YAMAGUCHI Miyu
8th grade, Kagoshima Municipal Sakamoto Junior High School
"Unbelievable."
That’s what I thought. She was a junior high school student like me. She had important family and friends like I do. She was surrounded by people who cherished her like I am. A casual conversation was what she enjoyed the most. All those were broken in an instant by those whose names she didn’t even know. When I imagined it, I felt my heart tightening. At the same time, I got afraid of myself on realizing that I had never tried to understand the meaning of the posters displayed in the school and ignored them as something that had nothing to do with me.
No matter what words we use in trying to express the feelings of the parents of Ms. YOKOTA Megumi, I know words could never ever fully express them. I try to imagine what kind of feelings they carried for twenty years even without knowing that their darest daughter had been abducted, how they felt when they finally discovered that she had been abducted. I am so mortified although I am not even her family. And the sadness her father and mother felt, I believe, is totally beyond our understanding. Mr. YOKOTA used to say that he wanted to show Megumi the new Japan of today. But he passed away without being able to do so.
We have no time to waste. The time left is limited. Then what can we do? To begin with, I wonder if there is anything that I, a junior high school student, could do. When I conducted some research, I found out that a variety of measures has been taken. But, to be honest, I came to a standstill when I realized it was hard for us to pick a certain solution and carry it out on our own.
Therefore, I came up with three ideas that I can carry out now by myself. The first is to deepen my understanding. I can seach the Internet or watch TV programs to find out what happened in the past and what the situation is at present, and, thus, learn what I didn’t know. The second is to raised awareness of many people. When I watched the anime “Megumi,” I wanted many people to watch it. I actually introduced the anime to one of my friends who had little idea about the North Korean abductions issue. The friend said that he/she has bee shocked and had cried. We can also write an essay, like I am doing right now, make a report, or write in the newspaper on the abductions issue. These are the things we can do. The third is to cherish the happiness hidden in the ordinary. The happiness of being able to live with family, laugh with friends watch our favorite TV programs, and eat hot meals. There are so many. It is not easy to live keeping these ideas constantly in mind, but I want to be someone who can naturally feel grateful.
The number of people deprived of their freedom by abductions is not one or two. Their families are still struggling and fighting in despair. I have resolved that I will never forget their abductions, the act of depriving them of their freedom, which should never happen again, and I will keep doing what I can do now.