YAMADA, Iwate Prefecture--This reporter suited up and dived into the cold water of Yamada Bay in this northeastern coastal town. There were many things to see--much of it heartbreaking.
YAMADA, Iwate Prefecture--This reporter suited up and dived into the cold water of Yamada Bay in this northeastern coastal town. There were many things to see--much of it heartbreaking.
I had joined members of Daisetsu River Net, a Hokkaido-based nonprofit group searching for missing victims of the March 11 tsunami.
The seabed was gooey and sticky with mud transported by the tsunami. A white truck lay sunk near the wharf. A little further off, a photo lay on the seabed. It showed a man smiling at an infant girl, possibly a father and a daughter.
Looming near the mouth of a river was a large dark shadow. Closer inspection revealed an intact house with its sliding doors still in place.
"I wouldn't dare call it rubble," said one of the divers, Daisuke Hashikawa, 32. "Once these were someone's valued possessions. Now they are resting at the bottom of the bay."