Uwajima Mayor Hirohisa Ishibashi submitted Friday a petition signed by about 750,000 people to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori calling for the Ehime Maru to be raised and the cause of its collision with a U.S. nuclear submarine off Hawaii last month to be clarified.
The signatures, handed to Mori at his official residence in Tokyo, were jointly collected by the Uwajima Municipal Government in Ehime Prefecture and the alumni association of Uwajima Fisheries High School, which operated the ship.
Mori assured them he would deliver the petition to those responsible during his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on Monday, city officials said.
The signatures were gathered from fisheries high schools nationwide as well as from overseas.
The collision off Hawaii occurred after the 6,080-ton sub USS Greeneville struck and sank the 499-ton Ehime Maru while it was demonstrating a rapid surfacing maneuver to its 16 civilian guests. Nine Japanese were lost at sea.