Overview
- At a Sunday night news conference, Hoketsu High confirmed one boy on the boys’ soft tennis team died in the Ban-etsu Expressway crash as the coach said he should have checked that white‑plate rental vehicles were being used on past trips.
- The coach said he believed bus operator Kambara Railway was running the trips with its own drivers and that he received company memos listing destinations and departure times without any note about rentals or outside drivers.
- He acknowledged there was no clear written agreement on costs with the transport company and denied ever asking for cheaper rental vehicles or hired drivers, calling his lack of verification a mistake.
- In Japan, white license plates mark private or rented vehicles and green plates mark licensed commercial buses, a distinction that affects safety oversight, insurance, and legal liability when schools outsource travel.
- In sports, withdrawals announced Friday ruled yokozuna Ohnosato out of the Summer Grand Sumo with a left rotator‑cuff injury and sidelined ozeki Anseishiki with an ankle injury that could lead to demotion in July if he cannot return and win, while Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said staff feel Kaoru Mitoma’s injury may not be minor ahead of a May 15 squad announcement.