Remembering Kobe

[John Lindsey]

Thousands of Kobe residents gathered Thursday to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that killed over 6,000. I have seen very little mention of this in the news here in the US.

Does anyone have any personal stories relating to this tragic event? What was the effect on the Kobe martial arts community?

One thing I remember is the slow response from the Japanese Government after the earthquake. Many Japanese were complaining that the Government was not doing enough to help out. Have things changed at all since then in terms of disaster preparation?

Hi, John.
When the Kobe earthquake (Hanshin Daishinsai) struck, I was living in Kyoto, and I felt the whole house rock violently (it woke me up). Not being used to earthquakes--very rare event in Western Europe--when the shaking stopped, I turned over and went back to sleep. It was only when I came to try to catch a train to work later that morning that I discovered the extent of the devastation.
The Hyogo Prefecture Shorinji Kempo Federation took to the streets building emergency shelters and engaging in emergency group cooking for the homeless survivors, and nationally, Shorinji Kenshi donated money for emergency work. The government of Japan, both on a national and prefectural level, remains moribund, however. Many people still feel aggrieved by the poor response time to the disaster, not least because that was simply a result of beauracracy and red tape. The self-defence forces weren't allowed to start digging survivors out of the rubble until the correct forms had all been signed in triplicate, and that kind of bureaucracy-ûber-alles doesn't seem to have changed much. Plus ça change...
I haven't been back to Kobe for several years, but TV reports here say that reconstruction is just about complete. How the psyche of long-term Kobe and Awaji residents is holding up remains a subject for separate speculation, however...
I hope that answers your question.