Japanese girl delighted by bottle found in Hawaii

[AsahinaKimi]

A photo of 6th grade students from Kagoshima, Japan found in a bottle by Petty Officer Jon Moore during a cleanup on a beach at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai Island.(AP Photo/US Navy - Saki Arikawa)

TOKYO (AP) -- A Japanese teenager expressed her gratitude Sunday after a U.S. sailor in Hawaii found a bottle she had tossed into the sea off Japan's southern coast as a child, and said she was delighted to be reconnected with her old classmates as a result.

Saki Arikawa, 17, said she had almost forgotten about the bottle and initially couldn't believe it was found after five years.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press from her hometown in Kagoshima, she said "it's a miracle" the bottle was found. "It's incredible," she said.

The clear glass bottle was found Thursday by Navy Petty Officer Jon Moore during a beach cleanup at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai island.

more...
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/odd/news/20110919p2g00m0dm013000c.html

I love stories like this...

[Deep13]

1. cool nt

[jberryhill]

2. That's a $500 littering fine

See how thrilled she is about that!

[ellisonz]

3. Good thing this one hit Hawaii.

31 students times 5 bottles each means 154 joined the Great North Pacific Garbage Gyre!

[FirstLight]

4. really cool!

How a small thing like this can remind us that we are all connected, right?

[wellst0nev0ter]

5. Kismet Indeed

I read he also has a wife and children in Japan, so no matter where he is, the country will always be coming to him.

[Modern_Matthew]

6. Lovely story. nt

[Blue_Tires]

7. heartwarming story...

needed to read something positive today..

[Shagbark Hickory]

8. Why are we so fascinated by 15th century communications? She could have just sent an email.

:silly:

[ceile]

9. Very cool!

[HappyMe]

10. That's so cool.

A nice, positive story.

[Vidar]

11. Touching story. Thank you.

[Arugula Latte]

12. I find it oddly fascinating

That bottles thrown into the same spot in the vast, vast ocean can take such divergent paths -- some to Alaska and some to Hawaii.