08:12A small number of wooden boats containing unidentified deceased sailors, assumed to be North Korean fishermen, have often been found washed up on the shores of Oga, a city in Akita Prefecture which juts out into the sea.This year, however, has seen a dramatic rise in the number of dead bodies found aboard wooden boats washed up on the shores of Japan. According to the Japanese Coast Guard, 35 corpses have washed up since December 28, with 103 wooden boats drifting onto Japanese shores or discovered in its territorial waters. Thirteen of the dead bodies have remained unidentified.On November 26, eight corpses, some of which were partly skeletal, were discovered on a wooden boat in Oga, with two more skeletal remains found washed ashore on December 7, when temperatures remained below freezing. North Korean fisherman have also been found alive aboard their vessels. Oga's authorities have requested that the Tosenji temple temporarily accept the remains of the unidentified dead sailors, whose ashes have been kept in urns, alongside some DNA samples, in case North Korea or family members ever need to identify the deceased.The Buddhist Priest in charge of the Tosenji temple, Ryosen Kojima, keeps the blank urns in the temple following the cremation of the bodies by local authorities. Kojima chants funeral sutras for the deceased in the temple's main hall every day after his father began the practice of offering prayers for the unidentified dead in 1960.After one year has passed, the remains are buried at a grave for the unknown in Oga overlooking the Sea of Japan.As to why the number of dead fishermen has risen, a number of theories abound. Some Japanese media outlets suggest that Western sanctions against North Korea have forced the nation's fishemen to work harder to increase food supplies. As a result, goes the theory, they are forced to go further distances out to sea in dangerous conditions, as well as to use old equipment and boats. Others have pointed to reported booming North Korean fish exports to neighbouring China, a trade which may have induced fishermen to take greater risks to increase their catch.
Japan: North Korean 'ghost ships' full of corpses keep washing ashore in Japan
A small number of wooden boats containing unidentified deceased sailors, assumed to be North Korean fishermen, have often been found washed up on the shores of Oga, a city in Akita Prefecture which juts out into the sea.This year, however, has seen a dramatic rise in the number of dead bodies found aboard wooden boats washed up on the shores of Japan. According to the Japanese Coast Guard, 35 corpses have washed up since December 28, with 103 wooden boats drifting onto Japanese shores or discovered in its territorial waters. Thirteen of the dead bodies have remained unidentified.On November 26, eight corpses, some of which were partly skeletal, were discovered on a wooden boat in Oga, with two more skeletal remains found washed ashore on December 7, when temperatures remained below freezing. North Korean fisherman have also been found alive aboard their vessels. Oga's authorities have requested that the Tosenji temple temporarily accept the remains of the unidentified dead sailors, whose ashes have been kept in urns, alongside some DNA samples, in case North Korea or family members ever need to identify the deceased.The Buddhist Priest in charge of the Tosenji temple, Ryosen Kojima, keeps the blank urns in the temple following the cremation of the bodies by local authorities. Kojima chants funeral sutras for the deceased in the temple's main hall every day after his father began the practice of offering prayers for the unidentified dead in 1960.After one year has passed, the remains are buried at a grave for the unknown in Oga overlooking the Sea of Japan.As to why the number of dead fishermen has risen, a number of theories abound. Some Japanese media outlets suggest that Western sanctions against North Korea have forced the nation's fishemen to work harder to increase food supplies. As a result, goes the theory, they are forced to go further distances out to sea in dangerous conditions, as well as to use old equipment and boats. Others have pointed to reported booming North Korean fish exports to neighbouring China, a trade which may have induced fishermen to take greater risks to increase their catch.
A small number of wooden boats containing unidentified deceased sailors, assumed to be North Korean fishermen, have often been found washed up on the shores of Oga, a city in Akita Prefecture which juts out into the sea.This year, however, has seen a dramatic rise in the number of dead bodies found aboard wooden boats washed up on the shores of Japan. According to the Japanese Coast Guard, 35 corpses have washed up since December 28, with 103 wooden boats drifting onto Japanese shores or discovered in its territorial waters. Thirteen of the dead bodies have remained unidentified.On November 26, eight corpses, some of which were partly skeletal, were discovered on a wooden boat in Oga, with two more skeletal remains found washed ashore on December 7, when temperatures remained below freezing. North Korean fisherman have also been found alive aboard their vessels. Oga's authorities have requested that the Tosenji temple temporarily accept the remains of the unidentified dead sailors, whose ashes have been kept in urns, alongside some DNA samples, in case North Korea or family members ever need to identify the deceased.The Buddhist Priest in charge of the Tosenji temple, Ryosen Kojima, keeps the blank urns in the temple following the cremation of the bodies by local authorities. Kojima chants funeral sutras for the deceased in the temple's main hall every day after his father began the practice of offering prayers for the unidentified dead in 1960.After one year has passed, the remains are buried at a grave for the unknown in Oga overlooking the Sea of Japan.As to why the number of dead fishermen has risen, a number of theories abound. Some Japanese media outlets suggest that Western sanctions against North Korea have forced the nation's fishemen to work harder to increase food supplies. As a result, goes the theory, they are forced to go further distances out to sea in dangerous conditions, as well as to use old equipment and boats. Others have pointed to reported booming North Korean fish exports to neighbouring China, a trade which may have induced fishermen to take greater risks to increase their catch.