Doshisha board chair to resign over fatal Okinawa boat accident
Eiji Hatta, the board of trustees chair of the Doshisha school corporation, intends to resign to take responsibility for a deadly boat accident that killed one of its students and a boat captain, the education ministry said Tuesday.
Hatta announced his intention at an extraordinary board meeting last week. He is expected to remain Doshisha’s chancellor — overseeing its 14 affiliated institutions, including Doshisha University — and as a board member.
Kikuo Nishida, the principal of Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyoto Prefecture, will also step down at the end of this month.
“This does not mean the school corporation or the high school has finished addressing the matter,” education minister Yohei Matsumoto told a news conference, adding that both must continue to respond responsibly to ongoing developments.
Two small boats carrying 18 students and three crew members capsized on March 16 off Henoko district in the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, during a controversial peace-education program. The trip was intended to allow students to view the Henoko construction site, where the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is to be relocated, as well as activities opposing the relocation of the base to the area.
The accident killed 17-year-old Doshisha International student Tomoka Takeishi and boat captain Hajime Kanai. An external investigation commissioned by Doshisha later found that 16 students also sustained injuries.
A 218-page report of the investigation, released last month, said the school corporation had breached its obligation to investigate the activity beforehand, plan the trip safely and adequately explain its content to students and parents.
The school had also never conducted a pre-trip inspection despite having offered the program since the 2022 academic year, the external committee tasked with the investigation found. Teachers did not verify the boats’ passenger-service registration, intended route or detailed boarding procedures.
No teacher boarded either vessel on the day of the accident, and the school did not give students advance instruction on how to use life jackets during an emergency.
The report also said that risk-management structures at the school and corporation were effectively a dead letter. It identified an atmosphere in which teachers found it difficult to question inherited practices and said the failures reflected a broader lack of safety awareness.
Takeishi’s family has lodged a criminal complaint against several school figures and boat operators, including the school principal.
Doshisha declined to comment on Hatta’s planned resignation, saying it was not a matter decided by the board of trustees. The corporation said it has no plans at present to hold a news conference on the matter.
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