FOCUS: Ex-Nurse Passes On JAL Crash Practice of Caring for Deceased
Tokyo, Aug. 16 (Jiji Press)--Fumiko Yamamoto still vividly remembers the moment she entered a gymnasium-turned-morgue as a nurse in the aftermath of the 1985 Japan Airlines jumbo jet crash. As she passed through the blackout curtain, "something heavy pressed down on my shoulders," recalled Yamamoto, now 82. "(That feeling) still remains in my heart. I felt it might have been the souls of th...
Fumiko Yamamoto, now 82, still recalls her role as a nurse at the disaster site of the 1985 Japan Airlines jumbo jet crash. When she entered the gymnasium converted into a morgue, she was greeted by a heavy feeling pressing down on her shoulders, which she believes may have been the souls of the deceased. The crash claimed the lives of 520 passengers and crew members, making it the deadliest single-aircraft accident in history.
The aftermath was devastating, with many victims' bodies severely damaged, some lacking body parts or burned beyond recognition. To cope with the grim situation, Yamamoto and other nurses engaged in a practice called seitai, or the arrangement of the deceased's body. This entailed using cardboard and cotton to restore the victims' bodies to a semblance of how they appeared in life.
Despite being 41 years since the tragic event, seitai is being carried forward by a new generation of nurses, accompanied by the deep respect for the deceased that inspired the original practice.
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