OKINAWA — The grieving father of a 17-year-old high school student who died when a boat capsized off the coast her has lashed out at what he described as an “extremely bizarre” school trip.
According to the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 2), the father of Tomoka Takeishi has revealed that his daughter thought she was going to look at coral reefs, not participate in a political protest.
Takeishi, a second-year student at Doshisha International High School in Kyoto Prefecture, died after the vessel she was riding in overturned off the coast of Henoko, Nago City on March 16.
At the time, she was participating in what the school called a “peace study” excursion.
Tomoka Takeishi (X)“I am suffering”
According to a series of posts made by her father on the publishing platform Note.com, the teenager had no idea she would be placed on a small protest boat operated by activists opposing the relocation of a U.S. military base.
“I am suffering and haven’t been able to process my emotions,” the father wrote. He explained that he decided to speak out publicly to stop the spread of false information surrounding his daughter’s tragic death.
The bereaved father slammed the school’s curriculum as “extremely bizarre,” criticizing the decision to place innocent students on a protest boat for political activities without adequate safety measures.
In a heartbreaking revelation, the father shared Tomoka’s final reasoning for choosing the Okinawa itinerary over an alternative destination.
“Rather than looking at scary paintings in an art museum, it sounds more fun to look at beautiful coral reefs with my friends,” the teen had told her parents before leaving for the trip.
She had no knowledge that she would be boarded onto a vessel operated by the Helicopter Base Objection Association, a local anti-base protest group. Two vessels operated by the organization overturned during the outing, resulting in the deaths of Takeishi and the 71-year-old boat captain.
“Avoid burdening her parents”
Takeishi spent her childhood in Jakarta from the age of 2 to 11. After returning to Japan in 2021, she was drawn to Doshisha International Junior High School’s liberal atmosphere and environment that fostered her English language skills, and enrolled there.
In high school, she attended a program at an American university.
“She had a concrete plan for her future, focusing on American universities, and even researched ways to avoid burdening her parents,” her father wrote. “She and her friends entered a speech contest that led to a world competition in Miami, and I could feel that she was working harder than ever towards her future when this sudden event occurred.”
The fatal incident has sparked heavy scrutiny over the school’s compliance and safety management.
Her father wrote, “It is a problem that violates the principles of the Basic Education Law for teachers to lead activities that are biased towards a particular political stance, or that could be misunderstood as such.”
Furthermore, regarding the school’s safety management, including the fact that no teachers were on board the boat, he wrote, “I am speechless at the thought that it was acceptable to abandon supervision at the scene.”
According to the Sankei, critics are now demanding answers from the educational institution and the involved travel agency for allegedly forcing students into a potentially dangerous political environment under the guise of a standard educational trip.
AloJapan.com