Overview
- The inflatable towing tube struck a small boat anchored near shore off Yasu City’s Yoshikawa area around 2:55–3:00 p.m. on September 7.
- A woman riding the tube was pronounced dead at a hospital, and a 33-year-old Osaka man remains unconscious in critical condition with facial injuries.
- Moriyama police arrested Katsuhisa Nishiguchi, 57, of Amagasaki, on suspicion of professional negligence causing death and injury, and say he has admitted the allegation.
- Investigators say the three involved were acquaintances who arrived by boat, moored it, then switched to a jet ski towing a two-person tube with a backrest.
- Police are probing the cause and confirming the woman’s identity, as local reports note a separate Lake Biwa tube incident on September 6 that left a 27-year-old woman with a broken arm.