KOBE Like many others, Tsuyoshi Nakayama had to grieve for a loved one lost in the Great Hanshin Earthquake 26 years ago on his own without friends or acquaintances this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nakayama, 52, was one of about 2,500 mourners who visited Kobe East Park, where a gathering to pay tribute to the victims was held early on the morning of Jan. 17.
They accounted for less than 20 percent of the attendees in 2015 on the 20th anniversary when attendance at the memorial ceremony peaked.
“This is my first time to come here alone,” said Nakayama, of Kobe s Higashi-Nada Ward, as he gazed at flames of bamboo lanterns at the park from a distance. “It feels lonely.”