Terengganu Man Finds Japanese Boy’s Message In A Bottle 10 Years Later
The Japanese student eventually came to Malaysia to meet the man who found his message.
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In 1999, a Terengganu man found a message in a bottle that had been thrown into the sea by a 6-year-old Japanese boy 10 years earlier
According to Harian Metro, Zulkafli Abd Razak recently recalled how the discovery led to an unexpected friendship and a visit from the boy to Malaysia.
On 23 April 1999, Zulkafli, who was 36 at the time, was taking part in a conservation programme at Pantai Ma' Daerah in Kerteh when he found a bottle washed up on the beach.
The programme was organised by several organisations, including the Turtle Sanctuary Centre, Fisheries Department, BP Petronas Acetyls, Menyemai Kasih Rakyat Kerteh, the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia, Kemaman District Council, and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Zulkafli said the bottle was tightly sealed, so he initially asked a friend to help him open it
When they could not remove the contents through the narrow opening, they eventually decided to break the bottle.
Inside, they found an origami crane, two letters written in English and Japanese, and a world map marking Tanegashima, an island in southern Japan.
The first letter, titled Message from Nishino, was dated 2 October 1989 and written by Nakamura Koichi, the headmaster of Nishino Primary School.
"We learned that 117 messages in bottles had been thrown into the sea," Zulkafli told Berita Harian.
The second letter was written in Japanese by a 6-year-old pupil named Kowaki Yohei, who was in his first year of primary school at the time
With the help of a Japanese expatriate in Kerteh, Zulkafli was able to understand the letter.
The student had introduced himself and asked the person who found his message to write back.
"My name is Kowaki Yohei. I am 6 years old and in my first year of primary school. I am a forgetful boy. There are many flowers and 117 pupils at Nishino Primary School. A famous place on our island is Kadokura Promontory. I want to be friends with the person who picks up this letter, so please write back to me," read the letter.
Wanting to fulfil the boy's wish, Zulkafli sent a letter and a hand-drawn map of Malaysia to the school's principal
His efforts paid off. He eventually received replies from the school's current principal and Yohei, who was by then a 16-year-old high school student.
Yohei wrote back on 2 October 1999, expressing his delight that the message he had released as a primary school student had travelled all the way to Malaysia.
The exchange eventually led to a trip being arranged for Yohei to visit Malaysia, where Zulkafli welcomed him alongside Harumi Shirokihara, a representative from BP Amoco Japan.
"I was nervous because I did not know what to expect or if I was meeting the right person, but I gathered the courage to greet him: 'Hello, I am Zulkafli. Welcome to Malaysia and nice to meet you,'" Zulkafli said.
Zulkafli (right) with Yohei (left) at the PETRONAS Twin Tower's Skybridge in 1999.
Image via New Straits TimesZulkafli recalled that the trip was Yohei's first time travelling outside of Tanegashima
During his visit to Malaysia, he was taken to the Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur, the PETRONAS Twin Towers, and some environmental initiatives with WWF.
Zulkafli later brought him around Terengganu, including Pantai Batu Buruk, turtle hatcheries in Jambu Bongkok and Rantau Abang, and Pantai Ma' Daerah — the same beach where his message had been found.
There, Yohei had the chance to watch turtles lay their eggs and release hatchlings into the sea.
Unfortunately, Zulkafli told Berita Harian that he has since lost touch with Yohei
However, the retiree, now 63, said he has kept the original letters, photographs, video recordings, and bottle cap as keepsakes from their unusual encounter.
Now, Zulkafli's children are hoping to plan a trip to Tanegashima to locate Yohei and return the original letters and other items to him.
Shafura Zulkafli, 33, the third of six siblings, said she only has faint memories of meeting Yohei in 1999, as she was 6 years old at the time.
"When I was young, I wondered who Yohei was. But after our meeting in Terengganu, he visited our home and appeared on television. Only then did I learn the full story and realise that my father was the one who found the bottle," she said, according to the New Straits Times.
Shafura said her brother, who travels to Japan almost every year, is now planning to locate Yohei during his next trip.
