RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--Just one last time, that's all Chikara Yoshida is asking for as he seeks closure over his son's disappearance in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--Just one last time, that's all Chikara Yoshida is asking for as he seeks closure over his son's disappearance in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
With the fifth anniversary of the catastrophe approaching, Yoshida, 81, and his daughter Hatsue Toba, 54, are behind a petition drive to push the authorities to resume underwater search operations for those lost in the disaster.
As residents of this coastal city in northeastern Japan, they are asking the Iwate prefectural police, the Japan Coast Guard and other entities to mount a final dive and search mission in Hirota Bay and adjacent waters to search for the remains of residents missing since the calamity.
Yoshida's son Toshiyuki, then 43, was a member of the city’s fire brigade and helping to evacuate residents at the city hall at the time of the disaster. After he piggybacked an elderly lady to the roof of the building, he descended to a lower level to help someone else. But he never returned. Toshiyuki was last seen engulfed by the raging torrent of the tsunami.
Yoshida survived the disaster simply because his home is on elevated ground. In the aftermath of the tragedy, he visited the morgue every day in hopes of finding his son. Whenever divers searched swamps and the local bay for the bodies of victims, he stayed close to the scene to keep an eye on their activities.
Two years after the disaster, Yoshida and his family decided to submit a notice to city authorities declaring Toshiyuki’s death and held a memorial service, as they knew they had to move on.
And yet, some days it felt like Toshiyuki just might show up at their doorstep as if nothing had happened. Yoshida said that he still occasionally awakes in the middle of the night in the hope of seeing his son's shoes at the "genkan" entrance of his house.
In the five years since the disaster, Rikuzentakata is starting to put itself back together. The mountains of debris and rubble are now gone and the downtown area is being rebuilt on artificially elevated ground as a precaution against future disasters.
“We have to set things right this time,” Yoshida recalls thinking.
With his desire to “set things right” in this hallmark year growing stronger with each passing day, Yoshida started collecting signatures for the petition drive on Jan. 25.
Hatsue's son Kiwamu, 24, and daughter Anzu, 23, perished in the disaster as well. The two were working for the city government at the time of their deaths.
Two hundred and five Rikuzentakata residents are still listed as missing.
No underwater search operations have been conducted for the past year.
As of Jan. 8 this year, according to the National Police Agency, 2,563 people remained missing nationwide due to the 2011 disaster. It gave the following breakdown: 1,237 in Miyagi Prefecture; 1,124 in Iwate Prefecture; 198 in Fukushima Prefecture; two in Chiba Prefecture; one in Aomori Prefecture; and another in Ibaraki Prefecture.
This is a far cry from the situation at the end of March 2011 when 16,273 people were declared missing. A year after the disaster, the figure dropped to 3,155. Since then, the remains of 50 or so people are found each year, mainly through searches conducted by local prefectural police authorities.
Even when bereaved families submit a death notification of a disaster victim, the individual is tallied as “missing” if his or her remains have not turned up, according to the NPA.
While many residents of Rikuzentakata have encouraged Yoshida and his daughter in their endeavor, others are critical because so much time has passed since the disaster.
“I know some people are critical, but we won't be able to move on if they don’t take one last look,” Yoshida said.
He and his daughter will continue collecting signatures until Feb. 15 and then submit them to the Rikuzentakata mayor within the month for his consideration.