Family Mourns Univ. Student Killed in 2016 Kumamoto Quake

   Minamiaso, Kumamoto Pref., April 16 (Jiji Press)--Family members Wednesday mourned the death of a then 22-year-old university student who was killed in one of the big earthquakes that hit Kumamoto Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in 2016.
   Hikaru Yamato's 57-year-old mother, Shinobu, laid flowers at an altar set up near the now-defunct Aso Ohashi bridge in the village of Minamiaso, which collapsed in the quake.
   At 1:25 a.m., which was when the main quake measuring up to 7, the highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, occurred nine years ago, Shinobu, along with Hikaru's 32-year-old brother, Shogo, observed a moment of silence.
   Hikaru's father, Takuya, who had visited the site every year, died in September 2024.
   "No matter how many years have passed (since Hikaru's death), I can't bring myself to be positive," Shinobu said.

(2025/04/16-14:19)