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Tuesday, 1st May 2012
In General Japan News,
Japanese motorcycle washes up on Canada beach
A motorcycle that washed up on a Canadian beach could have been floating at sea since the Japanese tsunami in March last year.
Debris has been drifting across the Pacific since the disaster struck over a year ago, and much is now beginning to land on North American shores.
The Harley Davidson has Japanese number plates and CBC television in Canada report that it was found in a cargo crate on April 18th by Peter Mark, a beachcomber.
According to the plates on the bike it is registered to the Miyagi prefecture, one of the areas most damaged by the tsunami, but golf clubs, camping gear and other tools were found alongside it in the crate.
Japanese authorities in Canada are now making enquiries to see if the owner of the vehicle survived the tidal wave.
Mr Mark was driving an all-terrain vehicle along the beach on the Haida Gwai islands close to British Columbia when he made the discovery.
"You just never know what you're going to stumble upon when you go for a drive and, lo and behold, you just come across something that's out of this world," he told the news provider.
While the bike was rusted, its logo and distinctive handlebars clearly mark it out as one of the iconic American models.
"I looked a little closer and the licence had Japanese writing on it," Mr Mark added.
"And the first thing that popped into my head was this is likely from the tsunami in Japan."
Despite not being strapped to anything and the door to the white container being ripped open, the motorcycle somehow managed to stay inside as it floated across the ocean.
AFP report that around 20 million tonnes of debris have now landed on North American shores.
A Japanese football was recently discovered in Alaska with its owner's name still on it.
Written by Mark Smith
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