January 17, 1996
Web posted at: 9:30 p.m. EST (0230 GMT)
From Correspondent May Lee and wire reports
KOBE, Japan (CNN) -- For a moment Wednesday, the Japanese port city of Kobe stood still. It was the moment -- 5:46 a.m. -- exactly one year after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake left Kobe in ruins and 6,300 people dead. Although time has passed, the pain and suffering caused by the devastating quake is still visible.
Residents, many in tears, huddled together against dawn cold at memorial services throughout the city to commemorate the bitter anniversary.
They were joined by Japan's new prime minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, who vowed that a 21st-century metropolis would emerge from the debris of the Kobe quake. There is evidence of that but, for now, about 48,000 survivors must live in temporary housing.
"Everybody here is depressed."
-- Toshitaka Yamamoto, earthquake survivor
For Toshitaka Yamamoto and his wife, time is running out. By next year, the government plans to shut down the temporary housing site where they've lived since last July. Their unit is small, just 75 square feet. It's also cold and dark, forcing them to pay the equivalent of $200 a month for utilities.
Yamamoto, 59, put a mattress against the glass door, but it does little to keep out the chill. "Everybody here is depressed," he said. "My wife and I always talk about how we are going to survive through this. How can we recover? We are lost."
Emiko Ogura, 55, feels the same way. She shares one unit with her mother and daughter. "The local governments are not doing enough for us. But there's so much they need to take care of, not just us. They are trying their best but it's just not enough," she said.
But temporary housing is a step up for other quake survivors, reduced to living in tents and make-shift shacks in the city's parks. Many of them are Vietnamese immigrants who were victims of circumstance in their own country. They came to Japan hoping to find a better life, only to become victims of circumstance once again.
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