Makoto Hatakeyama peered into the water near the wharf in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, and saw 2-centimeter-long gobies. That was on April 8, and it was the first time he had seen creatures in the sea since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Makoto Hatakeyama peered into the water near the wharf in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, and saw 2-centimeter-long gobies. That was on April 8, and it was the first time he had seen creatures in the sea since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
"They are strong in dealing with the sea, where humans are powerless," he said.
Hatakeyama, a 32-year-old oyster harvester, is among many in the fisheries industry in the Tohoku region trying to get their lives back on track.
According to the Miyagi prefectural government, about 90 percent of the 13,400 fishing boats in the prefecture were damaged or destroyed in the disaster.
Hatakeyama, who is vice director of a nonprofit organization on environmental education, plans to repair the small boat he had used for nature-experience programs. Yet his mind continues to flash back to the day when the sea he loves so much nearly swallowed him up.
When the earthquake struck, he was shucking scallops in a factory on the coast. He saw whirlpools of muddy water forming and also several fishing boats heading out.
Generations of fishermen have been taught that in the event of a tsunami, the best course of action is to head straight out into open sea.
Hatakeyama planned to go toward the offing but feared he might not be able to return to the coast that night. So he rushed to his parents' house nearby, took some bread and a sleeping bag and headed to his boat. It took about eight minutes.
His boat was operating at the maximum speed, but Hatakeyama felt it was going abnormally fast. He realized the speed was due to the receding waves, and he felt his entire body go numb.
He also noticed exposed reefs that were ordinarily below the sea surface.
Then the sea rose, and his boat rode on the wave. He thought the lighthouse was moving toward the offing, but realized he was being pushed back toward the coast.
His boat slid down the waves and became temporarily submerged. Its bow floated to the surface and seawater burst through the drains on both sides of the boat.
Hatakeyama thought the boat would stay afloat, but then the bread clogged the drain outlet on the starboard side.
The boat began to tilt.
He removed the bread but found that the helm did not work.
He tied floatation devices to his arms, took off his trousers and jumped into the sea. He swam toward the coast, avoiding the debris and buoys that had come loose in the water that smelled like oil.
He made it to nearby Oshima island, and returned to Kesennuma four days later on a Self-Defense Forces' helicopter.
There, he learned that the tsunami had destroyed his factory, house, oyster cultivation farm, one of his fishing boats and killed his grandmother.
* * *
For 27-year-old fisherman Ryohei Komatsu, the earthquake struck just as things were looking good.
In the fishermen's district of Ukedo in Namie, a northern neighbor of Futaba where the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is located, Komatsu informed his superior that he had success with his longline fishing.
Before 10 a.m. on that day, Komatsu returned to the port with more fat greenlings than he had expected. Sales amounted to 110,000 yen ($1,375).
The peak fishing season of young Japanese sand lances, a big money-maker for local fishermen, was also approaching.
But the smiles of the fishermen were wiped away at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, when the strongest earthquake in Japan's modern history struck.
Komatsu was told by his fisherman father: "Bring the boat to the offing."
He put on a sweater, jacket and high boots, and without confirming if a tsunami warning had been issued, he rushed to a coastal levee, about a minute from his house.
He noticed that the tide had gone out.
Among the local fishermen, Komatsu was the first to leave the port in a boat.
About 9 kilometers from the coast, he stopped, figuring the tsunami would be 5 to 6 meters at the highest. He also thought he would be able to return to shore after one or two hours.
But a fisherman of another boat said through the radio, "Look to the offing."
When Komatsu expanded the radar-covered area from a radius of 2.7 kilometers, he saw a thick line stretching horizontally and approaching his boat. He immediately began to drive toward the "thick line." Other boats followed suit.
In five or six minutes, he saw a black wall of water as high as a two-story house. His boat rose and rode over seven or eight tsunami waves. He looked toward the coast but was unable to see the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant because of the surging waves of the tsunami.
But he could make out the Futaba town office because the pine trees in front had vanished in the tsunami.
After returning to the coast, Komatsu moved around several evacuation centers. Now, he is living with his family in an inn in Fukushima city, which serves as an evacuation center.
According to the Namie town office, only 16 fishing boats survived the tsunami.
Now, the Fukushima power plant is exasperating the problems for the fishermen.
Radioactive cesium at levels above the safety standard has been detected in Japanese sand lances in neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture.
Still, Komatsu remains determined to resume his activities as a fisherman in Fukushima Prefecture. He has transported his fishing boat to Soma city, more than 30 km from the Fukushima power plant.
"When I finish fishing and see the sun rising on the horizon, that's when I feel the best. I want to see that scene again," Komatsu said.
(This article was written by Hideaki Kimura, Keiichi Yazaki and Hajime Ueno.)