He Lost His Wife In A Tsunami, So He Became A Scuba Diver To Search For Her
On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake struck Japan from its main island, Honshu. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake, one of the strongest ever recorded, triggered a massive tsunami that hit the northeastern coast of the country. More than 19,000 people were killed, and many more were marked as “missing.”
Yuko Takamatsu, the wife of Yasuo Takamatsu, was among the 2,523 missing persons. At the time of the disaster, she was at her office at the Onagawa branch of 77 Bank.
She managed to send an email to Yasuo that simply read: “Are you okay? I want to go home.” Those were the last words he would ever hear from her.
Yasuo is still hopeful that he will recover his wife’s remains someday. Since 2013, he has continued to dive into the ocean to find her. He took up diving lessons at the age of 56 in order to venture into the deep ocean.
So far, he has made hundreds of dives—650 to be exact—but unfortunately, he has not yet been able to locate Yuko’s body.
The couple first met in 1988. Yuko was 25-years-old and an employee at the 77 Bank in Onagawa, while Yasuo was a soldier in Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force. They were introduced to each other by his boss and fell in love immediately.
Yasuo described his wife as a gentle person and that he liked her smile and her modesty. Yuko loved listening to classical music and had a talent for painting with watercolors on canvases. She did not show her paintings to anyone but her husband.
On the day of the tsunami, it snowed. Yasuo drove Yuko to work and then drove his mother-in-law to the hospital in Ishinomaki.
That was when the earthquake struck, shaking the world for six minutes. Yasuo drove through old farming roads to reach Onagawa.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
The branch manager at 77 Bank in Onagawa received a tsunami warning that predicted a wave that was only 20 feet high. So, he gave the order to evacuate to the building’s rooftop, which was 32 feet tall.
However, the tsunami’s wave was much higher than expected, estimated at between 49 and 57 feet. It swept away 12 of the 13 employees, including Yuko.
After losing Yuko, Yasuo vowed to search for her until she was found. Months after the tsunami, his wife’s cell phone was discovered in the parking lot of her workplace.
There was an unsent text message on the pink flip phone that read: “So much tsunami.” It was written at 3:25, meaning she was still alive then.
Yasuo spends his free time scuba diving and searching for Yuko. He is determined to bring her home. With each dive he made into the depths of the vast and murky waters, he braves both physical and emotional challenges.
“I expected it to be difficult,” said Yasuo. “And I’ve found it quite difficult, but it is the only thing I can do. I have no choice but to keep looking for her. I feel closest to her in the ocean.”
Yasuo’s story is a tale of perseverance. It highlights the refusal to give up even when the situation seems dire and showcases a husband’s undying love for his lost wife.
More About:News