This is the final part of a 3-part series on disclosing names in news coverage in Japan

TOKYO - Masaru Oku, the father of a high school student who died in a sudden avalanche at a ski slope in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, in March 2017, is torn about victims of accidents or crimes being identified in news coverage in Japan.

"Our son's name Masaki was publicized in a haphazard fashion," said Masaru in a recent interview with Kyodo News. "If I had been given a choice, I would have refused to agree to release his name. Losing a child is the biggest sorrow for parents. Immediately after the accident, I thought my blood would erupt when I heard even a few words mentioned about him," the father said.

The avalanche occurred during a mountaineering workshop conducted for more than 40 people, mostly high school students, on the morning of March 27, 2017.

(Masaru Oku pictured at an interview on Sept. 28, 2019.)

Seven students and a teacher from Otawara High School were killed and many others were injured. Masaki was a first-year student and was a member of the school's mountaineering club.

Three teachers, who led the workshop, were suspended from work. In March, police sent papers on the three to prosecutors, accusing them of causing deaths and injuries due to professional negligence.

"I had a preconception of the media as the enemy, fearing that they would disrupt our lives and write half-truths about our son. It pained me to hear people who didn't even know him say he was an unhappy and unfortunate boy," Masaru said.

Masaru, however, admitted that he also felt envious after reading stories in the press about other bereaved families. He accepted an interview for the first, and what he assumed would be the last, time on Masaki's birthday in June 2017. "I wanted to leave something behind to prove that our son had lived, just like the other students," he said. It was the first time he actively offered his son's name.

The high school mountaineering club resumed activities three months after the avalanche.

Masaru, who serves as co-leader of an association formed by the bereaved families of the seven students, agreed to the interview with Kyodo because of his distrust for the prefectural education board, which permitted the resumption of activities by the club without finding effective measures to prevent a recurrence of the accident.

"I was afraid that our son's death would be in vain. To give power to words of appeal, names (of victims) should be released."

Following the disaster, news coverage regarding the characters of the victims and their grief-stricken families was criticized "probably because the purpose of the news coverage wasn't clear."

"I can understand how reporting aimed at asking whether mountaineering as an extracurricular activity should be permitted or examining the accident itself could be meaningful. But people, other than the families, can hardly understand or explain the meaning of reports about a victim's character."

(People who have graduated from Otawara High School in Tochigi Prefecture offer prayers on April 3, 2017, for seven students and a teacher killed in an avalanche the previous week at a ski resort in Nasu in the prefecture.)

After the arson attack on the Kyoto Animation Co. studio in July, the charred ruins were repeatedly shown on TV. "To me it looked like they tried to focus attention on the atrocious way in which the victims died," Masaru said. "Given the shock the families were going through, I can understand why they would refuse to allow the victims' names to go public."

Masaru explained that if public opinion in the media was against him or his son, he would still be highly reluctant to having his son's name used in news coverage. "But since speaking with reporters, I have come to trust the media."

Coverage using the names of victims is necessary as long as it is accurate, he stressed.

"But since it's difficult for families to trust the media immediately after a tragedy, the media should make certain considerations. I think the stance of the media is being tested," he said.


Continue reading:

Part 1: KyoAni case puts media at crossroads in divulging victims' names in Japan

Part 2: Mother resolves to honor son's life from hostage crisis