An English translation, by Hiroyuki Ueba, Staff Writer at The Yomiuri Shimbun, and Mayumi Nakamura, International Relations Coordinator at Randolph Macon-College.

“I will never forget you!”

A message Ms. Anderson wrote to her students who graduated.

A message hand-written by Taylor Anderson, a 24-year-old assistant language teacher, is displayed along with the names of 67 graduating students on the wall of a hallway at Inai Middle School in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture. Paper cranes that she made were also attached.

Born and raised in Virginia, USA, Taylor got attracted to the rhythm of the Japanese language after watching the Japanese anime film “Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)” and decided to go to Japan in 2008, which led her to teach English at six primary and middle schools in Ishinomaki City. She stated in her application for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme that she wanted to make connections between young students in Japan and foreign countries.

Taylor had taught those students at Inai Middle School who graduated last month since their freshman year. One of her students Ikumi Kimura, 15, reflected that “As she even told us about her fiancé back in the US, she was like a friend at the same time as our teacher.”

According to her fellow teacher at Inai Middle School, Ms. Tomoko Narusawa, as the day of the graduation ceremony was approaching, Taylor stayed alone in the office after work to fold paper cranes for the graduating students.

When the earthquake took place on March 11th, Taylor was teaching at another primary school in the city. After helping her students safely evacuate, she tried to return to her apartment by bicycle, which was when she appeared to have been swamped by the tsunami.

“Taylor said she would marry her fiancé after returning home in July,” Ikumi said. She still cannot believe Taylor’s death. When she visited the school with her friends late last month, she found Taylor’s message on the wall. “I’m so moved by how much she cared us.”