The Daily Yomiuri
YOMIURI, Japan — A scholarship program for the children of volunteer firefighters who were killed on the job may fall into the red for the first time in the more than 40 years that it has been operating, according to sources.
This is because the number of children eligible to receive the scholarship or other financial aid doubled due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, in which 228 volunteer firefighters died while performing duties such as closing floodgates and guiding local residents to evacuation sites.
Shobo Ikueikai, the Tokyo-based foundation that runs the scholarship program, is calling for donations and other assistance, and wants to create a new fund for children who lost parents in the disaster.
In the three prefectures that bore the brunt of the disaster, 254 volunteer firefighters died or went missing. Of those, 90 in Iwate Prefecture, 84 in Miyagi Prefecture and 24 in Fukushima Prefecture were recognized as deaths on the job.
Another 30 fire department officials and others involved in volunteer firefighting also died during the disaster.
This led to a jump in the number of children eligible for the program’s assistance from an average of 110 nationwide before the disaster to 252 this fiscal year.
The annual cost of the scholarships and other aid is predicted to surge from about 25 million yen to about 53 million yen.
The payouts have been financed by investment returns from a 1.18 billion yen fund, subsidies and donations.
This fiscal year’s investment revenue comes to 14 million yen, meaning the foundation will have to fund the shortfall by digging into its own savings.
The foundation had outstanding savings of 145 million yen as of the end of fiscal 2010. If the situation remains unchanged, the fund will experience a shortage within a few years.
If money is withdrawn from the investment fund, returns will shrink, and the fund may not be able to cope with future disasters.
The foundation estimates up to 540 million yen in payments will be needed for the next 20 years to assist 177 bereaved children.
Tomoya Iwata, senior director of Nihon Shobo Kyokai, a national association for local volunteer firefighters, said, “To help the volunteer firefighters who died while performing duties during the disaster, I hope people will support the assistance for the bereaved children.”
The program aims to prevent the children of volunteer firefighters who died while on duty from being unable to enroll in schools.
Local governments and business organizations contributed to the investment fund, and the program was launched in 1968.
Scholarship recipients can receive 9,000 yen a month as a primary school student and 41,000 yen as a university student who commutes from places other than home.
When enrolling in high school, a recipient can obtain 50,000 yen to 120,000 yen as a one-time payout, which does not need to be repaid.
Student grateful for support
With a mathematics book sitting on his desk at home, Keisuke Iwaki, 16, a second-year student of Ofunato High School in Iwate Prefecture, said, “I’m being supported by many people.”
After returning from training with his school’s baseball team, he said, “I feel thankful for being able to attend school and continue my activities in the team.”
His father, Shiro, was a group leader of volunteer firefighters in the city at Ofunato. On March 11, the 45-year-old returned home from his work as a fisherman early in the morning. Just after the massive earthquake struck that afternoon, Shiro told his wife, Hiroko, 47, that he was going out to perform his duties as a volunteer firefighter.
But just after closing a floodgate near a fishing port, Shiro was engulfed by the tsunami.
The family inherited tens of millions of yen worth of debt, due to Shiro’s loans for scallop farming facilities and a fishing boat. Hiroko, who previously assisted her husband’s business, lost her sources of income due to the disaster.
Shiro had coached baseball teams, and he influenced Iwaki’s decision to attend Ofunato High School, which is famous for having a strong baseball team.
After the quake, Iwaki was about to give up baseball.
Hiroko said, “Without the scholarship, I might have been unable to let my son continue playing baseball.”
Iwaki planned to commute to high school via Sanriku Railway Co.'s Minami-Riasu Line, but it was damaged by the tsunami. His mother must drive him to and from school when the team trains early in the morning or at night.
The family is under financial pressure, and Iwaki and his mother are anxious about their future.
But Hiroko said, “For parents, children are hope. Even if I have to struggle to make ends meet, I don’t want to restrict my son’s opportunities.”
Iwaki spends every day concentrating on playing baseball, but he wishes he had a job that enabled him to help others be happy.
While he is not a top student, Iwaki now always studies at home after school, even if he is exhausted from baseball training.
“When I grow up, I want to be a middle school teacher,” Iwaki said. “I want to return the favor to the people who supported me and to my mother. I’ll also join a group of volunteer firefighters and protect local residents like my father did.”
Copyright 2012 The Yomiuri Shimbun
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