Authorities search for bodies along Fukushima coast

I wouldn't really want to come across any of the bodies now, well whats left of them anyway :/ After the many months they would of spent decaying in the water.

...

Thats a very insensitive comment KariHaruka, Have you thought what it would mean to the missings family members to be able to have a proper funeral?

I hope the cops who have been bad this year have been assigned here as well, as part of their "behavioral rehabilitation".

Anyways, 9 months after the disaster, even if they do find some bodies (or even parts), it would take some time to indentify.

But even though, I hope the cops don't wear themselves out there, and to take care of themselves in such a harsh environment.

theResident Dont really think what KariHaruka said was insensitive.... maybe just emphasising the difficulty of the job for those that have to do it and the fact that he couldnt do such a job himself? I dont think I could do it myself either.

People seem to of took my comment the wrong way for which I apologize. I was merely stating that after the many months which have since passed it would be horrible now for the people who do find the bodies. Working with lifeboats I've pulled out bodies before which have been in the water for 2 weeks etc and the smell and sight is horrendous. So I dread to imagine what they could come across.

I agree with KariHaruka, eventhough I have never pulled any dead bodies from anywhere, never human, but just say the smell of a dog or cat that has been hit by a car and left to die, no aroma of roses I tell you. If the police do find any remains, which I highly doubt, good on them, if they can ever identify and bring some kind of closure to the victim's families, good on them, because we are all here on this earth for a very LIMITED amount of time and we never know when our time's up, so if I ever get killed in a horrible tsunami etc..be nice to know that the police etc..at least tried to recover my body. RIP Tohoku victims

I think they would be searching for bones, not bodies.

rip to all that have suffered.. the smell of death lingers for days...

I am all for being on the look out for remains when out in the field so to speak, but this action now,...........its just for show, superficial with very low chance of success, at some point you just have to accept reality & we have passed that point.

So by all means those out there doing all this, thank you & keep your eyes out while your out there cleaning up etc.

Its time for reality to kick in wrt all this, need to stop putting on a show for the TV cameras pls.

Families want closure, hence the search.

Good luck to the police and hope families can find some sort of closure if bodies are found. Here's hoping 2012 is a better year for Japan.

Its a believe for japanese ppl to send their loved ones properly if not they worry they walk on earth... In japan when a person dies they burn the body and family members pick the bones and transfer them to a container so it can be put to rest with traditional family grave... If anyone i know who past in tsunami i would love the government to find the bones so the spirit can be rested...

Waited long enough, huh? Did it slip their mind to search that area? Why now, almost 10 months later? Too little too late.

I can understand the want to search for the missing, but I was just wondering why now? Was there any particular reason or thing that precipitated the search, like a body was spotted or something? Or is it just an end of the year closure thing? And why only 200? I was under the impression many more were still missing than that?

Just feel there are some details missing from the story, thats all. I cant imagine being one of those people whose loved ones are still missing. I wish they can eventually somehow find peace in their hearts, but I have no idea how.

@Christine

True, but I guess they just had the opportunity now that the plant has "achieved cold shutdown conditions" that the area around the plant could be cleared of debris and inspected. Also, please remember that radioactive water has been seeping out of the plant. Maybe now TEPCO and the Japanese government are confident that the leaks have been plugged up.

What I am waiting for is an update on the breakwater's radiation conditions. Since the plant threw out materials from the explosions, I am thinking that there may still be highly radioactive pieces of debris just lying there in the sand, or in the water.

...........its just for show, superficial with very low chance of success, at some point you just have to accept reality & we have passed that point. So by all means those out there doing all this, thank you & keep your eyes out while your out there cleaning up etc.

True. It is an important show (you call it) for the families to see all those police officers have at least tried to find the bodies, bones, a part of their clothes, or even one little button so that they can try to accept reality and move on. Those families themselves wanted to search their family members, but they are not allowed to because it is contaminated exclusion zone. Police officers are wearing protective clothing.

Why now?

I think it's because it is the end of the year. Those families want to move on, but they can't without any remains or anything, but still they have to have some kind of 節目(fushime) to move on. And January 1st could be the day.

why only 200?

The total of 3451 people are missing in Japan, Fukushima Prefecture are currently 218 people missing.

Ah, ok, thank you Blair.

Looking for these people is like trying to identify bone fragments from 9-11. It ain't gonna happen.

Haruka is correct.

Toss some flowers, clap your hands to the gods, and hope they had a quick and painless death.

Happy New Year. Move On.

Nowhere does it say it's the FIRST time they searched the area, although it could be. It could also be a search conducted more thoroughly after an initial (or perhaps more than one) search was carried out, probably less thoroughly, in the past when things may have been more panicked. They most certainly won't find any bodies in the water, but it's possible that some remains have washed up or for one reason or another surfaced where they were not seen before.

In any case, I certainly don't see the harm in carrying out the search, even if it serves nothing more than to comfort those who are still missing loved ones and are forced to rack their brains over how most certainly helpless they feel.

TheResident: "Thats a very insensitive comment KariHaruka, Have you thought what it would mean to the missings family members to be able to have a proper funeral?"

What KariHaruka said is not all that bad, really, and he or she tried to qualify it later. The only thing is that after 10 months they are not going to find 'bodies', per se, but remains, if any. Any body they find will have been exposed for some time, unless they find one while digging through mud, and especially if in the water for that long there would be not much besides bones left, which wouldn't float.

It sounds cold, but those are facts, and the fact of finding such remains would be grisly, which I think was KariHaruka's point.

Since it was March when the bodies went into the water. There should be nothing left. Because the salt water & fish will consume the body. Plus all the bodies and debris washed out to the sea. Nothing left. They might find bones but that's just out of luck if they do.

Anyway, it's obligatory because it's the end of the year. Relatives want closure.

This really is all for show as nothing will be found.