This blog also has an English translation.
I am using the translation function, but I am editing based on the text.
It's still hard to read, but if you are interested, please read it.
I think every time, but it is difficult to translate Japanese into English and express my feelings.
オレにとって、生きている限り忘れることができない日が沢山ある。
残念ながらその殆どが、悲しい思い出がある日付けだ。
For me, there are many days I can't forget as long as I live.
Unfortunately, most of them are dates with sad memories.
1995年1月17日。この日もまた、オレの記憶に深く刻まれた。
5時46分。深夜まで遊び惚けていたオレは、まだ布団の中だった。
…が、建物が今まで経験した事のない軋み音を立てたのに気付いて目が覚めた。
その数秒後に激しい揺れ。地震に対して初めて恐怖を感じた瞬間だった。
January 17, 1995. This day was also deeply engraved in my memory.
5:46. I was playing until midnight, and I was still in the futon.
… But I woke up when I noticed that the building made a squeaking noise that I had never experienced before.
A few seconds later, it shook violently. It was the first time I was afraid of the earthquake.
（画像は、総べてお借りしたものです）
(The images are all borrowed)
自然災害に対し、世界でトップクラスの対策をしている日本を襲った大地震。
強固な橋脚は根元から崩れ、数百メートルに渡りなぎ倒された。
通行中だった車両の殆どがそれに捲き込まれた様子が判る。
これだけでも、信じられない風景だった。
同時に中継された映像は、まさに悪夢。
The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
Great Hanshin earthquake - Wikipedia
A large earthquake that struck Japan, which is taking top-class countermeasures against disasters in the world.
The one that has collapsed is the elevated Hanshin Expressway Kobe Line.
The strong pier collapsed from the root and was knocked down for hundreds of meters.
You can see that most of the vehicles that were passing by were caught in it.
This alone was an unbelievable landscape.
The video broadcast at the same time is a nightmare.
これは日本なのか？何で？絶句した記憶が残っている。
時間の経過と共に入ってくる情報。そのどれもが、絶望的な内容だった。
日本人なら、その多くを知っているんじゃないかな。
Is this Japan? why? I still remember losing words.
Information that comes in over time. All of them were hopeless.
I think Japanese people know many of them.
オレが個人的に知っている当時の話をしておこう。
知人にトラックドライバーがいた。その同僚の話。
大震災の前夜、関東から運んできた荷物を届けるため、神戸市灘区に到着したのは深夜。
敷地内にトラックを停車させるスペースがあったので、そこで仮眠をとる。
現地なら、仮に寝過ごしても荷物を受け取る人が起こしてくれる。
関西の人は朝が早い。沢山は眠れないだろう。等と考えていたそうだ。
だが、彼を目覚めさせたのはトラックが倒れそうな激しい揺れ。
慌てて車外へ出れば、荷受け先の建物は倒壊していた。
それから1週間。付近で救助活動を手伝い、傷心したまま会社へ戻ってきた。
衣類はボロボロ。目の下に隈を作り、言葉少なく語ったのは「助けられなかった」という無念。
建物の下敷きになり、救助を求める人。迫り来る炎。
びくともしない瓦礫に阻まれ、誰も近づけなかった。
為す術なく見ているしかなかったと…。
社内にいた人たちは、彼にかける言葉がなかったそうだ。
Let me tell you the story of that time that I personally know.
An acquaintance had a truck driver. The story of that colleague.
On the eve of the Great Earthquake, it was midnight when I arrived in Nada Ward, Kobe City to deliver the luggage I brought from Kanto.
There was a space on the premises to stop the truck, so I was taking a break there.
In that case, there is no problem because some people will receive the luggage even if they oversleep.
People in Kansai work early in the morning. That's why he thought he couldn't rest enough on this day.
However, what awakened him was the violent shaking of the truck.
When he got out of the car in a hurry, the building that was supposed to deliver the luggage had collapsed.
Then one week. He helped rescue operations nearby and returned to the office with disappointment.
His clothing is tattered. He made a dark circle under his eyes and said in a few words, "I couldn't help".
A person who is under the building and seeks help. The approaching flame.
No one could approach it, blocked by the dull rubble.
I had no choice but to look at it ...
The people in the company didn't have a word for him.
これは “空襲の跡” ではない。地震に伴い発生した火災現場。
密集した古い建物が被害を大きくしたと聞いている。
This is not a “trace of an air raid”. The fire site that occurred due to the earthquake.
I heard that the dense old buildings caused great damage.
類似する話は幾つかある。
それを象徴するような画像もあった。
There are some similar stories.
There was also an image that symbolized it.
薄汚れたユニフォームを着る消防士が見つめているのは、自分が救えなかった人がいた場所。
その悲しみや悔しさが、物凄く伝わってくる。
Firefighters wearing dingy uniforms are staring at places where there were people who couldn't be rescued.
The sadness and regret are transmitted tremendously.
愛する人を突然失う悲しみ。助けられなかった苦しみ。自分が生き残ったという悔やみ。
誰一人、責めを負うことなんかないのに…。
The sadness of suddenly losing a loved one. Suffering that could not be helped. The regret that I survived.
No one is blamed ...
そんな地獄の日々から、はや26年。関西の人たちは立ち上がってきた。
歯を食いしばり耐えてきた。後の東日本大震災の時には、精一杯の協力をしている。
「あの時は、東北の人にも助けてもらったから」と…。これが関西の人。
カネ儲けには最もシビアな彼らの心意気。でもカネより大切な気持ちを持っている。
It's been 26 years since that hell. The people of Kansai have stood up.
They have clenched their teeth and endured. At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake later, we cooperated as much as we could.
They said, "At that time, the people of Tohoku also helped me." This is the spirit of the people in Kansai.
Their spirit is the most severe for making money. However, he values more important feelings than money.
自然災害に勝てる人間は存在しない。
だが、負けない努力と工夫を継続する力は持っている。
災害で苦しむのは日本だけじゃない。その教訓を生かし世界中へ伝えるのも、日本人の使命だと考える。
No one can survive a natural disaster.
However, human beings have the power to continue their efforts and ingenuity.
Japan is not the only country suffering from disasters. I think it is the mission of the Japanese to make use of that lesson and convey it to the world.
阪神淡路大震災で亡くなられた方々へ、心からご冥福をお祈りします。
震災から立ち上がってきた多くの人に、最大のエールを贈ります。
We sincerely pray for those who died in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
We will give the biggest ale to many people who have risen from the earthquake.
