Photo/Illutration Locals search for their belongings from the debris of a disaster-hit house in Kobe's Nagata Ward on Jan. 19, 1995. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Remembering that day still arouses a painful feeling of shame mixed with embarrassment in me.

On Jan. 17, 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe and surrounding areas.

Gathering information about the disaster in Tokyo, I called police stations in Kobe and asked officers questions. As the day turned into night, amid great confusion, I asked a police officer if he could fax me information about victims.

After a moment of silence, the officer said in a didactic tone, “Mister reporter, that is not possible. We have a blackout here, and I’m reading out the document by candlelight.”

I was taken aback and apologized profusely for my stupid request, bowing my head many times to the phone.

I wonder how things are going for that police officer right now. At that time, I could not imagine a disaster that could keep a police station stuck in a power outage for hours.

As I later went to the city to learn more about what had happened, I found out that local police departments had also suffered serious damage. Some officers got trapped under the wreckage when their station buildings collapsed.

One of them was Yasu Yamasaki, 62, who was a section chief at the Hyogo police station of Hyogo prefectural police at the time.

While taking a nap in the night duty room, Yamasaki was awakened by a roar. Then came a wild shaking that made the concrete building creak, causing some concrete blocks to fall onto him. He felt blood dripping from his head in the darkness under the wreckage.

He thought about his family and wondered if he was going to die there.

“No, I’m not going to die,” he thought to himself. He was scared.

Yamasaki was rescued four hours later.

“The earthquake made me aware of my weakness,” he says. Adversity tests the strength of people.

With the motto, “Strong winds test the sturdiness of grass,” Yamasaki devoted his life to a career of police service and retired two years ago after serving as chief of the Nada police station.

When I apologized to him for the stupid mistake I made as a young newspaper reporter 26 years ago, Yamasaki gently said, “You should be forgiven.”

Different people remember different things about what happened on that day. To me, it is the voice of the police officer I heard over the phone. I think back to it with my back held ramrod straight.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 17

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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