Hatashita's final Voyage

[Zen]

For those of you who have not been to my website. This is my favorite story:
Taken from a couple of sources


Friday, March 25, 2005 Hatashita's Voyage I read an amazing story in The Wall Street Journal this morning which, unfortunately, I can't link to as it's subscription only. The story is about an 81 year old former Japanese fisherman, Sakae Hatashita, and his solo voyage across the Pacific to bring his wife's ashes home to Japan. As Zephyr is dedicated first and foremost to "voyagers" I think that Mr. Hatashita stands to mind as a particularly strong example of that category. You can read some brief news reports about him here and here, but the WSJ tells the full story. Mr. Hatashita was born in the 20's to immigrant parents and made his living as the captain of a tuna fishing boat. He met and married his wife in 1960 and they made their home near Anaheim, CA. When tuna became scarce and the fishing life too hard, Hatashita and his wife opened a plant nursery. They worked nonstop, their only luxury a Sunday morning trip to Orange County to shop. During one of those trips they were in a car wreck and his wife, Shizako, was killed. Hatashita carried on by himself until, at the age of 80, he retired and decided to do something to honor his wife. He sold the nursery for $200,000, bought a 39-foot sailboat with some of the proceeds, learned to sail and crossed the Pacific Ocean with his wife's ashes, bringing her home to Japan. According to the WSJ - when the wind died he sang Japanese navy songs he had learned while serving in World War II "to bring my fighting spirit, " he said. "At times like these," he said, "I always thought: I've been here six or seven times before. The Pacific Ocean is my sea, and I know I won't get in trouble here." Now having made the voyage and recovered, his yacht Miya is being readied for his next adventure...what could the champ be thinking? He'll sail back to the U.S.

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I Salute - Mr. Sakae Hatashita... . Here is the story as it was written: In April of 2004, Sakae Hatashita sold the family business that he and his wife had started in California back in 1970. He took part of the $200,000 from the sale and purchased a yacht, naming it "Miya" (after his wife Shuziko Miyasaka). Then in May, after taking 3 days to learn how to sail, he took off (by himself) from San Diego. His goal... To sail across the Pacific to his homeland of Japan. Having been to Tahiti in his younger days and wanting to see it again, he headed there first, then set sail for Hawaii. The first part of his trip went fine. The autopilot and the GPS systems steered the boat while he slept and he didn't have any problems getting to Hawaii. It wasn't until October, two months after he left Hawaii that he found himself sailing into typhoon weather. On December 6th, while he was inside the cabin a major storm hit, capsizing the "Miya". The boat flipped upside down for a few seconds, then miraculously righted itself. It was during the night a week later, that the "Miya" was rammed by a fishing boat near the Japanese island of Kozu. The impact threw Sakae against one of the wire stays that run from the deck up to the mast. The wire sliced the muscle in his arm all the way to the bone and malnutrition and lack of exercise had left him unable to walk, but after a few days of rest and having the boat patched, he went back onboard and pressed on, finally reaching Japan's mainland. Making a trip "alone" across the Pacific ocean is a major undertaking for anyone, but for Sakae, the trip was even more difficult. Sakae Hatashita had just turned 80... What's even more touching is why Sakae made the trip in the first place. Back in the early 60's Sakae (who was living in Japan at the time) met Shizuko Miyasaka in a restaurant where she was working. The two fell in love and were soon married. During the first 10 years of their marriage, they lived in Japan where Sakae worked as a tuna fisherman, a job that didn't allow much time to spend with his wife and son. In 1970 (against Shizuko's wishes) Sakae decided to make a fresh start in America and moved the family to California, a move that Shizuko never wanted, but she learned to live with. She had a very hard time learning the english language and was too afraid to try to learn how to drive a car. Her life was spent working with her husband in the gardening nursery they owned, taking care of her family and going on shopping trips with her husband to Orange County every few weeks. In 1998, on one of the trips to Orange County, they hit a pothole in the road and a tire blew causing a crash in which Shizuko was instantly killed. Sakae suffered a concussion in the accident, but was able to recover and carried on alone. Before she died she had always said that even if it was after she died, she wanted to go back home to Japan. In January of 2004, Sakae turned 80 and retired. The time had come when he could honor his wifes request. He sold the business, bought a boat and learned to sail. He placed a pot with Shizuko's ashes in an altar in the boat's cabin and set sail for Japan. Now he's waiting for the snow to thaw in the mountains of Nagano where her father is buried. When the snow thaws, he plans to place Shizuko's ashes on her father's grave. This story really got to me when I read it - How many people in the world have this kind of dedication to someone they love... The story now has an ending... On Wednesday, July 6th 2005, the body of Sakae Hatashita was found aboard the "Miya" - 900 miles off the coast of Japan - After all he's gone through - My hope is - that Sakae is finally once again with his beloved his wife...

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United Press International advertisement Elderly solo voyager found dead in yacht Jul. 6, 2005 at 6:44AM The body of an 81-year-old man who set out to sail solo from Japan to the United States was found Wednesday in his yacht as it drifted off the Japanese coast. The yacht was found about 740 miles east-southeast of the Kinkazan district of Miyagi prefecture. Coast guard officials boarded the vessel Wednesday morning but they were forced to abandon their inspection because of rough seas and towed it back toward Japan, the Mainichi Shimbun reported. Officials believe the body is that of Sakae Hatashita, but had yet to confirm his identity. Hatashita, a Japanese-American, had crossed the Pacific from the United States in his yacht in December last year, in order to lay the ashes of his deceased wife to rest in Japan. He left Miura Port in Kanagawa prefecture on June 15 to return to the United States.

[CapnK]

That's a great story, Zen. I remember back when you posted it on the Ariel site... Glad you put it up here, too. :)