A Mother’s Grief in Court: Son’s Death in Inawashiro Boat Accident and Accused’s Lavish Lifestyle Exposed

The defense argued that the person on the lake was not visible from the boat.

The defense pleaded not guilty.

On September 30, the Sendai High Court heard the first trial on appeal of Tsuyoshi Sato, 47, a former company executive charged with professional negligence resulting in the death or injury of three people, including a mother and her child, on a pleasure boat he was operating. At the first trial, Sato was found guilty of negligence in failing to check for safety and was sentenced to two years imprisonment. However, Sato’s side was dissatisfied with the verdict and appealed.

The defense, based on the results of a new experiment, argued for acquittal on the grounds that the navigation route was inadequately maintained and that the Sato defendant alone was not at fault. The prosecution, on the other hand, was seeking to dismiss the appeal.

In a December 24, 2010 article, FRIDAY Digital reported in detail on the tearful words of the mother of the deceased boy (8 at the time) in court at the first trial, as well as on the “pictures” of Sato’s “wild outing,” which had been viewed as problematic. We would like to recount the details of the horrific accident (some corrections have been made).

“I couldn’t move at all.

I looked back right after the boat hit me and realized that I had died in an instant. I wanted to hold her in my arms for the last time. …… I couldn’t move my body at all, I couldn’t even touch him. ……

On December 12, 2010, the 6th trial was held at the Fukushima District Court for the accident at Lake Inawashiro (Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture) in which an 8-year-old boy and three others were killed or injured by a pleasure boat. The mother of the boys, Ms. A, who appeared in court as a witness, spoke and sobbed, sometimes in a choked voice. Ms. A, who herself suffered serious amputation from the knees down, said, “I still wish I had reached out my hand [to the boy] at that time.

The accident occurred in September 2008.

Sato is charged with manslaughter. A large pleasure boat operated by the defendant, Sato, caught the boys and others in its hull one after another. The investigation was difficult because it was an accident on the water, and physical evidence was hard to come by. However, a passenger provided a video of the incident, and in September 2009, the Aizu Wakamatsu Police arrested Sato.

(A reporter from the social division of a national newspaper.) According to an interview with “FRIDAY,” it was also revealed that Sato had been enjoying a celebrity lifestyle for about a year before his arrest. A male acquaintance of the defendant told us in the October 8, 2009 issue of this magazine

About a week before his arrest, I played golf with him in Ibaraki Prefecture, but there was nothing unusual about it. A month after the accident, they played together at another golf course.

He also liked baseball and was good friends with Nakata (Sho); they boasted about their two-shot photos, and Nakata gave him a guest pass to visit the Nippon Ham camp (which he belonged to at the time). He posted a photo on his Instagram page saying he met Otani (Shohei) behind the stands.

Let’s return to the courtroom scene at the beginning of this article. Ms. A, the boy’s mother, accused the defendant, saying, “If [Sato] had been aware of his surroundings, the accident would not have happened. She also criticized the defendant, saying, “I don’t think he is sorry for what he did.”

The problem in the courtroom was a photo of Sato on a social networking site after the accident (see related image). The photos posted on …… show him piloting a pleasure boat with a big smile on his face and enjoying a fine Japanese meal with a bottle of champagne worth nearly 2 million yen in his hand. This is the kind of behavior that offends the bereaved families.

Furthermore, Sato had consistently denied the charges at the time of his arrest, saying he had no recollection of the incident. He told the police, “If I apologize, it would be like admitting that I did it. However, after discussing the matter with his lawyer and after the trial began, he changed his strategy. In court, he apologized, saying, ‘I am truly sorry.

The next trial for the appeal referred to at the beginning of this article is scheduled to be held on October 10.