Japanese
70 Years After the Toya Maru Disaster: A News Photographer's 156 Images
This article summarizes what the featured video claims. It does not present those claims as established fact. Read the Japanese version.
What did a news photographer see at the site of the Toya Maru disaster, and how did he preserve the record? The story begins in 1984, about 30 years after the disaster, when 156 photographs were selected and printed from roughly 2,000 preserved negatives to create a photo collection. From there, the video enters the memories of a former photographer who pressed the shutter at the scene.
A newsroom window shattered by the storm
His memories return to the afternoon of the disaster, when he was working a holiday shift and concern over Typhoon No. 15 was spreading through the newsroom. A window facing the shore eventually shattered, sheets of manuscript paper flew around, and the power went out. Even attempts to cover the window were blown away. The emergency had begun before he ever reached the beach.
Pressing the shutter amid sand and darkness
In his recollection, many bodies had washed ashore. Some people had jumped from the ship and reached land, while others had exhausted their strength. Because the wind drove sand through the air, he kept the camera against his chest and raised it only when taking a photograph. The storm was so fierce that leaving it exposed would have filled both lens and shutter with sand. At night he relied on the faint beam of a flashlight to find bodies covered by driftwood and other debris, estimate the distance, and focus.
Sending photographs during a blackout
The reporting did not end when the photographs had been taken. He traveled between the scene and the office, and when the blackout made transmission impossible, carried the heavy transmission unit to a location with access to NHK's emergency power supply. The photographs became an exclusive for his newspaper, but his testimony emphasizes the work of carrying what he saw beyond the scene rather than the competition.
Families' voices and the duty to preserve
Families examined the bodies one by one, and when someone was identified, the body was moved elsewhere as crying continued across the site. ‘Preserve the photographs as a record and show them to the public’—the final words concern the duty of a newspaper. The 156 photographs convey not only the scale of the disaster, but also how the people making that record endured a day of violent wind.
Viewer reactions
“He says people became angry while he was taking photographs. I understand their feelings, but I also understand the importance of leaving a record. If we only hear that such a major disaster happened, everyone will imagine it differently, so a record is surely necessary. The photographs of bodies have been altered, but I think there is also an argument for publishing them as they are in order to convey the truth.”
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“It is said that on the day of the disaster, a newspaper company—reportedly the M newspaper—removed the passenger manifest kept at Hakodate Pier without permission, making it harder to determine who had been aboard.”
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“Shouldn't the fact that a news organization removed the passenger manifest be reported too?”
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“My elementary-school homeroom teacher said, ‘I helped recover bodies at Nanaehama.’”
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“The name ‘Toya Maru Typhoon’ makes it sound like only the Toya Maru was involved, but it was a catastrophe throughout Hakodate Port: several ferries, a U.S. military LST, a patrol vessel, and an Italian ship were affected. On some ships every crew member died, so no one knows exactly what happened. There was also a major fire.”
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From the editors
What remains is not only an account of the disaster, but also the human presence behind the record. Looking at the 156 images also brings into view the reporter's day: shielding his camera from sand, carrying transmission equipment during the blackout, and returning once more to the scene.
Watch the video
北海道新聞 どうしん動画ニュース
Key moments
- ▶ 1:55
The video explains how 156 images were selected from roughly 2,000 preserved negatives in 1984 to compile a photo collection about the Toya Maru disaster.
- ▶ 2:52
The former photographer recalls his holiday shift on the day of the disaster, growing concern over Typhoon No. 15, a shattered newsroom window, and the blackout.
- ▶ 4:30
He describes seeing passengers washed ashore and protecting his camera from windblown sand while taking photographs.
- ▶ 6:34
He says he moved through darkness, driftwood, and sand with a flashlight, estimating distances and focusing as he documented the beach at night.
- ▶ 9:00
He recounts traveling between the scene and his office, then carrying transmission equipment to NHK's emergency power supply when the blackout prevented the photographs from being sent.
- ▶ 10:25
Remembering families identifying victims, he concludes that preserving photographs of the disaster and showing them to the public was the newspaper's duty.
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