Divers search for 9th Ehime Maru victim
| • | Special report: Collision at Sea |
By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer
The 20 percent of the sunken Ehime Maru that Navy divers have left to search will answer Tatsuyoshi Mizuguchi's questions about whether his son's remains will ever be found.
Associated Press
For eight months, nine Japanese families had the same questions about the possibility of recovering bodies from the Feb. 9 submarine collision that sank the Ehime Maru.
Mika Makizawa, wife of Ehime Maru victim Hiroshi, a teacher, covers her eyes after Nuuanu Cemetery rites.
Divers have found eight bodies this month in a $60 million recovery effort. The family of 17-year-old Takeshi Mizuguchi is the last left hoping for a tangible way to grieve.
Tatsuyoshi Mizuguchi said he has no words for his loss, except to say "I am only waiting for my son's remains."
Divers have searched the area where his son was last seen by some of the 26 survivors, diving supervisor Capt. Christopher Murray said.
"With the areas we've searched, we still have hope," he said. "There's still some areas that we need to look at. I don't want to put any false hope in anyone, but there's still a possibility."
Divers will continue looking for his body at the same time they bring up personal belongings and move on environmental concerns before the ship is towed back out to sink in deeper water, Murray said.
Ryosuke and Masumi Terata know about the recovery team's small miracles. They were told their 17-year-old son, Yusuke, was last seen on the ship's deck as it sank and that he might never be found. But divers discovered his body, and his parents can now hold the funeral ritual in which the body of the dead plays an important role in the belief that the soul can move on.
Five victims' families held such a service last week in a joint ceremony. Families of the two teachers, Jun Nakata and Hiroshi Makizawa, held separate services Sunday and yesterday.
Like families who returned to Japan before her, widow Naoko Nakata wrote a letter thanking the people of Hawai'i, the divers and others for their help and support. "From now on, I hope to live positively," she wrote. "Therefore, this is from my heart to yours."
Back in Uwajima, Japan, several teenage survivors have been having sleeping problems and feelings of survivor guilt since victims' remains began to be recovered, Masaharu Maeda, a psychiatrist treating them, told the Mainichi Shimbun.
Their government has asked for the Navy to provide the school with a new training vessel. Victims' families and survivors have filed claims against the U.S. government. "Both parties have agreed not to discuss publicly the number of claims or the dollar amounts," said Lt. Cmdr. Neil Sheehan, the family liaison. "But negotiations are ongoing."
Former USS Greeneville skipper Scott Waddle told The Yomiuri Shimbun, in an e-mail response to the Tokyo newspaper's questions, that he will wait for negotiations to be complete before he is in a legal position to visit Uwajima.
He told the newspaper his disciplinary process was fair and that his thoughts and prayers are with victims' families.
Interpreter Toshi Erikson contributed to this report.
Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.
