High school student fatality microbus accident: Bus company and school clash over claims

Regarding the Niigata microbus accident that killed one high school student, the bus company claimed it arranged a rental car at the school's request to save budget, but the school denies this, leading to a dispute over responsibility.

Fri May 08 2026

Bus Company's Account

According to the bus company, Hokuechi High School requested that they arrange a rental car instead of a charter bus and introduce a driver. The bus company then arranged a microbus through a rental car company, whose sales representative presented their own driver's license. However, the actual driving was done by Wakayama Suspect, an acquaintance of an acquaintance of the sales representative. The bus company stated that they normally do not accept such requests but exceptionally cooperated hoping for future business, even without profit.

School's Counter-Argument

Conversely, the school denied the contents of the bus company's press conference held the previous day. According to the testimony of the soft tennis club advisor, the school emphasized that statements made by the bus company, such as 'the school requested a rental car' or 'the school requested a driver because there was no one available to drive,' are untrue. The school stated that they only communicated the overall itinerary and number of people and had requested a bus arrangement as before, confirming that no such statements as claimed by the bus company were made.

*Source: YouTube: ANNnewsCH (2026-05-08)*

Tags: #Niigata #Bus accident #Hokuechi High School #Rental car #Driver