Six months after the Henoko capsize, parents talk about their feelings: ``It's hard to be without Chika every day.''

The 16th marks six months since the accident in which two small boats capsized off the coast of Henoko in Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, killing two people, including Tomoka Takeishi (17), a second-year student at Doshisha International High School (Kyoto Prefecture) who was on a training trip. Her parents, who had been working hard to find out the truth, responded to the interview, saying, ``We've been trying to ignore the reality of not being able to see Chika.It's hard to be without Chika every day.''

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"He was talkative and funny, and was like a mascot," said Chika. He enjoyed the school's free spirit, and last summer he attended a summer school at Harvard University. He grew up strong and was just beginning to envision his future, becoming interested in research in the space field.

Chika's mother (49) received the news of the accident from the parents of her classmates just after noon on March 16th. When I rushed to the high school, the principal at the time, Kikuo Nishida, informed me that he had been confirmed dead. He spoke in a matter-of-fact manner, as if he were a normal person, and he says, ``I felt like the daughter I had raised with great care was being treated like an object.''

The mother flew to Okinawa on the same day and met the body. Early on the morning of the 18th, I took a taxi alone from my hotel in Naha City and headed to Henoko Fishing Port. After searching around, the Heiwa Maru appeared in front of them and was smaller than it looked on TV. Crying, she called out to him, ``Tomo-chan,'' and desperately captured the entire ship on video.

Approximately two weeks after the accident, Mana's father (49) opened an Internet posting site called ``Note'', where he wrote about his feelings for Mana and the situation at the time of the accident. The response has been overwhelming, and so far they have received a lot of information and encouragement.

In July, the parents filed criminal charges against a total of 11 people, including former principal Nishida and officials from the ship's operating organization. There seems to be no movement by the operating organization to investigate the cause of the accident, and her mother says, ``If there had been no accident, illegal acts would still be justified.It's strange that we wouldn't notice unless there were casualties.'' His father also grows suspicious, saying, ``Once the dust has subsided, will they take students and ordinary people on board again?''

At the end of August, the school held a parents' meeting for the first time in about five months, but the school declined to answer questions citing an ``investigation''. The father pointed out that ``former principal Nishida continued to protect himself right after the accident, and did not fulfill his accountability until the end.'' "Shouldn't we explain this to students and parents in their own words?"