Taro’s Deliverance from the Tokyo Earthquake and His Reunion with His Mother
Published October 23, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Contributed by
Young Woman's Journal Research
After the great 1923 Tokyo earthquake, a Japanese mother, fearing for her son Taro who was studying at a mission school in Tokyo, traveled to the city by canal boat to find him. She located his dormitory but was caught in the building when it collapsed during an aftershock. She was rescued and taken to an emergency hospital where she was treated by none other than her son, Taro, who was serving as an undergraduate medical student volunteer. They were reunited and returned home safely.
In Their Own Words
“She saw a form bending over her, dimly at first, then as it became more real she threw her arms around his neck and cried, “My boy, my Taro!” “Yes, Mother dear, I have you now in my care and we are both all right.” — The Young Woman's Journal 35:5”
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 35 no. 5 (May 1924). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/25630 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high)
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