Student Dies After 2 Boats Capsize During School Trip

A tragic school trip off the coast of Japan turned deadly after two boats carrying students capsized, leaving a teenage girl and a boat captain dead.

Authorities say 21 people were on board the two vessels when the incident happened Monday morning, March 16, near the coastal town of Henoko in Okinawa.

According to the Japan Coast Guard, 18 of those passengers were high school students from Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyoto. The group had traveled to Okinawa as part of a peace education trip when the disaster unfolded.

The boats, identified as the Heiwa-maru and the Fukutsu, overturned around 10:12 a.m. local time, throwing everyone on board into the water.

Rescue teams rushed to the scene and were able to pull all 21 people from the ocean. However, two of them later died.

Officials identified the victims as 17-year-old student Tomoka Takeishi and 71-year-old boat captain Hajime Kanai, who was operating one of the vessels.

Four people in total were taken to nearby hospitals with injuries following the incident.

“It is deeply tragic that a student’s life has been lost,” said Ichiro Futamata, vice principal of Doshisha International Senior High School.

Early reports suggest the disaster may have unfolded in two stages. Investigators believe one boat capsized first, and the second vessel may have overturned while trying to rescue people from the water.

Weather conditions may also have played a role. A high surf advisory had been issued for the nearby Nago coastline earlier that morning by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Images from the scene later showed both overturned boats being towed back to Henoko Port near the construction site of a new U.S. military air base.

The location of the incident is also politically sensitive. Henoko has been the focus of years of protests tied to plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from the city of Ginowan to the coastal area. Many Okinawa residents have opposed the relocation, while Japan’s central government continues to support the project.

According to reports, the students had been observing construction related to the base relocation when the boats capsized.

Authorities also confirmed that all 21 people aboard the vessels were wearing life jackets at the time of the accident. However, officials noted that no supervising teacher was on board with the students during the boat excursion.

The Okinawa visit was part of a multi-day trip involving about 270 second-year students from the Kyoto school. The program has been running for more than 40 years as part of the school’s peace studies curriculum, with students visiting the Henoko area for roughly the past two decades.

Officials say the investigation into exactly what caused the boats to overturn is still ongoing.