Photo/Illutration A bereaved family member of a victim of the 1985 crash of JAL Flight 123 offers candy to the stone cenotaph with the names of victims following the memorial ceremony in Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, on Aug. 12. (Wataru Sekita)

UENO, Gunma Prefecture--For the first time in two years, 87-year-old Kimiko Yoshida made the hike up Mount Osutakayama here along with bereaved family members on the 36th anniversary of the 1985 deadly crash of JAL Flight 123.

Yoshida's oldest daughter, Yumiko, a 24-year-old actress who had performed with the Takarazuka Revue Company, was among the 520 passengers and crew who were killed.

Last year, Yoshida was admitted to a hospital in May in poor health and forced to skip the memorial ceremony on the mountain. But this year, she was determined to make the trek.

“Even with how many years have passed, I remember the scene when I sent her off,” the Tokyo resident said. “She is still 24 years old to me.”

Only four passengers and crew members survived the jumbo jet crash on the mountain on Aug. 12, 1985, one of the worst single-aircraft tragedies in aviation history. 

For this year's ceremony, only bereaved families and those involved were allowed to attend due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Aug. 12, 143 bereaved family members, or 50 families, visited the site and offered prayers to the grave markers located on the slope.

The number of attendees was down due to the soaring number of COVID-19 cases across Japan. The memorial ceremony, held in the early evening, was scaled down.

After 520 candles were lit, attendees prayed in silence at 6:56 p.m., the time the crash occurred.

(This article was written by Masanori Isobe and Kaho Matsuda.)

Related News