12 Titanic Survivors Whose Stories Reveal The Tragedy’s True Scope

Published June 25, 2022
Updated April 23, 2025

Titanic Survivors: Masabumi Hosono

Masabumi Hosono Titanic Survivors

Wikimedia CommonsMasabumi Hosono, Titanic survivor.

The only Japanese person aboard the Titanic, Masabumi Hosono ultimately endured the scorn of his countrymen for taking a spot on a lifeboat and not going down with the ship.

At the time of the collision, Honoso was asleep in his cabin. He woke to a frantic knock on the door and the sound of footsteps in the hallway.

He would later write that the scene outside his cabin was terrifying and chaotic: passengers scurried back and forth as white flashes exploded above him — the crew was setting off emergency flares.

When he arrived at the lifeboats, he was turned away: he was a foreigner, the officer said, and would have to wait on the lower deck.

But when the man turned his back, Hosono saw his chance. A lifeboat called out that it had room for another two passengers, and after watching another man hop in, he wrestled with himself. He felt he should go down with the ship — but he wanted more than anything to see his wife and children again.

He joined the man in the lifeboat, the screams of the drowning echoing in his ears as the boat pulled away.

After making it back to land, Hosono reportedly lost his government job, suffered ridicule in the press, and served as a source of shame for his family even after his death in 1997.

author
John Kuroski
author
Based in Brooklyn, New York, John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of expertise include modern American history and the ancient Near East. In an editing career spanning 17 years, he previously served as managing editor of Elmore Magazine in New York City for seven years.
editor
Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
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Kuroski, John. "12 Titanic Survivors Whose Stories Reveal The Tragedy’s True Scope." AllThatsInteresting.com, June 25, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/titanic-survivors. Accessed July 26, 2025.