Kumamoto ¨C A memorial ceremony was held in Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday for people who died when huge earthquakes hit the prefecture particularly hard 10 years ago.

The April 2016 earthquakes claimed the lives of a total of 278 people in Kumamoto and neighboring Oita Prefecture, including deaths from indirect causes. Thursday marked exactly 10 years since the main quake occurred.

The memorial was held at Kumamoto-Jo Hall in Kumamoto and was cosponsored by the prefectural government and all municipalities in the prefecture.

About 250 people, including Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara and bereaved families, attended the ceremony and prayed for the deceased. All attendees observed a minute of silence just after 10 a.m.

¡°We will never let the memory of the earthquakes fade away. We will pass it on to the next generation in a reliable manner as preparation for disasters that may occur at any time,¡± Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura emphasized in his speech.

Four high school students, who were elementary school students at the time of the disaster, also delivered speeches. Of them, Hion Kurahara, 17, said, ¡°I will live my life carrying in my heart the preciousness of life, the importance of mutual support and the power of connections between people, which I learned from the earthquake disaster,¡± vowing to ¡°continue to move toward realizing a society in which no one is left behind and a community where everyone can live with peace of mind.¡±

In consideration of the burden on bereaved families, the speech given by a bereaved family representative during the memorial ceremony was discontinued after 2023. A space was set up for the second consecutive year for interaction among bereaved families before the ceremony, with 14 people participating this year, according to the prefectural government.

While the memorial service had been hosted by the prefectural government, this year it was cohosted with all 45 municipalities in the prefecture to preserve related memories and enhance disaster prevention efforts. Ikuo Kabashima, who served as governor at the time of the disaster, also attended this year¡¯s ceremony.