Hello, this is Frank.

It was about 15 years ago—probably during the rainy season that year—when this tragic incident happened.

During an outdoor school activity, a rowboat being towed by a motorboat capsized. A first-year junior high school student from Aichi Prefecture lost his life.

The location was Lake Hamana. According to officials, “It wasn’t weather fit for boating.”

One of the boys reportedly said, “The rain was heavy and the boat was shaking. I thought it was strange we were even getting on it.”

They were just first-year students. And there was no instructor on the capsized boat. A tragedy at a youth center. There may have been courage to move forward—but there should have been the courage to stop as well.

They prioritized the event over human judgment. I can’t help but feel they failed to see the faces of those right in front of them—faces full of hesitation, fear, and doubt.

And in another place entirely—the hospital.

A nurse, overwhelmed by her duties, administered the wrong medication. The patient died. “I mistook the patient’s number,” she explained.

A school schedule. A patient number. In both cases, systems were prioritized over people. If they had truly seen the faces—the expressions—of that student or that patient, could these tragedies have been avoided?

I wish there had been room for hesitation. The courage to stop. To step back and think.

More important than following schedules or checking numbers is simply this: the ability to care. To see the person in front of you and act with empathy.

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Thank you for reading today.

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