Japanese maritime authorities recovered Friday the body of a fisherman who went missing with his fishing boat on Thursday in the sea off western Japan's Hyogo Prefecture.

According to the Japanese Coast Guard, its searching operation which involved the coastguard's divers, patrol vessels and rescue helicopter found no trace of the missing man on Thursday.

Further searches were carried out on Friday, which found the body about two kilometers off the prefecture's coast.

The fishing boat was also found sunk in the sea area, about 1.5 kilometers apart from the position where the searchers recovered the body.

The body was formally identified as the 77-year-old man who went fishing from a port in Himeji City of the prefecture in the boat but did not return to the port by this morning.

Meanwhile, another fisherman died after he mistakenly fell into the water while he was setting a fish-preserve near Sumoto Port in Sumoto City of the prefecture. The authorities later confirmed the death of the 65-year-old fisherman.

Details of the two different accidents are under investigation.