Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
January 18, 2024 at 12:34 JST
Keiko Fukushima’s father, Toshihiro, looks at a bench at a park in Fukuoka's Hakata Ward on Jan. 18, 2023. (Atsushi Kaneko)
Her name was Keiko Fukushima and she dreamed of becoming a flight attendant.
She wanted to travel the world, meet many people and take her mother on an overseas trip. She happily talked about her cherished dreams.
On Jan. 18, 2005--exactly 19 years ago today--she was murdered in a park by a man who was a total stranger. She was 23.
She had left her home near Fukuoka Airport early in the morning, listening to an English conversation CD as she walked to her workplace.
Fukushima was a lovely person with a bright smile. Serious and hardworking, she was a vice president of the student council at her high school.
She did not pass her flight attendant exam. But determined to retake the test, she kept preparing for it. She was a young woman who lived her life to the fullest.
The park where Fukushima was killed is now known as “Yume wo Kataru Koen,” which literally translates as “the park where you can talk about your dream.” The city of Fukuoka manages the park.
Her father, Toshihiro Fukushima, 67, asked the city to create a place where people like his late daughter could meet others and share their dreams.
The city complied with his request.
For years after his daughter’s death, Toshihiro wanted to be left alone, but he recently began conducting activities showing how she lived her life.
He gives lectures, during which every participant is asked to fold a paper plane and hurl it into the air while saying their dream aloud.
And when everyone has done so, it is Toshihiro’s turn: He flies his paper plane and says, “I want to see my daughter Keiko again.”
Sitting on a park bench, I thought about her. When I looked up at the sky, planes were taking off, one after another, from Fukuoka Airport, which is close by.
Dreams rarely come true, if ever. But tomorrow exists because we can dream. I will not forget her.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 18
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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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