As a chaotic rescue unfolded off the coast of Japan in July, an American eyewitness noticed a tall, skinny man wade into waters the place different swimmers had been battling a lethal rip present.
“The glare and the daylight was form of silhouetting him, so I didn’t see his face,” the witness, Capt. Neda Okay. Othman of the U.S. Military, mentioned by telephone this week. What she noticed, from a distance of not less than 40 ft, was his brief hair, pink shorts, black high, fins and snorkeling masks.
The 2 distressed swimmers, a 12-year-old lady and a person, later reached security with assist from Captain Othman’s husband and the couple’s diving teacher. However sooner or later through the rescue, at a dive spot known as Mermaid’s Grotto, Captain Othman and others on the scene overlooked the snorkeler.
Two days later, a physique was discovered floating off the coast of a close-by metropolis. Japan Coast Guard officers identified him as Kazuki Takahashi, 60, the celebrated creator of the enormously well-liked manga and buying and selling card sport Yu-Gi-Oh! Information of his loss of life was met with an outpouring of grief on social media, in Japan and past.
However the authorities initially didn’t publicly join Mr. Takahashi’s loss of life to the rescue, as a result of they didn’t need the lady to know that he had died attempting to save lots of her, Japan Coast Guard officers mentioned this month. They reversed course solely in latest weeks, in response to inquiries from the information media.
That is the story of what occurred at Mermaid’s Grotto. It’s primarily based on interviews with Japanese officers and with Captain Othman and her husband, in addition to sworn statements that the couple and their diving teacher offered to U.S. Military investigators.
A Cry for Assist
Early on the afternoon of July 4, Captain Othman and her husband, Nathan Feura, arrived at Mermaid’s Grotto, a preferred diving and snorkeling spot in Okinawa, an island prefecture in southern Japan with a big American army presence.
Extra on U.S. Armed Forces
Captain Othman, 27, and Mr. Feura, 37, had been planning to make two or three deepwater dives with their teacher, Maj. Robert S. Bourgeau, 49. However as they stood on a seashore surveying the circumstances, they heard screaming.
“Assist!” a lady shouted, pointing to the mouth of a cove the place a lady and a person — her daughter and boyfriend — had been attempting to remain afloat in a tough patch of water the place rip currents met waves.
The diving occasion’s gear was again of their vehicles, so Mr. Feura and Main Bourgeau entered the water and headed for the 2 distressed swimmers. Captain Othman stayed on shore and known as the native police and the Japan Coast Guard.
Mr. Feura, a complicated diver who grew up browsing in San Diego, Calif., mentioned that he was used to swimming in rip currents. However the whirlpool-like circumstances at Mermaid’s Grotto had been so difficult that they pressured him to combat for his life.
“After I jumped in I shortly realized, wow, that is actually unhealthy,” he mentioned.
‘The place’s the Different Man?’
Earlier than the primary of two rescue helicopters arrived, Captain Othman mentioned, she noticed an unidentified snorkeler — later recognized as Mr. Takahashi — stroll throughout a shallow reef on his technique to the commotion. However because the rescue unfolded, she misplaced monitor of his head bobbing within the water.
Mr. Feura mentioned that when he was swimming, he noticed the snorkeler within the water. He gave the impression to be attempting to carry the distressed man’s hand. “Then some actually massive waves got here, and I didn’t see him once more after that,” Mr. Feura mentioned in a telephone interview, his voice wavering with emotion.
After Main Bourgeau bought the lady to shore, the state of affairs was “survival mode,” Mr. Feura mentioned. “Everyone was attempting to save lots of themselves as a result of they might barely preserve themselves afloat.”
Mr. Feura, Main Bourgeau and the lady’s grownup male swimming companion all managed to succeed in dry land by swimming across the rip currents. However again on shore, the lady was repeatedly asking Captain Othman about one other man she mentioned had helped her within the water.
“The place’s the opposite man?” she mentioned. “The place’s the opposite man?”
Doubts and Questions
Not everybody had seen Mr. Takahashi, and a few who had had been recovering from near-death experiences. So there was some confusion among the many survivors about whether or not the mysterious snorkeler in pink shorts even existed.
“We began to doubt ourselves, which was loopy,” Captain Othman mentioned.
Captain Othman and Mr. Feura conveyed what they knew concerning the snorkeler to the native police via a bilingual Japanese lady who helped translate on the web site. Helicopters had been nonetheless circling the realm when she and Mr. Feura and Main Bourgeau left the seashore, Captain Othman mentioned.
However representatives for the Coast Guard and the native police division advised The New York Occasions this week that the authorities had not been conscious on July 4 that one other particular person may need been lacking at Mermaid’s Grotto. The native hearth division, which was additionally concerned within the rescue, couldn’t be reached for remark.
The discrepancy means that the survivors’ account of Mr. Takahashi might have been misunderstood, mistranslated or ignored. One other chance is that what the survivors advised cops didn’t instantly attain search and rescue personnel. Nobody has been accused of wrongdoing, and it’s not clear whether or not an extended search may need saved Mr. Takahashi’s life.
Neither the lady, her mom nor her accomplice might be reached for remark. Some particulars of the episode had been reported earlier by Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that’s partly funded by The Pentagon however is editorially unbiased, and by Japanese news outlets.
The Decision
Within the days after the rescue, Mr. Feura mentioned, he hoped for one of the best as a result of the lacking man had been utilizing snorkeling gear which may have helped him to outlive.
However later that week, Mr. Takahashi’s physique was discovered within the water off Nago, a close-by metropolis, with a black T-shirt, black fins and a snorkeling masks, in line with the coast guard.
A U. S. Marine additionally discovered a pair of rental automobile keys at Mermaid’s Grotto, Mr. Feura mentioned. She contacted the rental automobile firm, which later contacted the lodge the place Mr. Takahashi had been staying. However the lodge workers mentioned they’d not seen him for days.
On July 11, the Coast Guard concluded that Mr. Takahashi had been concerned in an accident at Mermaid’s Grotto earlier than he died. The post-mortem outcomes confirmed that he died from drowning, however the Coast Guard didn’t disclose that on the time as a result of his household didn’t need the reason for loss of life revealed, the company mentioned.
As a fuller story of Mr. Takahashi’s final moments has emerged in latest weeks, his Japanese followers have expressed admiration for his bravery — and, in just a few instances, anger that the story was not made public earlier.
Mr. Feura mentioned that, regardless of the tragedy, he and Captain Othman had been happy to see extra particulars of the episode emerge as a result of they’d seen misinformation about Mr. Takahashi’s loss of life circulating on social media. Additionally they hope that publicizing the complete story will assist his household, buddies and followers perceive the energy and selflessness of his character, he added.
“Takahashi was 60, a multimillionaire who created a manga with a worldwide fan base, on a tropical trip, and but remains to be keen to danger his personal life to assist strangers in misery,” he mentioned.
