Career
Akaiwa was at work when the tsunami struck at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, and rushed home to find his neighborhood flooded with up to 10 feet of water. With his mother still unaccounted for, Akaiwa repeatedly searched for her at City Hall and nearby evacuation centers. He waded through neck-deep water, searching the neighborhood where she had last been seen.
Finally, on March 15, he found her on the second floor of a flooded house where she had been waiting for help for four days.
