Victims of 2022 tour boat sinking in Hokkaido remembered at sea
It was the first time for relatives of the victims to hold such a large memorial service at sea.
On April 23, 2022, the Kazu I tour boat sank off the peninsula, killing 20 of its 26 passengers and crew, with the other six still missing.
Around 5:20 a.m. Sunday, a ship carrying 40 relatives of 14 Kazu I victims departed from a port in Shari, a town on the Hokkaido peninsula.
They landed at Cape Shiretoko, at the tip of the peninsula, and paid their respects in a bay where victims' bodies and belongings were found. The ship then moved to an area near Kashuni Falls, the suspected site of the Kazu I sinking, where the relatives prayed for the victims' souls.
"Thanks to the support of many people, we were able to talk to the souls of our loved ones from the bottom of our hearts," a 58-year-old woman who lost her 46-year-old younger brother in the accident, said after returning to the port. "I think we were finally able to bring them home with us," she said in tears.
A 53-year-old man, a resident of Hokkaido, whose wife, 42, and son, 7, remain missing, visited the site of the sinking for the first time. "I couldn't stop shedding tears when I thought about how scared they must have been, being unable to do anything even though the shore was so close they might have been able to swim to it," he said.
The memorial service at sea was organized by those including Kenji Sakurai, a 62-year-old fisherman from the Hokkaido town of Rausu, who volunteered to search for victims after the accident.
They raised about ¥14 million in donations from around the country after appealing for support through a YouTube video to cover the costs.
Seiichi Katsurada, 62, president of Shiretoko Yuransen, the operator of the Kazu I, has been indicted for alleged professional negligence resulting in the deaths. However, it remains to be seen when his trial will start.
Relatives of the passengers are suing Katsurada for about ¥1.5 billion in damages.
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