World2 min(s) read
Published 16:32 25 Aug 2024 GMT
A man has spent a decade diving every week in the hope of finding his beloved wife following the 2011 tsunami in Japan.
Yasuo Takamatsu lost his wife, Yuko in one of the world's most devastating natural disaster events.
The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which swept across the whole of Japan, killing more than 15,500 people and making 450,000 people homeless.
Not only that, the disaster also severely crippled the infrastructure of the country, leaving the economy on its knees.
In addition to the thousands of destroyed homes, businesses, roads, and railways, the tsunami caused the meltdown of three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster released toxic, radioactive materials into the environment and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
Over 2,500 people are still listed as missing - and one of those people is Yuko.
Yuko was working at a bank when she was unfortunately washed away by the waves.
She'd sent her husband an email saying: "Are you OK? I want to go home" and that was the last thing she ever said to him.
Yasuo was in a different town visiting a hospital with his mother-in-law that day same day, and after the waves had destroyed everything, he was forced to remain where he was until it was safe to return.
As soon as he got back to the area, he started searching for his missing wife.
He started on land and soon discovered her cell phone, which was found in a random parking lot with an unsent text that read: "The tsunami is disastrous."
She sent this around 3:25 PM local time but the message was never delivered.
After searching for two-and-a-half years on land, he turned his attention to the waters, taking diving lessons in September 2013 so he could search for his wife's body properly.
He continued to do this every single week until the present day alongside diving instructor Masayoshi Takahashi, who leads volunteer dives to help others also search for their missing loved ones.
But unfortunately, he's found no traces of Yuko as of yet, but he won't be giving up any time soon.
"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," he said in the short film The Diver.
We really hope Yasuo manages to find his lost wife so that he may find peace.
