UENO: Victims of the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines  jumbo jet were remembered on the mountainous disaster site in eastern Japan on the 36th anniversary Thursday.

Bereaved family members and others went on a memorial hike, climbing to the 1,565-meter-high Osutaka Ridge, the crash site in the village of Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

They paid their respects at memorial markers indicating places where remains of the victims were found.

In the world’s deadliest single-aircraft accident, JAL Flight 123, a Boeing 747 bound for the western prefecture of Osaka from Tokyo, crashed on Aug. 12, 1985, killing 520 of the 524 passengers and crew members aboard.

Two years ago, before the novel coronavirus crisis, Chiho Wakamoto, 56, who lost her father, Shoji, then 50, in the crash, climbed to the ridge with her eldest son, his wife and their daughter Shiyon, now 3.

On this year’s anniversary, however, Wakamoto, from Yamato in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, visited the crash site only with the son after taking thorough countermeasures against the coronavirus.

Once the epidemic is contained, she plans to bring Shiyon to the site and tell her that “this is the place where something sad happened, but it is also a kind place protecting your great-grandfather.”

Kimiko Yoshida, 87, from Tokyo, lost her daughter, Yumiko, then 24, an actress, who was a member of the famed Takarazuka Revue theater troupe.

Last year, Yoshida gave up climbing to the crash site as she was sick. On Thursday, she went on a memorial hike while taking breaks.

“I climb to the ridge every year while thinking that this may be my last memorial hike,” Yoshida said. “My thoughts about my daughter will never change no matter how many years go by.”

In response to the spread of the coronavirus, 20 municipalities in Gunma were placed in the pre-emergency stage, effective from Sunday.

Although the village of Ueno is not covered by the pre-emergency designation, only bereaved family members and other relevant people are allowed to make memorial hikes between Wednesday and Friday, as part of efforts to prevent the virus from spreading further.

JIJI Press