ID :
207742
Sat, 09/17/2011 - 18:42
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https://oananews.org//node/207742
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6 swimmers begin 110-km relay to Taiwan to convey gratitude message
YONAGUNI, Japan, Sept. 17 Kyodo -
A team of six Japanese swimmers began a 110-kilometer relay on Saturday from Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture, toward the Taiwanese town of Su-ao to express gratitude to Taiwanese people who sent donations to the Japanese people afflicted by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The team members are swimming in turns of 30 minutes along the course carrying messages from the governors of Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate, the three most severely devastated prefectures, to both Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and the people of Taiwan.
The team, led by Kazuya Suzuki, a 31-year-old salaried worker who once won the national life saving championship in Japan, is being accompanied by a ship carrying a 10-member support crew, including a doctor and aiming to reach Su-ao on Monday morning.
Although the six had planned to swim along the ocean currents toward Su-ao, they altered the course to take the shortest route between the two locations with Typhoon Roke now traveling off Okinawa.
''We want to communicate our gratitude and enhance ties between Japan and Taiwan,'' Suzuki, who first proposed the goodwill relay, told reporters before his departure.
After Suzuki publicly solicited participants for the project, the five others joined him including Kohei Yamada, a 21-year-old Chuo University student and member of the school's swimming team.
Yamada, who is from the tsunami-stricken city of Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, said he has a friend who lost his home due to the tsunami, although his own home remained unscathed.
''Although I have some anxiety about ocean waves, what I can do now is to swim and I want to give courage and hope to the people of the disaster-stricken districts,'' Yamada said.
The six gathered before dawn Saturday near Irizaki, the westernmost tip of Yonaguni, and started the relay at around 7 a.m. when the approaching typhoon was yet to have much effect on the water as some 200 islanders and press members from Japan and Taiwan looked on.
A team of six Japanese swimmers began a 110-kilometer relay on Saturday from Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture, toward the Taiwanese town of Su-ao to express gratitude to Taiwanese people who sent donations to the Japanese people afflicted by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The team members are swimming in turns of 30 minutes along the course carrying messages from the governors of Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate, the three most severely devastated prefectures, to both Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and the people of Taiwan.
The team, led by Kazuya Suzuki, a 31-year-old salaried worker who once won the national life saving championship in Japan, is being accompanied by a ship carrying a 10-member support crew, including a doctor and aiming to reach Su-ao on Monday morning.
Although the six had planned to swim along the ocean currents toward Su-ao, they altered the course to take the shortest route between the two locations with Typhoon Roke now traveling off Okinawa.
''We want to communicate our gratitude and enhance ties between Japan and Taiwan,'' Suzuki, who first proposed the goodwill relay, told reporters before his departure.
After Suzuki publicly solicited participants for the project, the five others joined him including Kohei Yamada, a 21-year-old Chuo University student and member of the school's swimming team.
Yamada, who is from the tsunami-stricken city of Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, said he has a friend who lost his home due to the tsunami, although his own home remained unscathed.
''Although I have some anxiety about ocean waves, what I can do now is to swim and I want to give courage and hope to the people of the disaster-stricken districts,'' Yamada said.
The six gathered before dawn Saturday near Irizaki, the westernmost tip of Yonaguni, and started the relay at around 7 a.m. when the approaching typhoon was yet to have much effect on the water as some 200 islanders and press members from Japan and Taiwan looked on.
