JAPAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 123
THE DAY: 12 August 1985 (extract from memoirs)
Aki’s was a frequent flyer, his responsibilities covered Southeast Asia, New York, Europe – and all Japan. But early in the morning of Monday 12 August 1985, he acted in a way I had never seen before. He said he really did not want to fly to Osaka that day and he would do everything he could to cancel his business trip and stay at home with me. It was unusual for him to feel so reluctant about travelling, but he had a very bad feeling about going, he repeatedly said he just wanted to stay home. At that time I was in my ninth month of pregnancy with our second child, we had everything in the world to look forward to.
Aki arrived early at his office he was determined to re-shedule things. But he soon called to tell me he was extremely frustrated: his Head Office had insisted he must be the one to attend the leasing finance meeting together with the bank's chief economist. He was annoyed not to have any choice in matter, I could hear the tension in his voice.
Aki really didn’t want to fly so he asked his secretary to reserve a seat on the Shinkansen bullet train. But it was during the height of the O’Bon Festival of the Dead, a time when many people would return to their ancestral home to greet their ancestral spirits believed to return only once a year. Aki did not follow this custom he just simply did not want to fly that day. His secretary told him the train was full she could only find one seat on the Japan Airlines flight 123 departing at 18.00.
To ease his disapointment he decided he would at least come back home for lunch, his office was only twenty minutes away by car.
I remember every detail of the day like yesterday (as detailed in chapter 57) It was like he had a premonition and he was compelled to spend every last possible moment with me.
At around 15:30, he reluctantly left us, caught a taxi in Aoyama Dori to collect documents from his office before going to Haneda airport. It was at this point that I too began to feel terribly uneasy without knowing why.
Between 16:30 – 16:55, we spoke twice on the telephone. In the second call I said, “I just want to hear your voice again” He replied, “Thank you dear, you made my day!” We declared our love for each other, a perfect conversation. Fate allowed us to have one last treasure. Aki’s last words were: “It’s only one night to wait, I will be back tomorrow! You know how much I love you”
