Families of Victims of Kazu I Accident Hold Ceremony to Honor Lost Loved Ones

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, July 14, 2025

NEMURO, Hokkaido — Family members of victims of the Kazu I sightseeing boat sinking held a ceremony Sunday for the first time since the accident to honor their loved ones off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido.

Twenty-four passengers and two crew members died or went missing in the accident in April 2022. The ceremony was held in the same area of the sea where the accident occurred.

Forty family members of 14 victims participated in the ceremony aboard a chartered ship, dropping flowers into the sea to comfort the victims’ souls.

The ship departed shortly after 5:20 a.m. from Utoro fishing port in Shari, Hokkaido, from which the Kazu I departed on the day of the accident.

After arriving at the tip of the peninsula, the relatives walked to sites where searches for the victims’ remains and belongings were conducted.

The ship then traveled to the area of the sea near Kashuni Falls where the Kazu I capsized. Family members shouted the names of their lost loved ones and released paper sheets with messages written on them, along with flowers, into the sea.

A 66-year-old from Fukuoka Prefecture participated in the ceremony, holding a backpack belonging to his son, Michio Koyanagi, who was 34 years old at the time and is still missing. The backpack was found inside the sunken boat.

After the ship returned to the port, the father said, “Though Michio’s body cannot be returned to me, I feel as if I have brought back at least his soul.”

The ceremony was organized by a volunteer group which has continued searching for the victims’ remains and belongings on and off the Shiretoko Peninsula. Kenji Sakurai, a 62-year-old fisherman from Rausu, Hokkaido, leads the group.

The ceremony at sea was initially scheduled for Saturday, but it was postponed to Sunday due to a weather forecast of very strong winds.

Seiichi Katsurada, 62, president of Shiretoko Yuransen, the company that operated the Kazu I, was indicted at the Kushiro District Court on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.

Additionally, 29 family members of the victims have filed a lawsuit against the company demanding a total of ¥1.5 billion in compensation at the Sapporo District Court.