Dogeza
On Saturday, April 22, 2022, a tour boat went missing with 26 passengers off the north coast of Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. The ship, the Kazu I, operated by the Shiretoko Yurasen company in the town of Shari, Hokkaido, was warned by local fishermen of rough seas.
This cruise was an eco-tourism sightseeing excursion to view an area of the isolated and rugged Shiretoko Peninsula, which has been a World Heritage Site since 2005 in recognition of the peninsula being the southernmost point where sea ice usually forms in the Northern Hemisphere. Coronavirus restrictions are relaxing here as they are elsewhere in the world, and the annual spring Golden Week Holiday is upon us. Although holiday travel may very well cause a sudden spike in infections, hospitality industries all over the country have been looking forward to a return to business, including the sightseeing tours in Shari city with great anticipation. Now, however, this accident puts the marine sightseeing industry under a cloud, and I expect all their excursions to the Shiretoko Peninsula will cease until after a government enquiry.
Like the S.S. Minnow in the Gilligan’s Island TV show, the ship set sail for a three-hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. The ship radioed that it was taking on water and listing. It was reported that one 72-year-old passengers telephoned his wife to say that the boat was sinking and to say goodbye. Initially, hope was high because rescue efforts began quickly. But the frigid water meant that it was too late. The sea water was just above freezing, so it was soon clear that no one could have survived. It would have been like passengers of the Titanic going into the North Atlantic in April 1912.
Days later, eleven bodies were recovered from the sea (including at least one child), while the Japan Coast Guard brought in sonar equipment and cameras to search for the sunken ship on the sea floor in the most likely spot. The ship was found in 100-meters of water, and its identity confirmed on Friday, April 29th.
Sadly, there is video footage of the Kazu I leaving its harbor. The passengers were probably all happy, smiling and excited, unaware that they would be dead soon. It was reported that all passengers and crew had orange life vests, but the ship had no lifeboats.
I happened to be in Hokkaido the day of the accident. I was sightseeing in the southern Hokkaido city of Hakodate. The weather was sunny and cool, and it was windy. The seas near Hakodate were rough and choppy. It’s easy for me to imagine conditions were similar all over the island and its coastline.
This photograph is from the front page of the Thursday, April 28, 2022 Japan Times print edition newspaper. Shiretoko Yuransen President Seichi Katsurada is apologizing during a news conference on Wednesday 27th in the town of Shari.
This bowing posture is the “dogeza,” the deepest kind of the several kinds of Japanese bow, used to show the greatest apology and regret. In Japan, the only way to show greater apology and contrition than this is to kill yourself.
The only American I ever saw in the media doing the “dogeza” was U.S. Navy submarine Commander Scott Waddle who came to Japan in December 2002 to personally apologize for causing the deaths in February 2001 of 9 of the 35 people aboard the Japanese Fisheries High School training ship Ehime Maru, by carelessly surfacing his boat, the USS Greenville, right beneath the training ship in waters near Hawaii. Four Japanese high school students died in that incident.
In Japan, the only way to show greater contrition than this is to kill yourself.