News imageThe Documentary Podcast, Diving for Yuko

The Documentary Podcast

Diving for Yuko

10 July 2026

Available for over a year

In coastal Japan, Yasuo Takamatsu has spent nearly 15 years diving for the remains of his wife, Yuko, who was swept away in the 2011 tsunami. With on-location recording of Yasuo on his 763rd dive, this Heart and Soul documentary explores his search as an act of devotion shaped by Japanese ideals of grief, memory, and the power of nature. A profound story of love and loss, we reveal how one man’s repeated dives became a ritual of remembrance in a land where disaster is part of life.

Presenter: Jake Warren

Producer:: Leo Danczak

Editor:: Macalister Bexon

A Message Heard production for BBC World Service