The camera belonging to a passenger that sank along with a sightseeing boat off the coast of Shiretoko, Hokkaido in 2022, was found two years and four months later. It’s a miraculous data recovery. “The engineers’ tenacity… Camera data recovered after a year and a half” It is said that yet another “proof of his life” has been revived.
■Yu’s father: “I thought that was the end of it with the company we had previously asked, so when I heard that they had managed to recover the data, I was so surprised. I am truly grateful that they put in so much effort for us.” On this day, the father went to the manufacturer that recovered the data to pick up the photos his son had taken. Yu was a kind person who loved trains and other vehicles.
In April 2022, he traveled alone from his home in Chiba Prefecture to Hokkaido and boarded the sightseeing boat “Kazwan” in Shiretoko. In August 2024, more than two years after the accident, volunteers searching for missing persons at the tip of the Shiretoko Peninsula found Yu’s digital camera washed ashore on the beach.
■Yu’s mother: “This is the strap. This belongs to Yu. It must have been cold. I’m sure he would never let go of it, just like this. I think he wouldn’t let go until the very end.” Wanting to see the last things their son had taken, his parents asked a specialist company to recover the data from the SD card. After about three weeks, more than 700 photos, including images of Yu on the day of the accident, were recovered, but the company informed them that some of the data could not be recovered. The SD card had been submerged in seawater for more than two years, and corrosion had progressed, causing significant damage. However, a domestic camera manufacturer, upon hearing that some data could not be recovered, took action. “We want to revive the memories for the family.” A project team of 50 people from four companies, both domestic and international, including the SD card manufacturer, was formed, and after about a year and a half, they succeeded in recovering all of the remaining data.
■Yu’s father: “These are the passengers, right? They’re lined up all the way over there.”
■Yu’s mother: “It looks like it was taken from behind.” Ten new photos and ten videos were recovered. Newly taken videos from inside the Kazuwan ship were also recovered.
■Yu’s father: “I am truly impressed by the thoughtfulness of the people who analyzed and restored something that had deteriorated to such an extent, and by their high level of technical skill.” 《The sea on that day captured: Significant changes in the waves》 We headed to Shiretoko to visit the man who appeared in the restored photograph. He is a former employee of “Shiretoko Sightseeing Boat,” the company that helped set sail for the Kazuwan on the day of the accident. He worked as a deckhand for over 10 years and is intimately familiar with the seas of Shiretoko.
■Former employee: “Q: Is this from the day of the accident?” “Yes, that’s me.” “This is Cape Puyuni. About 5 minutes after departure. (The waves) are fine.” The Kazuwan, which departed Utoro Fishing Port around 10 a.m., passed Cape Puyuni in about 5 minutes. At this time, the waves were calm. About an hour later, it passed “Kashuni Falls.” Here, the former employee noticed a change that had not been seen in the previous videos. The wave crests crashing against the rocks had turned white.
■Former employee: “There are quite a few waves. They’re about 1 meter high.” “The waves are getting pretty big. I can’t believe we made it all the way to the cape.” “If it were me, I’d tell the captain, ‘Let’s go back.’ The waves were changing faster than I expected, every five minutes, every second.” A little after 11 a.m. Kashuni Falls. The wave height that the Japan Transport Safety Board had estimated in its accident report was 0.55 meters. However, the former employee pointed out that at this stage there were already 1-meter waves, the standard set by the operating company for canceling departure.
■Former employee: “It would have been good if we could have turned back here. At the very least.” Just before noon, the “KAZUI” arrived at the tip of the Shiretoko Peninsula. This is the last photo taken by Yu, which has now been restored. The former employee pointed out that there was a significant change in the sea here as well.
■Former employee: “The waves are starting to look a bit like triangular waves. When it gets rough, they turn into swells. The waves are about 1.5 meters high.” Experts in maritime accidents also say that triangular waves are a dangerous condition.
■Professor Nobukazu Wakabayashi, Graduate School of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University: “When waves are coming from multiple complex directions, the surface of the sea rises sharply in a triangular shape, which is called a triangular wave. When triangular waves appear, the general judgment is that it’s a bit dangerous for small vessels, so it’s best to turn back. The fact that they went all the way to the tip of Shiretoko Cape put them in a very difficult situation.” Approximately four hours after Kazuwan disappeared, this is footage from near Kashuni Falls, the site of the sinking. The storm intensified with each passing hour. 《A video taken just before the sinking, as if to preserve the record》 Among the recovered data, there was also a surprising video. Yu had filmed Kazuwan amidst the high waves, as if to preserve the record.
■Yu’s family: “Wow, it’s pretty rough, isn’t it?” “That’s why everyone’s inside the ship. This will be evidence. Amazing.” “I can hear screaming and crying. Ah, so this is what Yu was filming. Well done… Things are scattered everywhere.” The sightseeing boat “Kazwan” sailed through the raging seas of Shiretoko for the last time. After that, contact was lost and the ship sank.
■Yu’s father: “Looking back now, I think he took the photos to show how the earthquake was shaking, thinking that it might be useful later on.”
■Yu’s mother: “You did well, Yu. Thank you for leaving this behind.” “I think that this video and these photos conveyed to the engineers in some way his feelings—that he wouldn’t give up, that he was fighting alongside them, and that he should use them in court.” ▼HTB Hokkaido News Official Website
https://www.htb.co.jp/news/
