Tokyo commemorates 44 victims of Kabukicho fire
On September 1, Tokyo’s Kabukicho district commemorated 44 people who died in a 2001 fire. Relatives of the victims and others laid flowers at the site where the fire-damaged building once stood, The Japan Times reports.
Remembering the victims
Among those who came to honor the victims was 74-year-old Yasuko Ueda. She lost her two daughters in the fire — 26-year-old Aiko and 22-year-old Saiko, who worked in the building.
Ueda laid flowers and 4,400 paper cranes that she made herself and prayed for the victims. “A lot has changed over the past 25 years, but I am glad that I can come here again today,” she said.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
The 2001 fire
The fire broke out before dawn on September 1, 2001, in Kabukicho, located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. The victims included visitors and employees of a mahjong venue on the third floor and a food and beverage establishment on the fourth floor.
People died, including from carbon monoxide poisoning. Yasuko Ueda noted that many people today do not know about the tragedy, but she would like them to remember it, even if only for a moment.
