had never experienced. Her family's seventh-floor apartment in Kobe's Hyogo Ward was shaken violently, with dishes falling from the shelves. As dawn was breaking, Kishimoto ...
National | Regional voices: Chubu Jan 24, 2020
Shaken by Kobe quake, Peruvian works to help Hyogo's Spanish speakers in times of disaster
Roxana Oshiro, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, came to Japan in 1991 and was living in a dormitory in Kobe with her husband and child when the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit the region in 1995. After a violent jolt, she desperately kicked the door open ...
National Jan 22, 2020
Government-funded annual memorial ceremonies for March 2011 disasters to end in 2021
Government-funded memorial services each year commemorating the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami will end in 2021, which will mark the 10th anniversary of the massive disaster, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tuesday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe concluded that he should determine the course for ...
National Jan 17, 2020
Kobe marks quarter century since Great Hanshin Earthquake killed thousands
by Eric Johnston
Kobe and the surrounding area on Friday morning marked a quarter century since the Great Hanshin Earthquake devastated the region, killing 6,434 people in what was then Japan's worst postwar natural disaster. Survivors, their family members — including many who were born long after the ...
National Jan 16, 2020
25 years after Kobe quake, SDF respected and volunteerism still strong
by Eric Johnston
As Kobe commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that took the lives of more than 6,400 people, the city and region are working to remind younger generations of the past devastation — and the importance of disaster-preparedness — even as they ...
Editorials Jan 16, 2020
Disaster response poses an ongoing challenge in this calamity-prone country.
National Jan 16, 2020
'Fun disaster' drills catching on across Japan, 25 years after Kobe quake
Disaster prevention initiatives with entertaining twists are becoming popular as the nation marks a quarter century since the Great Hanshin Earthquake on Friday. The citizen-led "fun disaster" programs seek to pass on the lessons of solidarity and mutual assistance learned from the 1995 quake that ...
National Jan 16, 2020
Chief of NPO backing Kobe quake victims passes torch after quarter century
A 69-year-old man who has dedicated his time since the 1995 Kobe earthquake to visiting and listening to people affected by the disaster is ready to hand his mission over to younger generations. "The most important thing is to continue connecting," said Shuichi Maki, head ...