On March 11, 2011, the tsunami that devastated Japan’s northeastern coast separated Yasuo Takamatsu from his wife, Yuko, forever. She worked at a bank in Onagawa when the waves swept through the area, and she was never found again.
For months, Yasuo searched for her among shelters, rubble, mountains, and morgues. But years later, he realized that if he wanted to find any answers, he would have to look toward the place where she had disappeared: the ocean.
In 2013, he began learning to dive. Since then, he has repeatedly dived in the waters off Onagawa in the hope of recovering his wife’s remains and finally being able to bring her home.
In 2024, various reports indicated that he had already made more than 650 dives. In 2025, the story continued to be shared as an example of love and perseverance, without any confirmation that he had found Yuko.
One of the most painful objects he recovered was his wife’s phone. On it, he found a message she had tried to send him during the tragedy:
“Are you okay? I want to go home”.
Yasuo also discovered another message that was never sent: “The tsunami is enormous”.
“I know it will be difficult, but it is the only thing I can do. I have no other choice but to keep looking for her”, he explained in an interview.
For him, each dive is not merely a search. It is also a way to feel close to the woman with whom he shared his life.
More than 15 years have passed since the disaster, but Yasuo is still unwilling to give up on his promise to find her.