A decade has passed since the devastating tsunami in Japan, yet Yasuo Takamatsu continues his heartbreaking quest to find his wife Yuko, who is presumed to have perished in the disaster.
Ever determined, Takamatsu dives into the waters weekly, a routine he has maintained for over ten years, in hopes of recovering his wife’s remains to give her a proper farewell.
The catastrophic event, which struck Fukushima and surrounding areas on March 11, 2011, was a 9.1 magnitude tsunami—Japan’s most severe natural disaster and the fourth deadliest tsunami in recorded history. It tragically resulted in about 18,000 deaths, left 450,000 people without homes, and over 2,500 individuals are still unaccounted for.
Yuko Takamatsu was at her workplace in a bank when the tsunami swept through. At that time, her husband was at a hospital in a neighboring town with his mother-in-law and was barred from returning to the devastated area immediately after the disaster.
In the months following the tsunami, Yasuo Takamatsu discovered his wife’s phone in the bank’s parking lot but has found no other sign of her since then.
The mobile phone held Yuko’s final communication attempts to her husband. Her last sent text was a poignant, “Are you okay? I want to go home.” An unsent message found in her drafts read, “The tsunami is disastrous.”
Despite numerous searches yielding minimal results, Yasuo clings to hope. After two and a half years of land searches, he began diving lessons in September 2013 at the age of 56, driven by his resolve to find Yuko.
Takamatsu discussed his poignant journey in the short film ‘The Diver,’ saying, “I do want to find her, but I also feel that she may never be discovered as the ocean is way too vast – but I have to keep looking.”
His searches are supported by diving instructor Masayoshi Takahashi, who organizes volunteer dives to help find those missing since the tsunami. Together, they continue their somber search in the depths of the ocean.