A battered soccer ball that was swept up on the shores of an Alaskan island may be the first piece of debris from the Japanese tsunami last March. The soccer ball, which is covered in Japanese writing, was spotted on the coast of Middleton Island by radar technician David Baxter, the Anchorage Daily News reported. He realized the significance of his find after his wife, who is originally from Hachioji, in western Tokyo, translated the writing and traced it to the name of a school.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration confirmed that the school named on the ball was in a tsunami-hit area. "There have been other items that were suspected, but this is the first one that we're aware of that has the credentials that may make it possible to positively identify it," the NOAA's Doug Helton said.
According to The Japan Times, the ball belongs to Misaki Murakami, a 16-year-old high school student in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, who lost his home in the disaster. Murakami said the ball, which is covered in messages of encouragement, was given to him by his third-grade classmates before he moved to a new school in March 2005.
"I have no doubt that it is mine," Murakami said. "To be honest, I'm surprised. I want to thank the person who found it, as none of my sentimental items have been found."
The Baxters hope to return the ball personally to Murakami this summer when they take a vacation in Japan, The Japan Times reported. "We're very happy that the owner of the ball is safe. We want to return the ball as soon as possible," Baxter said. "When I first saw the ball, I knew that it had a special meaning to its owner."
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