Twenty-eight years after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake…Hanshin’s Okada, the manager of the Hanshin Electric Power Company, told this magazine about his heartache in the rubble-strewn city three days after the quake.

On January 17, 28 years after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, the Hanshin baseball team held a moment of silence at Naruohama Stadium in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, to honor the victims of the disaster. Manager Akifu Okada (65), who will take charge of the Hanshin team from this season, and other leaders gathered on the field, where a flag was flying at half-mast, and offered a minute of silent prayer.

At the time, Okada was in his second year with the Orix and in his 16th season of service. Okada said.

I was in my last season with the Orix. I was in a much worse place. That’s why I stayed in the dormitory all the time. I stayed in Seitokan. I couldn’t go there anymore. With rubble. From home. I remember that kind of thing. It’s been 28 years.

He said with a deep emotion.

Is my family safe?

On January 20, three days after the earthquake, a reporter for Friday happened to see Okada at a rotary in front of a station in Nishinomiya City. The station in front of him had completely collapsed, and those who wanted to use the restroom had to weave their way between the debris that looked as if it would collapse at any moment. The kiosk in front of the station, the only one in the area that had just reopened, had a long line of people waiting in line for water and food. While the reporter was standing in line to buy water, Director Okada appeared at the kiosk. I asked him if he was okay.

My house and my family are fine, but everyone is in a terrible situation,” he said.

After saying this, he bought water and other necessities and walked through the debris back to his home. When we called him again a few days later, he told us, “I woke up and my first thought was, ‘I’ve got to get out of here.

When I woke up, my first thought was whether my family was safe. My family, including my children, were all nearby, so I knew immediately that they were safe. After dawn, I looked around the neighborhood, but it didn’t look like it had sustained much damage from the outside, probably because the ground was firm. However, electricity, gas, and water have been cut off.

Voluntary training in Okinawa was cancelled, and the training facilities were unusable. Okada lamented that there was no hope of resuming training and that he could not go to the ballpark. His last words in the interview were.

It can’t be helped. For the time being.

He choked up at the prospect of the situation. However, the Orix won their first league championship that year under the slogan “AMAZING BASEBALL: Ganbarou KOBE,” adding a touch of sweetness to Okada’s retirement.

Twenty-eight years later, Okada has returned to the field as manager of the Hanshin team, and on January 5, he addressed 120 members of the team’s staff and the press.

On January 5, Okada addressed 120 members of the baseball staff and told the press, “I have accepted the great responsibility of manager, so I will give it my all from the very first year. This may be the culmination of my baseball career, and I want to put everything I have accumulated up to this point into it, and I want to work together with the players to finally win the championship.

He expressed his determination to win the championship for the first time in 18 years. I really hope that the Hanshin team will be able to achieve this this this year.