Girl’s Remains Identified 14 Years After Japan Tsunami
Oct 10, 2025
Human remains discovered in northern Miyagi, Japan have been identified as those of a six-year-old girl missing since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, police confirmed Friday.
The 2011 Tohoku disaster killed 15,900 people, with 2,520 still listed as missing as of February 2025, according to the National Police Agency.
Discovery and Identification
Fragments of teeth and jaw were found in February 2023 by construction workers during a coastal cleanup operation. After dental and DNA analyses, authorities confirmed the remains belonged to Natsuse Yamane, who was six years old when the tsunami swept her away from her home in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, about 100 kilometers from the site of discovery.
The girl had been missing ever since the disaster struck.
“We are very happy to have been contacted and to receive this news after having given up hope,” her family said in a statement reported by Asahi Shimbun.
Historical Context
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake in March 2011 not only triggered the devastating tsunami but also caused a nuclear meltdown at Fukushima, marking one of the biggest atomic disasters of this century.
The last identification of remains in the hardest-hit prefectures — Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima — was reported in August 2023.
This identification brings closure to Natsuse’s family more than a decade after one of Japan’s most catastrophic natural disasters.
