えひめ丸22周年慰霊祭のご報告

9日、ハワイにてえひめ丸22周年慰霊祭に参加しました。(現地時間)今年は大変な強風で、そのせいで電話回線も麻痺して困ったほどです。
　7日、私は県庁に作品集を託した後夜発ち同日午前中にホノルル入りする予定でしたが、訳あって直前変更し9日の同時刻に到着、そのため空港からカカアコ公園へ直行しました。幸い2時間半前に着けたので結局一番乗りとなりました。
　そして献花タイムに慰霊の俳句・短歌集をリアルで慰霊碑に供えることができました。
　びっくりしたのはインフレで花輪が二回り小さくなっていたことです。
　一方良かったこととして、過去2年間は一般参加を控え関係者のみでセレモニーを行いましたが、今年は通常通りとなり微笑みの絶えない和やかな雰囲気で皆が再会を喜び合っていました。私自身まだ挨拶できなかった方もいたことに気づき残念。
　ハワイ州日本国総領事、ホノルル市長はご本人がスピーチ、愛媛から出席にならなかった愛媛県知事、宇和島市長、遺族代表水口さん、そしてハワイ州知事の挨拶はそれぞれKen Saikiさん、Steve Sombreroさんらが代読しました。
　また、今年宇和島から初参加の二団体、ハワイの病院と交流を始めた宇和島市民病院と、宇和島ライオンズクラブの方々も参加し新たな輪が広がりました。
On the 9th, I participated in the 22nd anniversary memorial service of the Ehime Maru in Hawaii. (local time) The winds were so strong this year that the telephone lines were paralysed.
　On the 7th, I was supposed to leave at night after dropping off the collection at the prefectural office and arrive in Honolulu in the morning of the same day, but for some reason, I had to make a last-minute change and arrived at the same time on the 9th, so I went straight from the airport to Kakaako Park. Fortunately, I arrived two and a half hours before, so I ended up being the first to arrive.
　I was able to offer a collection of haiku and tanka poems to the memorial in real life at the time of the flower offering.
　What surprised me was that the wreaths were twice as small due to inflation.
　On the other hand, the good thing was that for the past two years, the ceremony was held only for those concerned, with no public participation, but this year it was as usual, and everyone was happy to see each other again in a friendly atmosphere with constant smiles. I was sorry to realize that there were still some people I could not greet myself.
　The Consul General of Japan in Hawaii and the Mayor of Honolulu gave speeches, while the speeches of the Governor of Ehime Prefecture, the Mayor of Uwajima, Mr. Mizuguchi, the representative of the bereaved families, and the Governor of Hawaii were read by Ken Saiki and Steve Sombrero, respectively, who were not present from Ehime.
　Two organizations from Uwajima participated for the first time this year: the Uwajima Municipal Hospital, which has started exchanges with a hospital in Hawaii, and the Uwajima Lions Club, which expanded its circle.
#Ehimemaru #Ehimemaru22ndMemorial #えひめ丸22周年慰霊祭