Panel Finds School Responsible for Fatal Okinawa Ship Accident

Osaka, July 31 (Jiji Press)–A third-party committee on a boat accident in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, in March that killed a high school girl and another person found on Friday the school responsible for the death of the student. The committee said in a report that Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyotanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, failed to fulfill its safety obligations, including preliminary research, although the boat activity had a high risk in which deteriorating weather could easily lead to serious accidents. In the March 16 accident, two small protest boats capsized off the Henoko area of the Okinawa city of Nago, where construction to relocate a U.S. Marine base is underway. The boats carried 18 of the school’s students on a peace education trip and three crew members. The accident killed Tomoka Takeishi, a 17-year-old female student of the school, and Hajime Kanai, the 71-year-old captain of one of the boats. As the causes of the accident, the report cited the school’s improper safety control and a lack of safety awareness among teachers. The school’s crisis management manual included neither the need for consideration for weather information, nor rules on extracurricular activities, according to the report. The peace education program off Henoko, which started in fiscal 2022, was continued without any safety confirmation and even basic rules, the report said, concluding that the biggest cause of the accident was the school’s improper safety control. The school’s operator lacked adequate oversight as it did not understand the actual situation of the study trip, the report said. Some teachers told the committee that they had been naive to think that safety would be secured if the previous year’s practices were followed. While accusing teachers at the school of tending to leave everything to others, the report said the accident stemmed from many teachers’ lack of imagination about safety. The school “can’t escape criticism and must reflect on it,” the report said. “We can’t believe how sloppy the school is. Awareness of safety is completely lacking,” Toru Watanabe, chairman of the committee, said at a press conference in Osaka, a city near Kyoto. The parents of the deceased student in July filed a criminal complaint against the principal and others at the school, accusing them of professional negligence resulting in death. The Japan Coast Guard is investigating the incident. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]