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Society
Oct 29, 2025 20:10 (JST)
Sapporo, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese court decided Wednesday to hold on Nov. 12 the first hearing of the criminal trial for tour boat operator president Seiichi Katsurada, 62, who has been charged with professional negligence resulting in deaths over the fatal 2022 boat sinking in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido.
A total of 12 hearings will take place before sentencing on June 17, 2026. The schedule was decided in Wednesday’s pretrial proceedings at Kushiro District Court in Hokkaido. The court plans to hold defendant questioning in March and closing arguments in April.
The Kazu I tour boat operated by the company, Shiretoko Yuransen, sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido on April 23, 2022, killing 20 of its 26 passengers and crew members and leaving the other six missing.
Katsurada attended the pretrial proceedings. The defense side plans to deny the charges against him.
According to the indictment, Katsurada allegedly caused the sinking by failing to order the boat’s captain to cancel the tour although he could predict the possibility that an accident would occur due to bad weather.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Jiji Press
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