Otaki, Nagano Pref. – A memorial ceremony was held Sunday in the village of Otaki, Nagano Prefecture, for the victims of the eruption of Mount Ontake that occurred 12 years ago, leaving 58 people dead and five missing.
The event at Matsubara Sports Park was co-hosted by Otaki and the town of Kiso in the same prefecture. About 60 people attended, including bereaved families and local people.
Participants offered silent prayers at 11:52 a.m., the time of the eruption, and placed white chrysanthemums on the flower offering table.
Bereaved families had filed a damages lawsuit against the national government and Nagano Prefectural government, claiming that hikers were killed or injured because the Meteorological Agency failed to raise the alert level appropriately. But the Supreme Court dismissed the case in January.
The agency’s director-general attended the ceremony for the first time in 11 years and stated, “We will make constant efforts to provide more accurate information.”
Hiromi Noguchi, 68, from Azumino in Nagano Prefecture, lost her husband in the eruption.“Everyone around me has died over the 12 years, leaving me alone. I’m very lonely,” she told reporters after the ceremony.
Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and the neighboring prefecture of Gifu, erupted on Sept. 27, 2014. Many hikers were on the 3,067-meter mountain around lunchtime on a weekend just before the autumn leaf season. Falling cinders caused many casualties.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.