30 Years since Yoshihiro Hattori Gunned Down in U.S.

Nagoya/Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)--As Tuesday marks 30 years since Yoshihiro Hattori, a student from the central Japan city of Nagoya, was gunned down in the United States, then schoolmates of his fear that the incident may be forgotten.

Hattori, then 16, was on a study abroad program in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the evening of Oct. 17, 1992, (Oct. 18 Japan time), he was shot by a resident of a private house that he mistook as a Halloween party venue.

Kenji Taira, 47, was a colleague of Hattori in the rugby team of Aichi Prefectural Asahigaoka Senior High School in Nagoya. When he was informed of Hattori's death by another team member on the phone, he could not immediately understand that.

"I still cannot accept (Hattori's death)," Taira said with tears in his eyes. According to Taira, Hattori was a person who inspired and cared about his friends. They went through hard training together and played around in the school yard after training.

Taira, currently living in the city of Hachioji, Tokyo, is now worried that people may forget the deadly shooting incident. "If it is forgotten, I could feel that Hattori has died again," he said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]