A soccer ball which apparently floated across the Pacific Ocean following last year's Japan tsunami has washed up on an island off the coast of Alaska.

The ball, with a message of encouragement to its owner written in kanji, was found by a couple on Middleton Island.

The inscription named the owner as 16-year-old Misaki Murakami from Rikuzentakata, one of the areas worst hit by last year's earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Husband and wife David and Yumi Baxter found the ball and say they plan to personally return it to its rightful owner when they visit Japan for a holiday in May.

''I have no doubt that it is mine,'' Murakami told the Kyoto news agency.

''To be honest, I'm surprised.

"I want to thank the person who found it, as none of my sentimental items have been found."

ABC/Kyoto