Sunday May 27, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

25,000 SDF troops launch massive search for bodies

National Apr. 25, 2011 - 04:16PM JST ( 14 )

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14 Comments

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goddogApr. 25, 2011 - 03:01PM JST

Daunting task. Good luck.
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gogogoApr. 25, 2011 - 03:14PM JST

God speed
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just-a-guyApr. 25, 2011 - 03:31PM JST

That was totally unnecessary, those bodies were flushed to the pacific during the tide retreats! The SDF better takeover the task of that stricken nuclear plant will be more useful!
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spudmanApr. 25, 2011 - 04:22PM JST

More than twenty helicopters flying overhead today, convoys of GSDF trucks all this weekend. Grim thankless task but thanks.
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spudmanApr. 25, 2011 - 04:23PM JST

just-a-guy. you obviously haven't lost loved ones.
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the_odemanApr. 25, 2011 - 05:34PM JST

Im interested to see what will happen to the bodies they find. Will a memorial be set up for the 10,000+ missing bodies? Will there make a mass-grave for all the missing bodies? Will they just have empty graves?

I would love to see a beautiful giant memorial erected somewhere in Miyage and/or Iwate for all the people who have lost their lives. Its a tragedy that should never be forgotten.
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techallApr. 25, 2011 - 05:49PM JST

@the odeman:

Japanese are manic about respecting the dead. I imagine the first step would be identificzation of the remains, DNA, Dental records, articals frecovered with the bodies etc. The japanese are very good at this as they are still identifying remains from WWII. No mass graves here, the remains are returned to the next of kin (whether this will be done before or after cremation would depend on the state of the remains I suppose).
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warnerbroApr. 25, 2011 - 06:12PM JST

At this point it would be more useful for them to try to remove contaminated soil from populated areas like Koriyama and Fukushima City. Actually, Japan spends much less effort on recovering war dead than some other countries do. To the extent any recovery is attempted, it's done by volunteers. The States, for example dispatches a military team if any suspected remains are found.
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smithinjapanApr. 25, 2011 - 06:21PM JST

Glad to see this search going underway, but what an awful task! Reading about it, you can only imagine, but even then your imagination would never come close to the reality (unless you've seen it). I hope they can bring some closure to loved ones.
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GWApr. 25, 2011 - 07:01PM JST

sadly this is going to have to end soon & just get on with the cleanup, recovery & deal with bodies as they turn up
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plasticmonkeyApr. 25, 2011 - 08:21PM JST

Searching for the dead is a miserable, necessary, and profound act. It reminds us that the real toll is on real humans, people who lost everything--their loved ones, their memories, their futures, the pleasures of being alive and being good. We're not just dealing with economic loss and statistics on paper. I am always quite moved by the retrieval of bodies. Bless the people who are doing it.
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PepinGalargaApr. 25, 2011 - 11:32PM JST

they should use dogs more extensively. It would be much faster since dogs can pick up a scent from pretty far away. Also, maybe the stick method works for finding people in avalanches, but after one month the stick would probably go right through.
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arrestpaulApr. 26, 2011 - 07:16AM JST

PepinGalarga - they should use dogs more extensively. It would be much faster since dogs can pick up a scent from pretty far away.

I'm sure that every "properly trained" dog in Japan is being used at some site. Not every modern house pet can track a scent let alone find a corpse buried under 60 centimeters of muck.
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PepinGalargaMay. 03, 2011 - 06:18PM JST

yes of course dont use house pets for this. i meant trained professional dogs.