Devotion to Sathya Sai Baba
He was first introduced to Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1978 and has been a student, and adopted a lifestyle in line with their teaching since then. Hira has supported philanthropic initiatives associated with the Sri Sathya Sai movement.[18][6]
Hira has been associated with organizations connected to the teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba and served as chairman of the Sri Sathya Sai Organization’s Region B, which included over 80 countries. He is currently a trustee of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and President of both Sathya Sai Publications Japan and the Institute of Sathya Sai Education Japan. He has organized workshops, exhibitions, and symposiums on Gayatri Mantra and its significance, the harms of alcohol and smoking, and the national annual Sai conventions in Japan. A spiritual milestone was achieved on the 80th Birthday of Sri Sathya Sai Baba on 23 November 2005, when over 100 young Japanese fluently recited the whole of the Vedas in perfect Sanskrit pronunciation without referring to the text from memory. Since then, 300 Japanese have learned to recite the Vedas with appreciable pronunciation and decipher their meanings.[17][6]
The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami occurred in the Oshika Peninsula on 11 March 2011, with over 22,000 casualties. The Sathya Sai Organization Japan was one of the first service organizations to respond to the disaster. On 12 March 2011, the next morning, the team prepared 3,600 two-litre water bottles and 300 fresh onigiris and advanced to the disaster sites. Hira's Hotel Pearl City Sendai and Hotel Pearl City Kesennuma were used as a deceased victims identification centre, as well as the base of operations for NHK and local police forces. With the assistance of the Japanese Coast Guard, the relief items were delivered to the victims via boats and helicopters. Sairam News reported that under the leadership of Ryuko Hira, contributions from members from all over the country, and the Embassy of India in Japan, various relief supplies including towels, socks, heating packs, emergency blue sheets, undergarments, portable gas stoves, diapers, sanitary products, clothes, rice, frozen foods, juices, and other emergency food items continued to be delivered to the victims for 6 months.[19]In similar service activities, during the Great Hanshin Earthquake that occurred on 17 January 1995 in Hyogo Prefecture, Sathya Sai Organization Japan responded to the disaster immediately. Sairam News reported that water, emergency food items, blankets, and other relief items were delivered to the victims. There were members themselves who were victims but still volunteered in the spirit of Sai Service.[20]
