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Peter Mark / Kyodo News via AP
Ikuo Yokoyama's Harley-Davidson lies on a beach in Graham Island, western Canada. The rusted bike was originally found in a large white container that was later washed away, leaving the bike half-buried in the sand.
A Japanese man who reportedly lost his home and three family members in last year’s tsunami says it’s a miracle that a prized item swept out to sea – his Harley-Davidson motorcycle – has turned up more than 4,000 miles away on the shores of western Canada.
Ikuo Yokoyama’s motorcycle was inside a large white cube container, like the back part of a moving truck, that washed up on British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii islands, CBC News reported.
Peter Mark was riding his ATV, exploring a beach on one of the islands, when he came upon the find on April 18.
"You just never know what you're going to stumble upon when you go for a drive, and lo and behold you just come across something that's out of this world," he said in an interview with CBC, which published stories this week on the find.
Mark told CBC he could see a motorcycle tire sticking out of the container. On closer inspection, he saw that it was a rusted Harley-Davidson with Japanese license plates. Six golf clubs were pinned beneath the bike.
The plates showed the motorcycle was registered in Miyagai prefecture, the area hit worst by the destructive March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
“I gotta say, the first thing that popped into my mind when I was looking at the scene [was] I really wonder what happened to this person. I really hope this person is OK," Mark told CBC. "It's quite a shock to actually see it and to actually walk into it. … [It's] quite an eerie feeling, knowing what happened to Japan and to those people. It kind of hits home quite a bit."
The Japanese consulate in Vancouver, British Columbia, took down the license number.
A Harley Davidson representative in Japan tracked the bike’s identifying information to Yokoyama, a 29-year-old resident of Yamamoto in Miyagi prefecture, CBC reported, citing Japanese media reports.
Yokoyama told Japanese broadcaster NHK that the discovery of the motorcycle was miraculous.
“I’m very thankful that it came back,” he told NHK, The Province newspaper in British Columbia reported. “I would like to thank the man who found my bike in person, but because it’s hard to do that, I’d like to thank him here right now.”
Yokoyama told Japanese media he had been using the white container as his garage. It was in his backyard when the earthquake and tsunami struck, destroying his house and killing three family members, according to The Province.
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Mark told CBC he left the motorcycle where he found it, partly because the beach where it washed up is remote and hard to get to.
Buoys, bottles and cans believed to be from the Japan tsunami are surfacing in Washington state, Alaska and British Columbia, and scientists say the mess will be there for generations. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Objects and debris from last year’s tsunami, carried by ocean currents, have been washing up with increasing frequency on the west coast of Canada and the United States.
Recent discoveries include a soccer ball and a volleyball that were swept away in Iwate prefecture and washed ashore on Alaska’s Middleton Island. The items were returned to their Japanese owners.
The Maritime Museum of BC last week launched the Tsunami Debris Project, an online effort to collect photos of flotsam that has washed ashore, with the hope that some items can be reunited with their owners.
The magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 people and crippled several nuclear plants. Tons of debris were swept into the Pacific Ocean.
“The idea is to not only document, but to showcase them in an exhibit-type of way, and to tell the social and human side of the story with the idea that there might be a few items that come over that have some personal or sentimental value for these people that have lost everything,” project coordinator Linda Funk told ABCNews.com.
The Maritime Museum says the bulk of the debris isn’t expected to hit the shores of the U.S. and Canada until 2013-14.
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Leave a Comment:
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it would be great if Yokoyama retrieves his Harley, refurbish it and ride it again.
Proof positive that a harley can swim farther than it can ride. This one has proven that one in a million is more useful than just a boat anchor.
/signed/ Former owner of a hardly-ableson
If they keep making a story of each item that washes up in Canada, we are going to see it in the news for quite a while.
Even waterlogged it's the best motorcycle that ever came out of Japan.
Now if only a nice BMW would wash up!
harley's float? cool trick...
The Harley and other items were found inside an enclosed cube container.
If Teddy had been driving a Harley, Mary Jo would be alive today !
IF someone donated a half a brain to Mister FIds he'd have half a brain!!!!!!
Fids, you are assuming that would be their last date.
Who in their right mind would keep dating Uncle Teddy after he tries to drown them - if they survive?
Girls have a "fix it" gene.
The radiation is growing every day it has never stopped .The real problem is that they have never gotten a grip on fukishama
Is it too late to scream "dibs!"?
He lost his whole family man, funny ?
Kind of splitting hairs, I know, but he didn't exactly lose 'his whole family', Bart. He lost 3 members of his family. If you're going to cut into someone, be accurate.
There it is. Our generation has destroyed the scenic view of Alaskan shore line for thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of years. I hope this generation is happy with what they have done to such a beautiful earth. We truly have something to pass on.
Yeah, because the earthquake that caused the tsunami was like, totally your generation's fault. DUH
You're confused - well, so am I - how did "our generation" destroy the scenic view of the Alaskan coast . . . ? Haven't been there lately, but it still looks pretty spectacular . . . .
Confused is right... No... Literally... I mean the name...
Geesh.. That person is CONFUSED!
Please don't waste your time commenting. Confussed is merely a troll looking for attention.
(BTW, he is too ignorant to properly spell "confused", if that is the word that he was attempting to spell.)
America the destroyed.
Yes, we should put in jail those responsible for this earthquake and tsunami, I'll bet they were evil rich Republicans!
Yep it's got Bush/Cheney written all over it. They could make the earth move under there feet.
Wow! And I thought it was the dems demanding their share of somebody else's assets.
Perhaps Americans in Alaska and the West Coast and western Canadians will be able to make more personal connections with Japanese survivors of the earthquake and tsunami from items washing up . . . kinda like a message in a bottle . . .
Finders Keepers i say. Anything that washes ashore belongs to the person who finds it. Of course the motorcycle might have a high dose of Radiation.
Does that mean that if your car was stolen and found by someone else, it now belongs to them?
So let me get this straight TARZAN7, if the remains of a body from the tsunami washes up on shore and you find it, do you get to keep it? Dumb A$$!
Sounds like Harley Davidson may possibly be arranging some restoration help for the bike's owner.
I didn't see that in the story. Is there a link to it?
Having owned motorcycles most of my life I would be happy to make a small contribution to assist fixing the bike of the poor guy that lost his entire family.
I hope it really happens, I would throw a bit of money towards that myself.
I don't know why h-d wouldn't contribute. They keep producing '48 technology every year so it isn't that they don't have obsolete parts.
This looks like a Sportster 883. They have very little value and this one looks bad. But I guess the publicity will make up for spending 10 times what the bike is worth to restore it.
I think Harley has every intention of turning it in to an advertising campaign. Look this motorcylce survived a tsunami type commercial! If they don't I would be shocked, also a good deal to restore and return to its owner, think of all the FREE publicity. Wasnt it Donald Trump that said any publicity is GOOd publicity.
Plus it was a Japanese citizen with an American motorcycle. Sounds like a great ad.
The commercial could say that it is the farthest that a Harley has ever traveled without spending time in the shop!
It got 4000MPG now thats something to brag about.
More like infinite miles to the gallon. It didn't use any gas whatsoever to travel that far.
You need to go to Trailer Week in Daytona in the springtime. There are thousands of h-d bikes that travel a combined hundreds of thousands of miles and never consume even a drop of gas let alone a gallon. Once there it is amazing that the h-d riders cannot make it past a bar without stopping.
Brings awhole new perspective to the saying "going for a barley on a harley."
Iron horses do have some advantages over real ones.
Gotta agree. How many real horses born in '48 are still alive and continue to be born?
That's pretty neat! Glad the owner was alive and well too.
Harley Davidson said they will restore the bike and have it shipped back to the guy in Japan.
yea ,!I love that !I was waiting for this !
How did this story became Political ? live it to Nio Cons ,hate, hate ,and about Teddy K ,let it rest I blame parent's of Merry Jo ,for taking money and keeping there mouth shot !
you with NO OBAMA 2012 ,I have a bumper sticker "the road to hell is paved with Republicans " it going on today on my car !all this constitution talk ! I had my Obama sticker pulled of my car two times ,nice !
Snibbort, where in this article does it say that HD will restore the bike and ship it back to Japan??? That would be nice if they did but I can't seem to find that anywhere in the story????
90% of all Harley's are still on the road, the other 10% made it home! Does this count as part of the 90% or part of the 10%? Typical Harley it didn't make the trip under its own power, and once it got to where it was going has to be overhauled.
Just kidding, I am glad to hear that the original owner is still alive, sorry to hear of his loss and I do hope that HD will put it back together and return it to him. He has suffered enough with the loss of an entire family. At the very least HD can help him out. It would be great publicity for Harley. I can see the head lines now, RIDE THE OCEAN on a HARLEY.
I hope that the finding and possible return of Ikuo Yokoyama's motorcyce will help him to cope with his terrible losses.
No matter what condition the bike is in, it could bring happy memories.
Harley Davidson to restore the bike ?.... How about just give him a new motorcycle instead. For a japanese to own a harley davidson import instead of domestic made bike is something to be appreciated. Maybe, take a piece from it and retrofit to a new bike.
The old bike can go to a harley museum or if there will ever be one, a museum for this tragic tsunami event.
I wonder if all that pending trash will just be left on our beaches or will an effort be made to remove it.
Sarg, are you offering to make an effort?
I wonder who will pick up the tab for cleaning up all that debris on the beaches......, oh that's right the already strapped American Tax payer will pay.
What a stupid comment.... besides the fact that this bike washed up on a CANADIAN beach (it's not all about the U.S.) the debris forthcoming was the result of a NATURAL DISASTER. So you're going to complain about something that was completely NOT preventable???
I find these to be "silver lining" stories - something washes up from a terrible tragedy, and it helps connect the finder(s) to the people who suffered through a horrible time. It's important to remember that, no matter where we live, we all inhabit one planet and sometimes it's not about the money. Restoring something to someone who lost everything is the human thing to do.
Debris has and will wash up on US shores probably for years. Yes it was a natural disaster, but it still costs money to clean up the mess that drifts across the ocean. Yes we all inhabit the same planet, and I feel sorry for the people who suffered through that, or lost their lives, but these uncontrollable disasters still cost lots and lots of money.
I'm happy the guy is going to get his bike. I wish he could have gotten his family and all his belongings back.
HARLEYS riding a New WAVE! NOW!
Who'd a thunk? A harley makes a better surfboard than a street bike?
Can't believe there isn't a risk of radiation exposure associated with the items washing up on shore. The media must have been told not to report that part of the story. With items of value showing up, it's only encouraging more people to go to the shores. Contamination is an issue they need to be thinking about.
Any radiation will be dispersed harmlessly into the ocean long before it arrives.
Stop being a scare-mongerger!
If American families are scared to go to the beach, then the environmentalists have won!
Radiation dispersed harmlessly into the ocean? You are naive. Are you even aware that one of those Japanese nuclear reactor's is at risk of collapsing? Staying ill-informed on the topic might be your answer, but it's not mine. And no, the environmentalists have not "won". We all have lost with this one.
I would assume that most of the debris was already out to see before the risk of radiation contamination.
Common Sense the debris was dragged out to sea before the reactors began leaking....
Now it would be great PR if Harley would take the bike and refurbish it! Guarantee they would sell enough bikes in Japan to cover any possible cost.
“
Harley Davidson IS restoring the bike, in a Japanese facility, so the owner can see the bike before and after the restoration.
FANTASTIC! Of course, after that time in the ocean, probably the only thing left original will be the frame, but great showmanship! Guarantee they will get millions of dollars worth of publicity out of it (maybe a reality show episode?)
How reassuring to know that a Harley can float over, but of course there is no radiation risk.
*eye roll*
Harvest all that timber on the shore and sell it back to Japan.
Maybe Orange County Chopper should restore it, make a good show. of course you`d have to check rad levels.
It's really a monumental stretch to immediately link a washed-away bike with radiation leakage from a reactor, even if the bike owner lived next door to the reactor. How in the world could you leap to that conclusion based on the information readily available? Think about the time lines for all the events surrounding those days in Japan. But then again, for some of you, every negative event in the world is still George Bush's fault......