Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kaneko said Friday that Hokuetsu High School rented the bus involved in a fatal crash.
The determination clarifies the legal responsibility for the transportation of the students. Because the school acted as the lessee of the rental vehicle, it suggests the institution managed the transport itself rather than hiring an external commercial operator.
The accident occurred on May 6 [2] on the Ban-etsu Expressway in Fukushima Prefecture. The crash resulted in 18 people being killed or injured [1]. The victims included students from Hokuetsu High School, which is located in Niigata Prefecture.
During a press conference on the morning of May 15 [3], Kaneko addressed the contractual nature of the vehicle's use. He said that based on the contents of the contract, the transport in this case was an act carried out by the high school using a rental car.
This distinction is critical in Japanese transport law regarding "white buses" — privately owned or rented vehicles used for unauthorized commercial transport. Kaneko said the possibility that this incident constitutes illegal "white bus" activity is low [3].
"Based on the contents of this contract, the transport act in this case is a transport act carried out by the high school itself using a rental car," Kaneko said [3].
Investigators continue to examine the circumstances leading to the bus falling from the expressway. The focus remains on whether the school's internal transport arrangements met safety standards, and who was ultimately responsible for the vehicle's operation on the day of the crash.
“The crash resulted in 18 people being killed or injured.”
The government's focus on the rental agreement serves to differentiate this tragedy from 'white bus' scandals, where companies illegally operate transport services without licenses. By establishing that the school was the lessee and performed the transport itself, the legal scrutiny shifts toward the school's internal management and the specific terms of the rental agreement rather than a systemic failure of commercial transport regulation.
