National Post

B.C. towns preparing to handle incoming debris from last year’s Japan tsunami
As search crews continue to scour the Japanese coast in search of victims from the March, 2011 tsunami, consular officials have begun preparing B.C. towns for the day briefcases, hairbrushes and photographs begin washing up on their beaches.

“If they are valuable or personal items and they are clearly recognizable as coming from Japan, then we would like to know exactly what they are,” Kinji Shinoda, deputy consul-general of Japan in Vancouver, told Postmedia.

Japanese pop bottles, fishing floats and buoys have always seen washing up along Vancouver Island, but in recent months locals have increasingly reported discoveries of lumber, bottles and fuel drums emblazoned with Japanese characters. “We’ve certainly seen an increase in material coming from Japan,” said Ucluelet mayor Bill Irving.