IKI, Nagasaki Pref. — On a gloomy day pregnant with rain and the weight of past expectations, Minoru Nakamura is welcomed back to port like a conquering hero.

Three family generations, including Nakamura's father, Toshiaki, and newborn child, Misaki, wait ashore, smiles wide as his boat returns.

"Good for him," says Terutaka Okubo, head of the local fishing cooperative. "That's wonderful to see."