Kyoto, Oct. 31 (Jiji Press)--The head of Doshisha, which operates Doshisha International Senior High School, has apologized over a boat accident in Okinawa Prefecture that killed a female student, at his first press conference since the March 16 accident.
"I offer my deepest condolences for (the victim, Tomoka) Takeishi, and sincerely apologize to everyone concerned," Eiji Hatta, chairman of Doshisha's board of trustees, said at the press conference in the city of Kyoto, western Japan, on Friday.
He observed a moment of silence for Takeishi, one of the two victims who died in the accident in which two boats carrying students and crew members capsized off the coast of the Henoko area in the city of Nago during an educational program near the construction site of a U.S. military facility set to take over the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan, also Okinawa.
Hatta apologized for the delay in holding the press conference, which took place seven and a half months after the accident. He explained that he decided to hold the briefing to make an interim report on Doshisha's handling of the issue, because the educational institution found that a full investigation into the accident would take time after setting up a committee to examine the neutrality of the high school's education Oct. 22.
"I bear a heavy responsibility as chairman" in light of the education ministry's finding that there were serious problems with the school's safety management system, Hatta said.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
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