A tourist boat with 26 people on board sank off the coast of Japan.
The search for survivors has been going on for seven hours, but so far there has been no success, the Japan Coast Guard said on Saturday.
Two children are said to have been on board the ship.
As the Associated Press news agency reports, the ship's two-man crew made an emergency call in the early afternoon: the bow of the boat was flooded, it had already tilted about 30 degrees to the side and was beginning to sink.
Since then, no contact has been made with the ship.
The tourist boat was on the west coast of the Japanese island of Hokkaido when it got into trouble.
Local fishermen reported that around noon, a strong wind blew in the area and they observed high waves.
That is why many fishing boats returned to their ports prematurely.
Since then, six police boats and four helicopters have been searching for the missing people.