School Operator to Face Probe over Fatal Ship Accident in Okinawa

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s education ministry plans to conduct a probe of school operator Doshisha over a fatal ship accident that occurred last month during a study trip of a high school run by the organization, it has been learned. On March 16, two vessels carrying three crew members and 18 second-grade students from Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, capsized off the Henoko district in the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, leaving a student and the captain of one of the ships dead. The ship ride was for viewing ongoing work in Henoko related to the transfer of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station to the coastal district from its current site in Ginowan, another Okinawa city. The base relocation within Okinawa has drawn criticisms in the prefecture. The ministry found that the school’s preliminary inspection and its prior explanations to parents were insufficient, and that teachers’ supervision at the time of the accident was inadequate. The ministry has worked to examine details of the accident and the high school’s safety management through the Kyoto prefectural government, which oversees the school. As sufficient responses have not been received, however, the ministry decided to directly investigate the operator of the school, informed sources said. Ministry officials are expected to visit the operator within this month at the earliest to conduct hearings with its staff concerned. The ministry is also considering asking officials of the high school and the Kyoto government to attend the hearings. On April 7, the ministry urged boards of education nationwide to ensure the safety of school field trips. It also called on the boards to review each school’s emergency response manuals and confirm whether school activities are not biased toward any particular thoughts in light of the purpose of the basic law on education. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]