Published 14:41 IST, March 9th 2021

Man still looks for wife missing in Japan tsunami

Yasuo Takamatsu lost his wife Yuko when a tsunami hit the town of Onagawa, in Miyagi prefecture, 10 years ago.

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Yasuo Takamatsu lost his wife Yuko when a tsunami hit the town of Onagawa, in Miyagi prefecture, 10 years ago. The 64-year-old got his diving license two years later to try to find her remains, and for seven years, he goes on weekly dives - 470, and counting. "I dive as if I'm going to meet her someplace," he says. "I'm always thinking that she may be somewhere nearby."

Besides his solo dives, once a month he also joins local authorities as they conduct underwater searches for some 2,500 people whose remains are still unaccounted for across the region.

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So far, he has found albums, clothes and other artifacts, but nothing that belonged to his wife. He said he will keep diving, keep searching for his wife, "as long as my body moves." "In the last text message that she sent me, she said, 'Are you okay? I want to go home,'" he said. "I'm sure she still wants to come home." 

14:41 IST, March 9th 2021