Yoichi Endo, left, and Masayoshi Watanabe show certificates of gratitude presented by the police station chief at Lakeside Banko in Inawashiro, Fukushima Prefecture, on Sept. 2, 2021. (Mainichi/Tatsuro Tamaki)

       FUKUSHIMA -- Fukushima Prefectural Police's Inawashiro Police Station presented certificates of gratitude to two men on Sept. 2 for having rescued a man attempting suicide at Shidahama Beach on Lake Inawashiro.

       The police station sent the certificates to Yoichi Endo, 45, the manager of Lakeside Banko, which operates a souvenir shop and other facilities in the town of Inawashiro, and Masayoshi Watanabe, 66, a part-time employee at Lakeside Banko. They said they were relieved that the man was safe.

       Watanabe was repairing a swan paddle boat at around noon on Aug. 8 when he found a fully clothed man who appeared to be in his 60s going into the lake -- outside the swimming-permitted zone -- until the water was up to his thighs. Feeling that something was off, Watanabe told the man, "That's dangerous," after which the man went back to a car in the parking lot without saying anything.

       Contacted by Watanabe, Endo rushed to the man's car and asked what he had been doing. Smoking a cigarette with his expression unchanged, the man muttered, "I wanted to die ..." After talking with the man for a while, Endo left momentarily to report the incident to the prefectural police. The man and his car were gone when Endo returned, but the police found him in the prefecture the same day, and his safety was confirmed.

       Police station chief Kuninori Honda praised Endo and Watanabe, saying, "The collaboration between the two -- the courage to talk to him, and the speed with which they contacted police -- saved a life. We're very grateful."

       (Japanese original by Tatsuro Tamaki, Fukushima Bureau)

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