Victims Remembered 4 Years after Hokkaido Tour Boat Accident

Shari, Hokkaido., April 23 (Jiji Press)–Bereaved families and others mourned the victims of the 2022 sightseeing tour boat sinking in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido on Thursday, the fourth anniversary of the accident, which killed 20 people on board and left six others missing. At a memorial ceremony in the Hokkaido town of Shari on the day, attendees observed a moment of silence as a siren sounded shortly after 1 p.m., around the time when the accident involving the Kazu I boat is believed to have occurred off Kashuni Waterfall in the Shiretoko Peninsula four years ago. “We won’t let the accident be forgotten,” Shari Mayor Hiroaki Yamauchi said in a speech. “We’ll continue concrete efforts by the whole community to keep Shiretoko a safe place to visit.” “Our biggest duty is to ensure safety,” said Katsunori Nojiri, head of the local tourism association. The head of the tour boat operator, Seiichi Katsurada, 62, is on trial for professional negligence resulting in death. The prosecution has demanded a five-year prison sentence, and Kushiro District Court is scheduled to issue a ruling on June 17. On Thursday, local residents also visited the ceremony venue and laid flowers. Takashi Baba, 75, who was the town’s mayor at the time of the accident, said that he hopes the pain, grief and anger of the victims’ families will ease, even slightly. The family of Michio Koyanagi, one of the six missing individuals who was 34 years old at the time, offered a silent prayer at the local fishing port where the Kazu I boat deported from at around 10 a.m. on the day of the accident. “It’s grueling to think that they had to jump in such cold waters,” said the father of Koyanagi. “I feel like I can see my missing son when I visit this fishing port.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]