The Warmth of a Single Coin #AnEmotionBeyondWords

It was my first year as a civil servant when the Tohoku region was struck by a massive earthquake. Amidst the great confusion, I was assigned to work on tasks that gave shape to support for the disaster-stricken areas, such as managing donations.

Day after day, footage from the disaster areas played on television, and broadcasts from evacuation centers captured the voices of the victims. I remember that whenever someone said, 'We are short on such-and-such,' many viewers would respond.

At my workplace, the phones never stopped ringing.
Immediately after the earthquake, there was no system in place to collect or send supplies, and we hadn't even decided where to send them. We were in a situation where we had to decline every offer. While many people understood, there were also those who hurled harsh words at us.

During those days, I was often surprised by the people who came to donate. There were elderly men who placed stacks of bills on the counter, and at the homes of local influential figures, I received amounts of cash that made my hands tremble. Some days we collected tens of millions of yen, and in less than a month, we had gathered several hundred million.

A few days later, someone called out to me from the counter.

Across the counter, I saw a woman who looked like a mother and a boy of about five. As I stood up and headed to the counter, the mother continued with a somewhat awkward expression, as if she were smiling bitterly.

At first, I couldn't quite grasp what the mother meant. Was she embarrassed by the small amount, or did she not know the procedure...? But that wasn't it.

As if gathering his courage, the boy held out his clenched hand. I hurriedly caught what he offered in my palm: a single 100-yen coin.
I don't know how long he had been holding it, but it was very warm.

The boy had a very intense look in his eyes. After I said thank you, I told them I wanted to write a receipt and asked them to wait. Even though I felt it was rude, I kept my head down the whole time. If I hadn't, I would have let my tears fall.

The boy's feelings, and the mother who made it possible—I was so happy about that. I am likely the only one who remembers that parent and child. The warm 100-yen coin was mixed in with the other donations and sucked into the machine.

It was the moment I felt that from the bottom of my heart.