Eighty Volunteer Drivers Complete Final Training Ahead of Remembrance Day

Final training for the volunteer driver program supporting Sunday's Arrival Remembrance Day ceremony was held on the afternoon of the 4th at the Bay Community Hall. As previously reported, the 80 open slots drew more than 240 applicants; those selected spent three hours reviewing wheelchair assistance, rest breaks for participants who struggle with long travel, and rain-day contingencies. "Frankly, the number of applicants surprised us," a city coordinator said. "Having this much interest in the escort role itself, ahead of the ceremony, is encouraging for keeping the program going."

Among those trained was Asakura Misaki, 20, a university student previously quoted anonymously in an earlier report on the volunteer program; her name and assignment were disclosed for the first time on the 4th. She will escort the ceremony's oldest attendee, 101-year-old Kishitani Tane, previously profiled in the paper's "People of the Shore" series, who lives with her second-generation grandchildren in a Fukagawa row house and plans to attend this year's ceremony as a "listener." "When I visited her beforehand, she could tell I was nervous and ended up reassuring me instead," Asakura said. "My goal on the day is just not to get in the way of the person who matters."

This year's ceremony will host 121 first-generation invitees, roughly half the number from a decade ago, with an average age now in the late seventies. The volunteer program was created in response to that aging trend. "Families and local ritual associations have traditionally handled this individually, but the people who used to do that are aging too," a city official said. "We judged it was time to build this into an actual system." The same pressure underlies the city's separate discussion on a witness registry for the Shore Crossing rite.

Training also covered what to do if an escorted attendee decides not to attend on the day itself. "This isn't a program to make sure someone gets there," the coordinator repeated. "It's a program to support the wish to go, if they have it." Asakura said Kishitani had reported no health concerns so far, "but I plan to check with her again on the morning itself."

The ceremony begins at noon on the 7th at Kishihama Park with the Shore Lullaby, and will be relayed to three welfare facilities for those unable to attend in person. Because the observation campaign for the coming spring tide overlaps with the ceremony period, bag checks are planned around the venue, and volunteers were briefed on how the drop-off point relates to the checkpoint line.

Training ended with a practice drive to the park in pairs. One student paired with Asakura said, "I told my partner I was more nervous than I expect to be on the actual day, and she told me that's exactly right — the moment you stop feeling nervous is when something goes wrong." With three days left before the ceremony, the volunteer drivers have quietly begun taking up their place behind the scenes.