Photo/Illutration Masaichi and Mieko Hattori, bottom right, with students at a meeting in Nagoya on Oct. 9 to mark the 30th anniversary of their son’s tragic death in the U.S. state of Louisiana (Yoshinori Doi)

The parents wanted their son to grow strong and healthy, so they named him Yoshihiro, choosing two kanji characters that denote such qualities.

The son lived up to their wish. As a cheerful teenager, Yoshihiro would invite half a dozen or so friends to his home. At 16, he went to the United States to study.

His father, Masaichi Hattori, remembers it was a Sunday afternoon when the phone rang.

An expression uttered by the caller sounded unfamiliar. It took him a second to process it: “shot dead.”

On Oct. 18 exactly 30 years ago, Yoshihiro Hattori, a native of Nagoya, was shot dead in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Dressed up for an evening Halloween party, he went to the wrong address, where the homeowner pointed a gun at him and fired the fatal shot.

Guns were close at hand stateside. The tragedy prompted Masaichi and his wife, Mieko, to embark on their “three-legged race” to demand the United States review its gun ownership laws. 

Now 75, Masaichi feels his stamina has begun to falter. Hearing that he is retiring from the front lines of gun control activism, I went to visit him at his home.

On the same day, a 15-year-old youth went on a shooting rampage in North Carolina, killing five people.

Every progress in gun control is invariably countered by regress. How frustrating the past 30 years must have been for the Hattoris.

But Masaichi did not waver, believing the world can be changed.

“Just waiting won’t change anything,” he said. “But the scenery changes when you take a step forward. Even if I fail to achieve my goal in my life, there is always the next generation.”

I sensed his hope for the future from his words.

Where does his strength come from? I found one of the answers in a past interview.

“This isn’t really my campaign,” Masaichi said. “It feels more like my son is running a campaign from heaven, and I’m volunteering the use of my body to help him."

The Hattoris haven’t been in a three-legged race. It has been a four-legged race with Yoshihiro.

I bowed my head in respect for their long journey.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 19

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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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