9-Year-Old Rain Disaster Victim Had Dreamed of Joining Dance Group Exile

July 13, 2018

Uwajima, Ehime Pref.- Kaito Yokota, a nine-year-old boy killed in a landslide caused by recent torrential rain in western Japan, was an enthusiastic dancer who dreamed of one day becoming a member of Exile, a popular all-male Japanese dance and music group.

The elementary school fourth-grader in the city of Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, attended a dance school and competed in dance contests.

Due to the downpour, a hillside behind his house collapsed, causing a landslide that engulfed the home and killed the boy, his mother, Mami, 41, and his grandmother, Kazue, 67.

"They often participated together in athletic meets and volleyball tournaments organized by our community association," a local man, 43, said. "They were a very close family."

"Kaito was a lovely lad, and I was proud of him," a woman, one of his relatives, said. The boy never forgot to say hello and was always running around, a 71-year-old male neighbor recalled. A woman in her 60s, whose granddaughter is a classmate of the boy, also remembered him as always being active.

"Kaito was energetic and cheerful, and a treasure in our aging community," said Yoshihiro Yamamoto, 49, head of the community association.

Yamamoto rushed to the family's home soon after being informed of the collapse of the hillside on Saturday morning. Upon arriving at the scene, however, he was shocked because the house, crushed by the landslide, was no longer there.

"Nothing could be as grievous as this," Fujiko Hirada, a cousin of Kaito's grandmother, mourned.

After finding Kaito's toy cars in the collapsed house, Hirada looked a little relieved and picked them up. "I'll put them on my altar," she said. Jiji Press