Photo/Illutration Rescuers work at the site of a train collision accident in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, on May 14, 1991. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

On May 14 exactly 30 years ago, a Shigaraki Kogen Railway Co. (SKR) train and a West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) train collided head-on, killing 42 people.

I recently visited the accident site in Koka, Shiga Prefecture.

A "yamaboshi" Japanese dogwood tree, planted by the victims' bereaved families on the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, was in full leaf.

Pristine "senbazuru" (votive folded paper cranes) adorned "Anzen no Kane" (Bell of safety), a memorial monument erected on the 20th anniversary.

The monument was engraved with the names of the 42 victims, and I went through them, one by one.

Their personalities, as well as how they were remembered by their loved ones, were documented in "Shigaraki Ressha Jiko" (Shigaraki train accident), a litigation record published by Gendaijinbun-sha, which I read before visiting the site. 

The year after the tragedy, a woman who had lost her husband made 42 onigiri and placed them before a wrecked train shown to the public after the accident.

"(I brought the rice balls) because none of the deceased could have lunch that day," she explained.

The disaster occurred at 10:35 a.m.

I conducted a phone interview with a 68-year-old man who lost his mother. "After the accident, my father wasted away almost beyond recognition," he recalled. "I, too, wasn't quite myself until the third anniversary."

His father became a plaintiff in a lawsuit against JR West and testified in court. "He apparently found it impossible to get over his outrage over the railway's refusal to acknowledge responsibility," he recalled.

The father, now in his 90s, lives at a home for the elderly.

The bereaved families relentlessly demanded that the government create a permanent body for investigating railway accidents. Their persistence paid off 10 years later with the establishment of the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission, which was reorganized into the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) in 2008.

All over the country, JTSB investigators have been actively looking into the causes of accidents such as collisions, derailments, and trains overturning and running the wrong way.

An organization formed by the bereaved families of the Shigaraki train disaster disbanded in 2019.

I also understand that attendance at memorial events has been declining steadily over the years.

Standing before the memorial monument, I thought of the sense of irreparable loss felt by all who have lost their loved ones and prayed anew for railway safety.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 14

* * *

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.

Related News