Photo/Illutration Shari Mayor Takashi Baba addresses a memorial ceremony for victims of the Kazu 1 boat accident in Shari, Hokkaido, on April 23. (Takayuki Kakuno)

SHARI, Hokkaido--Residents here April 23 marked the first anniversary of a sightseeing boat tragedy that claimed the lives of the 26 people on board and expressed hopes that clues will soon emerge into the fate of six of the victims still unaccounted for.

“I pray that at least one thing be discovered about those still (officially) listed missing,” said a woman in her 70s at a flower stand set up at a roadside station in memory of those who were aboard the Kazu 1 when it sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido.

“The sadness (of the bereaved family members) may never be healed, but I hope (something retrieved) will help them make one small step forward,” she said in a choking voice.

Kenji Sakurai, 59, a fisherman who lives in the town of Rausu and has led volunteers looking for those still unaccounted for, said: “April 23 was the worst day that cast a dark shadow over Shiretoko. The shadow will never disappear even if 10 years or 20 years have passed.

“But we must turn it into the day when we learned lessons the hard way from now on.”

A memorial ceremony was held by an organizing committee consisting of the Shari town government and the local tourism association.

In addition to members of the bereaved families, local officials and residensts, the ceremony was attended by transport minister Tetsuo Saito, Shohei Ishii, commissioner of the Japan Coast Guard, and Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki.

The Japan Coast Guard and Hokkaido prefectural police mounted a three-day search of Shiretoko Peninsula coastal areas from April 22. It is the first ground-based search effort since Dec. 10.

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