After Tsunami Took His Wife, Yasuo Learned to Dive in Hope of Finding Her

After his wife was swept away by a tsunami, Yasuo spent two years watching Japanese coast guard divers search for bodies and recover victims’ belongings.

He then decided to learn to dive himself, driven by the hope that searching beneath the surface might one day bring him back to her.

“I learned to dive. I felt that I might meet her someday, as long as I kept diving,” he said.

What began as watching recovery teams became a personal search. For Yasuo, diving offered a way to keep looking for his wife and to feel close to her after the waves had taken her away.