We’ve heard of a message in a bottle, but it seems like the message on a soccer ball is the better way to send a message by sea. Japan teen Misaki Murakami is soon going to be reunited with his soccer ball after it traveled across the Pacific Ocean during the Japanese tsunami last year.
The ball was spotted by David Baxter on Middleton Island in Alaska over a year later. Murakami’s name was on the ball, along with his school name and a “good luck” message. It was given to him in 2005 as a parting gift from friends when he had to switch schools.
David Baxter’s wife, who is also Japanese, translated the words on the ball and they alerted US authorities about it. Misaki was sure that the ball was his and told TSN that he was delighted it was found saying, “I’m very grateful as I’ve so far found nothing that I’d owned.”
The tsunami hit many towns, including Miskai’s town of Rikuzentakata, when it struck the north-eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this ball is one of the first items to be recovered from the tsunami and returned to its owner!
Misaki will be getting his ball mailed back to him very soon, and he can have one of the few items to survive the tsunami.