Japan is marking 30 years since the great Hanshin Awaji earthquake. The magnitude 7.3 tremor devastated the western city of Kobe and surrounding areas. People are remembering the more than 6,400 lives lost in the disaster.
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Japan's Emperor Narushito and Empress Masako attended a service, along with officials and families of some of the victims. Local high school students tended to an altar. It represents the will to pass on memories and lessons from the earthquake to younger generations.
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A woman who lost her father in the quake spoke on behalf of the bereaved families.
It is not all sadness. I will never forget the support I received from many people. The warmth of their hearts filled me with so much joy and became a driving force that allowed me to keep going. Even though this is a sad memory, I would like to pass on the importance of life.
It was one of several events marking the disaster.
Earlier on Friday, people gathered to light lanterns and hold a moment of silence at 5:46 a.m., the exact time the quake occurred.
I saw a local shopping street on fire. In 30 seconds, so many people lost their lives. It was awful.
The memories and lessons from that day are now being passed down to the next generation. Eight students died at this elementary school in Ashiya city.
I learned about how those who lost their loved ones suffered. I will live my life to the fullest. I want to cherish my family and friends.
People still grappling with their own disasters also marked the occasion.
Residents affected by last year's Noto Peninsula earthquake observed a moment of silence, as did survivors of the quake that struck the country's northeast in 2011.
From the region affected by the Great East Japan earthquake, I offer my condolences. I hope and pray that few people will know our sadness.
And earlier, NHK World's Yoshioka Takuma spoke to us from Kobe about how people there are commemorating 30 years.
Every year on January 17, people in Kobe gather at this park to warn the victims. Behind me, bamboo lanterns have been arranged to spell the Japanese word yorisou, meaning to stand with. It expresses a desire to keep offering comfort to the victims, even as the number of those who experience the quake dwindles. And it also reflects a determination to support people affected by other disasters that have happened over the past three decades. I can see there are many people, many more people here than in previous years, and they include a noticeable number of families with small children, or others who are too young to have experienced a quake.
I talked to some of the visitors who have been here from early this morning.
I was a university student at the time and living in Nishinomiya next to Kobe.
The damage there was quite severe. I lost one of my classmates.
I want my son to understand, even just a little, how everyone came together 30 years ago. and helped each other to survive.
I didn't experience the quake myself, which is why I take part in gatherings like this. I hope to learn from people here and ensure I can pass this knowledge on to future generations.
But not everyone can face their painful memories head on. We spoke to an elementary school teacher who lost her younger brother in the quake. She had avoided talking about him until she came across a memento.
A family gathering last November.
The birthday boy, Hara Yuki, is not present. The great Hanshin Awaji earthquake in 1995 took his life at the age of 10. But his mother and his big sister Yukie never miss this precious day.
It's been already 30 years, but I know we will continue to mark his birthday like this.
On the fateful day, the magnitude 7.3 earthquake destroyed the family home, burying all members. Yukie, her parents and her little sister managed to escape. But Yuki, who was trapped under the house, died.
Later, his father collected Yuki's belongings from the rubble and stored them in boxes.
Unable to face her brother's death for many years, Yuki avoided opening them.
But last year she went through one of them. In it was a diary with an entry describing a day spent with a friend just three days before the disaster.
It starts and ends with just this one page. When I read this, I could really picture this ordinary day out of his life. At the elementary school in Kobe, where Yukie teaches, she holds a special class on the disaster every year. For the longest time, she had been reluctant to talk much about her brother in front of the class for fear of bursting into tears. But now she felt compelled to personalize it.
On January 17, my home collapsed and my brother lost his life at the same age as you are now. And this also came out of the rubble.
He had kept a diary, but it ends with just one page. ohh Today, I played with my friend Shimizu.
My sister said she would play shopkeeper, so we used our Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon anime cards as money. It was so much fun, and my friend Shimizu said, Let's do it again! and went home. I had a super fun day.
If you lose your life, there's no doing it again. Life shouldn't be taken for granted.
That's what I still believe.
The promise of let's do it again hit me hard.
It made me think about the importance of living day-to-day.
I want the children to live each day to the fullest. By talking about the disaster every year, I hope that in 10 or 20 years I can still share my message with even more people.
As a teacher who experienced the disaster, and as the sister of a boy whose life was suddenly cut short, Yukie's potent message will reach people's hearts.
Local media reports say investigators plan to request a warrant to arrest the impeached president by Friday night. That would allow them to keep him in custody to continue their investigation.
Personnel from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials planned to question Yoon at 10 a.m. Friday, but Yoon refused to do so, as he had done the previous day. Yoon's lawyer has claimed his client has no need to answer questions because he's already fully explained his position.
Meanwhile, news of Yoon's detention has reached North Korea's official media. The ruling party newspaper has reported for the first time the South Korean president has been taken into custody. The article quoted foreign media outlets as saying the turmoil in South Korea may continue to cause political confusion for a long time.
The shrine in Tokyo honors the war dead.
Those remembered include leaders convicted of war crimes after World War 2. The lawsuit centered on the war dead from the Korean Peninsula when it was under Japanese colonial rule, who were also honored at the shrine. The South Korean plaintiffs said it's an insult to have their loved ones jointly enshrined with those from what they called the aggressor's side. They sued the Japanese government for providing the roster of the war dead to the shrine. They claimed this violated the constitutional principle of separation of religion and state. The case was rejected by both the district and high courts. The plaintiffs filed an appeal.
On Friday, Presiding Justice Okamura Kazumi on the Supreme Court's petty bench explained the plaintiff's relatives had been honored at the shrine by 1959, meaning the 20 year window to seek compensation had already expired.
One of the four justices on the bench gave a dissenting opinion. Justice Miura Mamoru said the government's cooperation with the enshrinement stands at the center of the issue of separation of religion and state. He said for relatives who oppose their kin being honored at the shrine, the issue could even affect their emotional practice of remembering their loved ones. He said the case should be sent back to the high court for further deliberations. This is the first time a Supreme Court Justice in Japan has presented an opinion on joint enshrinement at Yasukuni Shrine.
Next in weather, it's now time for a check on the weather with our meteorologist Yumi Hirano. Parts of Japan have been dealing with Blizzards. So Yumi, what can we expect over the weekend?
So the temperatures will reach 7 in Seoul, 9 in Beijing, and 12 in Shanghai, which are all over 5 degrees higher than usual. Tokyo will see sunny skies with a high of 9, but it will go up to the mid teens next week.
It's a different story in North America. A strong cold mercy surging from the north into the rockies and Great Plains. And it's expected to push into the deep south over the weekend. So the high in Winnipeg will drop to -22 on Saturday. Dallas will experience a dramatic temperature change from 21 on Friday to only 3 on Sunday. So please spend the app.
Finally, in South America, heat and dry conditions have caused a wildfire in southern Argentina.
A massive wildfire in Patagonia has led to structural damage on Wednesday.
Well above normal temperatures and strong gusts of up to 70 kilometers per hour have caused flames to spread rapidly.
Just less than a month ago, another fire has consumed more than 4,000 hectares in a nearby national park.
Unfortunately, no significant rainfall is expected in the next 24 hours, but the heat in the northern part of the country is expected to ease gradually over the weekend. That's it for me. Have a nice day.
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We now have breaking news out of South Korea. Investigators have requested an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol. It's now up to the court to decide whether to issue the warrant. The joint team of investigators detained Yoon Wednesday. They questioned him on suspicion of orchestrating an insurrection after last month's declaration of martial law. Yoon refused to answer questions Thursday and Friday.
His lawyer says he already explained himself.
