ATAMI, Shizuoka Prefecture—Nearly a year after a deadly landslide claimed dozens of lives here, the committee probing into the matter is not any closer to determining responsibility.

The former and current owners of the property where the disaster originated both denied responsibility on May 12, when they were questioned by the committee tasked by the municipal assembly of Atami to investigate the July 2021 landslide in this seaside resort town.

It marks the first time either has spoken publicly about the disaster and their remarks run up against information provided by other key witnesses and documents.

The former owner of the land, where a mass of fill dirt was piled up along a steep mountainside far higher than what was legally allowed, denied any involvement in its creation.

“I filed an application for the landfill, but I was not the one who created it,” the former owner told the investigative committee. “I just leased the land.”

The current owner meanwhile told the committee of being unaware there was even a landfill on the site.

“I was not aware that there was a landfill,” the current owner said. “I have never been to the site, nor have I ever carried in dirt.”

The landslide that struck on July 3, 2021, during heavy rain claimed 27 lives, with one person still unaccounted for.

Prefectural officials believe the improperly constructed landfill had magnified the damage.

According to the prefectural and city governments, the landfill was created under a plan the former landowner submitted to the city in 2007.

But its height reached about 50 meters--three times higher than what was detailed in the plan. About 70,000 cubic meters of dirt was amassed at the location, more than double what the plan had outlined.

Officials believe anti-disaster measures, such as installing a proper retaining wall, were not sufficiently implemented.

The property was sold to the current owner in February 2011.

When asked about the risk of the landfill collapsing, the former owner said that the land had been stable “from the beginning.”

“It is proven by the fact that the land (after I sold it) remained stable for 10 years.”

An operator who worked on creating the landfill from 2009 to 2010 was also questioned by the committee that day and told a different story than the one provided by the former owner.

“I was told to carry in the dirt by the former owner. I never rented the land,” the operator said.

But the former owner denied that and said they “did not instruct” the operator to carry in the dirt.

That is not the only conflicting account that emerged from the investigation.

According to administrative documents that local officials released in 2021, the current owner of the land told the prefectural government in 2013 that they were “determined to resolve it with good intent,” referring to installing disaster-prevention countermeasures.

But the work was not carried out, according to the documents.

That conflicts with the current owner’s account.

So does testimony from the former representative of the current owner, who was called in to a committee meeting as a witness in March.

“The current owner was aware of the danger of the landfill,” the representative said at the time.

But the current owner told the committee they could not remember if that was ever the case.

“I have no recollection of whether safety management was needed or not.”

The Atami city assembly established the investigative committee in November 2021 to clarify the responsibility for the deadly landslide.

Since March, the committee has called in 26 people as witnesses, including Atami Mayor Sakae Saito, and questioned seven people, including an operator who created the landfill.

But it has yet to establish a full picture of how the landfill was created and if it was ever safely managed.

“Witnesses’ testimonies differ from one another,” said Chihiro Inamura, a city assembly member who chairs the committee. “I feel bad that we don’t know the truth.”

Shizuoka prefectural police have investigated the former and current owners on suspicion of death caused by negligence in the conduct of business and others.

(This article was written by Sokichi Kuroda and Takuya Yamazaki.)