Hideaki Akaiwa: Real-Life Action Hero Saves Family from Tsunami

Hideaki Akaiwa Rescues Wife, Mother from Japan Tsunami

When the earthquake struck the town of Ishinomaki, Hideaki Akaiwa saw his town get slammed with a mega-destructive tsunami. It was the worst natural disaster in Japanese history, and Akaiwa's wife and mother were somewhere in the town that just got drowned in ten feet of water.

• Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: Feature Coverage
  

Hideaki Akaiwa was not only unwilling to give up hope; he was unwilling to wait for any rescue effort whatsoever. Akaiwa got hold of a wetsuit and swam through the still-churning ruins of Ishinomaki.

Hideaki Akaiwa found his wife and helped her to higher and drier ground... but he wasn't done yet. Akaiwa's mother was still out there somewhere; she hadn't turned up at any of the local rescue shelters, so back into the water he went.

Akaiwa found and rescued his mom, too, and elevated himself from "hero" to "legend"... but it's not over. Hideaki Akarwa has vowed to rescue as many people as he could, and is patrolling the ruins of Ishinomaki each day by bicycle, wading through the wreckage to look for survivors still trapped in the destroyed town.

If you're wondering if Hideaki Akaiwa is wearing Ray-Ban Aviators, the answer is "yes".

The report describes Akaiwa as wearing "a scuba suit", but doesn't mention rebreathing gear. Whether he was swimming or diving, making one's way through that sort of environment (tsunami-flooded town with broken glass, sharpened metal, dead bodies, floating cars, and who knows what other sorts of hazards) is not for the faint of heart. Hideaki Akaiwa's story captured the imagination of anyone who heard it:

Hideaki Akaiwa is apparently on a mission to change the Japanese mantra of "Shou ga nai (what can you do?)" to "... I'll be back!"

As thousands of people are still missing, we can expect to hear more stories like Akaiwa's; they'll be comforting as the death toll rises.