As people in different parts of the world change their calendars to April at this very moment, the class of recently graduated Japanese high school students are getting ready to embark on their next journeys in life. For many of them, this time marks a major turning point as they move away from home and head to even bigger cities for college or careers.
The recent graduates in at least one Japanese city can take comfort in knowing that their community will be waiting patiently for their return home at vacation. The staff at Morioka Station in Iwate Prefecture recently left a heartfelt message inside the station wishing their local high school graduates the best of luck as they set out in life, and it seems that more than one passerby has teared up at the sight of it.
Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture, located up north in Japan’s Tohoku region. Morioka Station serves as the main hub of the area, providing access to many local train routes as well as connecting the offshoot Akita Shinkansen (bullet train) line with the main line of the Tohoku Shinkansen, which runs all the way down to Tokyo.
Commuters at Morioka Station were recently touched when they spotted the following large sign inside, causing many of them to become blurry-eyed in a sudden wave of emotion:
The sign reads:
“To everyone who graduated this spring, congratulations on graduating.
On rainy days, on snowy days, on days when the deer and bears were out and about, thank you for using the Tohoku Main Line, Tazawako Line, Yamada Line, Hanawa Line, and Shinkansen.
Your daily cycle of waking up early, being swayed by the train, studying, doing club activities, spending precious time with your friends, and being swayed by the train on your way home…There must have been times when you were tired and almost overslept, right? We are glad to have supported you even a little bit during all of that time.
Many of you will be starting new lives in April, far away from your homes. For those of you who have now taken another step towards adulthood, we are sincerely looking forward to your return home to Iwate on the Shinkansen.
Thank you for always using Morioka Station, and we hope you will continue to do so in the future.
With feelings of celebration and thanks,
The Morioka Station staff”
Isn’t that sweet??
The tweet has since been retweeted over 21,000 times by people all across Japan. Momoji, the Twitter user who shared the above photo, even got choked up after seeing it, tweeting:
“I arrived at Morioka Station this morning and was greeted by this whiteboard. I was overcome with emotion and all of a sudden had to blink back tears. Good luck to all the graduates! And come back as adults♪”
If only we could all be met by such a touching message upon leaving home. Good luck to all the recent high school graduates in Japan!
Source/Featured image: Twitter (@momoselves)
Top image: Wikipedia (Shacho0822)