Yoshihiro Hattori was born on November 22, 1975, to Masaichi,
the father, and Mieko, the mother, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.
When he was sixteen years old, he left for Baton Rouge in the
United States as an AFS exchange student and a recipient of Morita
Foundation scholarship. On October 18, Yoshihiro was shot by the
owner of the house where he mistook the address on his way to
a Halloween party.
Yoshihiro had answered the questionnaire by AFS, "It would
be wonderful if I could call 'the second home country' wherever
I go." Yoshihiro was
an active young guy who loved sports. He was a member of the rugby
club
in his high school. Fishing was his favorite hobby. He was the
second of three children, between the two-year-older sister and
the two-year-younger brother.
The names of both Yoshi
Foundation and Yoshi's Gift
Award Foundation, founded after Yoshihiro's death, came from
his American nickname, Yoshi.