A Chinese Woman Was Rescued After 36 Hours in Pacific Ocean off Japan

choi

July 8, 2024 around 8 pm local time, the 21-year-old Chinese woman (a tourist who went to beach with friends) went swimming with 浮輪 (hiragana うきわ, pronunciation uki-wa). Her friends reported her missing by calling 110 (equivalent to 911 in the US), but Japan coast guard could not find her in the dark. She was sighted on July 10, 2024 (a sunny day with three-meter-high waves around her) around 8 am 80 km air-distance 直線距離で約８０キロ away. News sources did not clarify whether she was a tourist to Shizuoka or to Japan.

(1) 奇迹：中国女子在日本海滨游泳被海浪卷走，37小时后在80公里外获救. VOA Chinese, July 11, 2024.
https://www.voachinese.com/a/wom ... 240711/7693947.html

(2) Shuhei Nakajima, Chinese Woman Cast Adrift off Shizuoka Rescued 36 Hours Later. Asahi Shimbun, July 11, 2024 at 16:30 JST.
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15341907

Note:
(a) She was lost at 静岡県下田市の白浜大浜海水浴場.

Shimoda, Shizuoka  静岡県下田市
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimoda,_Shizuoka
(b) She was found 千葉県南房総市の野島崎沖. where oki 沖 means "off the coast of."

野島崎 is the southernmost cape
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/野島崎
of Chiba Prefecture 千葉県.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiba_Prefecture
In the preceding URL, view the map of red-colored prefecture in the green-colored Japan.

(c) You have to appreciate the fact that she was moved eastwards for eighty km, from Izu Peninsula 伊豆半島 (of 静岡県) to Bōsō Peninsula 房総半島 (of 千葉県; 房総半島 is on the east of Tokyo Bay.) The Asahi Shimbun report was dispatched from Yokosuka, (capital of) Kanagawa Prefecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanagawa_Prefecture
神奈川県 横浜市 which is located in Miura Peninsula 三浦半島.
(d) An analyst commented in Japanese-language news report on this, stated that the current that carried her along is Kuroshio Current 黒潮
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuroshio_Current
, which passes by Taiwan (mainly on the east coast) around at the speed of three meters a second.
--------------------------Asahi (which is free)
YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Prefecture--A Chinese woman swept away into the ocean off Shizuoka Prefecture was spotted by a passing ship and rescued 36 hours later after drifting 80 kilometers to the coast off Chiba Prefecture.

The Japan Coast Guard Yokosuka Office announced on July 10 the rescue of the 21-year-old woman, who had come to Japan for sightseeing purposes.

The woman showed signs of dehydration but her condition was not considered life-threatening.

The woman was cast adrift from Shirahamaohama beach in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, and was rescued off Cape Nojimazaki on the coast of Minamiboso, Chiba Prefecture.

Coast Guard officials said that a passing cargo ship off Cape Nojimazaki called the Third Regional Coast Guard Headquarters around 7:50 a.m. on July 10. The crew reported spotting a drifting woman wearing a swim ring and holding it in her hands.

The cargo ship asked a nearby tanker to offer assistance and two crew members of the tanker jumped into the water and pulled up the woman to safety.

The woman was swimming with friends at the beach in Shimoda before being washed out to sea at around 7:30 p.m. on July 8.