Tsunami-tossed boat being sent home to Japan from Hawaii
COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
State workers load a small boat that washed ashore near Alan Davis Beach in East Oahu onto a trailer. The, boat recovered on April 24, 2015, appeared to be debris from the Japanese tsunami in 2011.
The Japanese 20-foot fishing boat Daini Katsu Maru, which washed ashore on an East Oahu beach last year after spending more than four years in the Pacific following the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, will begin its homeward voyage Saturday.
The boat is being shipped back aboard the Japanese training vessel Miyagi Maru, which is owned by the government of Miyagi prefecture.
The vessel will become part of a commemorative display in Ogatsu in Miyagi Prefecture.
Last April, a state Department of Land and Natural Resources crew retrieved the 20-foot skiff, bearing Japanese characters and vessel registration numbers, at Sandy Beach.
It was the seventh boat retrieved, following six others that arrived on Hawaii shores. Three were on the Big Island, at Kohanaiki, Kawaihae and Kawa Bay. One was overturned on Maui near the Aston Mahana, and two on Oahu were reported, at Kahuku and Punaluu.
Two large plastic bins were also reported. One was found at Kamilo Beach, Hawaii, and removed by volunteers of the Hawaii Wildlife Fund. The other was found on Kauai at Larsen’s beach.
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Items with identification numbers and Japanese characters are reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which works with the Japan Consulate in Hawaii to confirm their origin with the Japanese government. Items not claimed by the original owner can be discarded.
Japanese Consul General Yasushi Misawa and DLNR chairwoman Suzanne Case will attend Saturday’s ceremony.
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Correction: The magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Japan and subsequent tsunami happened on March 11, 2011. An earlier version of this story and the photo caption said it was 2012.
12 responses to “Tsunami-tossed boat being sent home to Japan from Hawaii”
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SA: What’s with the incredibly misleading title? “Tsunami Survivor Heading Back Home to Japan”?!? I clicked on the link, thinking the story would be a heart-warming one, about a person returning to his homeland after having been through a disaster. But, no, it’s about a BOAT (and other debris from the tsunami)? Um, news flash — boats are not survivors. They’re just boats.
Must be another slow news day and/or rookie reporter.
Slow days in Japan means that the sake drink is ready to relax with.
Just click-bait 101 practiced by SA. gotcha!
SA got me going too…sheesh!
That is exactly why I decided to read this story. What a “let down”.
The headline is factually true. The boat was in Japan during the tsunami and managed not to be destroyed or otherwise lost and therefore is a survivor. You’ve heard of personification, right? Totally legitimate figure of speech that has been used in writing – journalistic and otherwise – for centuries. I’m sorry you don’t find the story heartwarming, but I think the Japanese are glad to have the boat come back to them, as a symbol of their collective survival and in honor of those who did not make it.
Personification is primarily used in writing fiction, ellinaskyrt; it shouldn’t be used in newspaper headlines. Nonetheless, I’m glad to see that the SA has changed its headline to one that is much more accurate and suitable.
Hope that the natto shop will be back again.
And when will the floating debris from that earthquake in the middle of the Pacific Ocean return to Japan?
It is currently the size of Texas.
I recognize that boat. It was way off kaena point. We were getting ahi, mahi, ono, etc next to it.