In case you ever need evidence for a judge that a mixed race child brought back to Japan could suffer severely from bullying, this page will provide evidence. This page also collects articles on other bizarre behavior at schools or by teachers.

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Recent articles on Bullying

Bullying and School Crime Related Lawsuits

IJIME LAWSUIT: THE U HODEN CASE, 2000-present This lawsuit shows that racism exists very openly in the Japanese school system and may in fact be nearly uncontrollable, even by a Japanese board of education. It took the Board of Education over a year just to investigate and verify the original claim. Arudou Debito who translated this lawsuit information says that , "In the current press's frenzied return to the problems of bullying (ijime) within Japanese schools, sometimes one's ethnicity (in this case, a Chinese-Japanese grade schooler) becomes the bullying bone to pick. Years of negligence by both teachers and parents at a grade school in Kawasaki ultimately led to a public acknowledgment of the problem, an apology from the Board of Education and the school, and a demand for restitution. However, the bullies' parents refused to own up to anything, so Plaintiffs took them to court. TU Hoden, Professor at Japan Women's University and a naturalized Japanese is the father of the victim and the named Plaintiff in this case." (cached copy) original Japanese text.
Court orders former teacher, school to pay ¥ 500,000 in damages to girl in corporal punishment suit; (J) December 14, 2006; On 2 different occasions in 2001 the junior high school teacher slapped the girl on the cheek over trivial matters. The girl eventually dropped out of school.
Student, city argue in lawsuit over teacher's 'black sheep' comment; (EJ) December 13, 2006; The teacher also allegedly slandered her and hit her on the head immediately after she entered the school on the grounds that her older brother had high-functioning autism. From the following day, he allegedly ordered her to study alone in a meeting room. The teacher reportedly told the girl's classmates, "She's disabled, so don't hang out with her." Up until her graduation, the girl had no option but to study by herself in a separate room, according to the lawsuit.
Parents of autistic boy locked in school warehouse file damages lawsuit against local government and school officials; (EJ) November 1, 2006.
Ex-nursery manager ordered to pay Y65 mil damages for fatal abuse; (EJ) October 25, 2006; Junko Izumo, 35, the former manager of the "Smile Mom Yamato Room" is serving an 18-year term after she was convicted of inflicting bodily injuries on six toddlers between June '99 and Feb '02. Two of the children died from their injuries

Articles on Bullying

2007

Articles on Bullying - 2007

2006

How should bullying be defined?; (E) December 31, 2006; The recent spate of bullying cases--some of which led to suicides--has prompted boards of education around the nation to set their own criteria to identify bullying, aside from the definition laid down by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry.
Nagoya: parents sue school, city after bullying-suicide death of their 14-year-old daughter; (J) December 27, 2006; The parents claim the school failed to carry out a suitable investigation or give an adequate explanation after their daughter's death in 2003. They are seeking ¥5.5 million in compensation.
Fukushima: Was 14-year-old boy's suicide due to bullying? Parents request investigation; (J) December 22, 2006
4.8 million school children to be given counselling on bullying; (J) December 20, 2006; School children from the 5th grade in elementary school to the 2nd grade of junior high school will receive the 20-minute counselling.
NPO handles 684 phone consultations on bullying in one month period; (J) December 14, 2006
Three boys busted for beating 'cheeky' junior high school students; (EJ) December 11, 2006
Teens arrested for beating student, forcing him to strip; (EJ) December 7, 2006; The youths, aged between 17 and 18, reportedly bullied the victim on repeated occasions because he was living apart from his parents. After hitting and kicking him, leaving him with face injuries, they threatened him, saying, "You can either strip or we'll break your fingers."They then forced the 17-year-old to take off his clothes with a high school girl looking on, and photographed him naked with their cell phones, investigators said. The student had been living apart from his parents from a young age, and had gone through a home for infants and a children's institution.
Special 'focus on bullying' telephone consultation service set up for Tokyo and Nagoya from Nov. 6th - 25th; (J) December 6, 2006; Since 1979 the 110 consultation service in collaboration with Toyota corp. has received some 440,000 calls. Due to the bully-suicide problem, from October this year not only victims but also bullies and witnesses have been able to use the service. (Other similar articles also included.)
Schoolboy suffers cracked skull after landing on head during lunchtime game; (EJ) December 2, 2006; About one week prior to the accident, the parent of one injured student contacted the school and said, "There are scars on my child's body. I want you to warn the students." When the school carried out an investigation, it found that nine students were kicking and hitting each other during games of tag.
Parents sue school following their 14-year-old son's suicide in July ; (J) November 30, 2006; In their lawsuit the parents are seeking ¥77,600,000 in restitution. They claim their son's teachers insufficiently dealt with a theft at the school which the boy repeatedly asked to have investigated. It was the day after one of these teacher-student consultations that the boy killed himself by jumping into the path of an oncoming train.
Schools reluctant to suspend students for bullying; (EJ) November 29, 2006.
Update: Gov't panel adopts emergency proposal to prevent schoolyard bullying; (EJ) November 29, 2006.
- Gov't looks to suspend bullies from school; (EJ) November 27, 2006; Plus other bullying related articles.
Prefectural investigation finds 2700 cases of bullying within 6-month period at elementary and junior high schools in Gunma-ken; (J) November 28, 2006; According to the article this drastically exceeds the 48 cases which the Ministry of Education found in their investigation in fiscal 2005.
Update: Education ministry receives 3 more suicide letters bringing total to 42; (EJ) November 28, 2006; The education ministry has received three more letters that warn the senders will commit suicide because they are being bullied at school, bringing the total number of such letters received to 42, ministry officials said Tuesday.
- Bullied girl threatens suicide in letter to education minister; (EJ) November 9, 2006; A letter claiming to be from a high school girl threatening to commit suicide because of bullying was received by Education Minister Bunmei Ibuki on Thursday, just days after a similar suicide threat was sent to the minister. Update - November 11; Five more kids threaten suicide; minister says don't write.
Update: 2 Yamagata education execs quit over suicide; (EJ) November 28, 2006; Education officials partied despite suicide of student.
- 16-year-old girl leaves suicide message on phone before jumping off school roof; (EJ) November 22, 2006.
2 junior high school boys arrested for blackmailing classmate; (EJ) November 27, 2006; Despite warnings from the school the 15-year-old boys continued to regularly bully and threaten classmates. They were arrested for forcing a boy to spend ¥13,400 on them at a cake shop.
Foreign residents discuss education, school problems; (E) November 27, 2006; Tearful women from Brazil and Myanmar called for help to eradicate the bullying of their children at school and criticized teachers for failing to help non-Japanese students in trouble.
Junior high school student arrested after assaulting teacher; (J) November 27, 2006; The 14-year-old boy assaulted the teacher after being warned about smoking. The teacher suffered serious injuries in the attack.
Fukuoka junior high school student arrested for beating up teacher; (J) November 27, 2006.
Minister says review of bullying in schools needed after suicides; (E) November 26, 2006; Japanese teachers and school boards are covering up bullying incidents among students and a policy review is needed, the education minister said Sunday, following recent bullying-related teenage suicides.
Two teenage girls arrested for beating up younger 13-year-old causing injuries to her head and stomach; (J) November 26, 2006.
Suicides lay bare bullying menace; (E) November 24, 2006; Education ministry denies link but parents of victims beg to differ. According to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Ministry, there were 20,143 bullying cases reported by elementary, junior high and high schools in fiscal 2005. The ministry also reported there had been no suicides as a result of bullying between fiscal 1999 and 2005, even though between 100 and 150 students killed themselves each year during that period.
Boy tries to avoid teacher's corporal punishment and strikes his head on window frame, resulting wound required stiches; (J) November 23, 2006; Immediately following this the teacher kicked the boy in the stomach.
Teachers criticized over approach to bullying: Our hands are tied; (EJ) November 23, 2006.
Principal apologizes after spanking, injuring student who played with food; (EJ) November 22, 2006.
Knife-wielding teacher reassigned to victims' class; (EJ) November 22, 2006; After the boys saw him on his first day back, they complained of diarrhea and other problems, triggering protests to the school by their parents. Due to the psychological trauma of the incident, one of the boys is regularly seeing a psychiatrist. "Sometimes he has dreams in which he's being stabbed," his mother said.
3 arrested after attempt to throw youth into sea; (EJ) November 20, 2006; The three youths forced a 16-year-old classmate to play a game in which one is made to "faint," on a quay about 11:10 p.m. on Nov. 2. About 80 minutes later, the suspects compressed the victim's chest from behind with their arms to make him feel dizzy and tried to throw him into the sea.
Poll: Bullying linked to bad parenting; (EJ) November 19, 2006.
High school girl jumps to her death from apartment building in Yokohama; (EJ) November 18, 2006.
Parents to sue state, educators over daughter's bullying-linked suicide; (EJ) November 17, 2006.
Education minister urges children to stop bullying immediately; (EJ) November 17, 2006.
Two 14-year-old boys kill themselves in Fukuoka; (EJ) November 17, 2006; Two 14-year-old junior high school boys were found hanged Friday in separate and apparent suicide cases in Fukuoka Prefecture, police said.
Suicidal boy's mom stresses need for quick response to bullying by schools; (EJ) November 16, 2006; Tokyo -- On New Years' Day, the boy told his mother that he wanted to die, but refused to tell her why. Then in February, 100,000 yen disappeared from her bag. The woman searched for her son and found him in an electronics store, handing out 10,000-yen notes to classmates who had extorted the money from him.
Reports of bullying leading to suicide "overheating"; (J) November 16, 2006.
14-year-old Niigata boy hangs himself; (EJ) November 15, 2006
17-year-old high school boy leaps to his death in Kobe; (EJ) November 15, 2006
Calls to hotline quadruple; (E) November 15, 2006; The Osaka Municipal Board of Education conducted 126 consultations--about four times more than usual--on a telephone hotline service that was extended for two hours a day over seven weekdays between Nov. 1 and 10 in an attempt to prevent students from killing themselves due to bullying.
Junior high school teacher strikes student's head against wall causing injuries; (J) November 14, 2006.
NPO freedial service for bullied children receives 27,000 calls in one week; (J) November 14, 2006
Over 40% of students bullies and victims; (EJ) November 14, 2006; Masako Kihara, associate professor of the university's Graduate School of Medicine, and the Federation of All-Japan Senior High School Parent-Teachers Associations conducted a survey on psychological bullying, which includes verbal abuse and neglect, on about 6,400 second-year high school students. According to the survey, the number of students who had been bullied and had bullied others amounted to 45.7 percent among boys and 46.6 percent among girls.
Student leaps from 5th floor of high school building in Sapporo; (EJ) November 14, 2006.
14-year-old boy found dead in Nara in apparent suicide; (EJ) November 14, 2006.
Schools rapped over student deaths; (E) November 14, 2006.
Saitama boy and Osaka girl latest bullying-linked suicides; (EJ) November 14, 2006; 2 students, school principal commit suicide over bullying.
Suicide of 'bullied' Japan pupils; (E) November 13, 2006; BBC story on suicide/bullying phenomenon.
35 percent of bullying victims do not discuss the problem; (EJ) November 13, 2006; According to the NPA, 165 cases of assault or injury related to bullying at school occurred last year, compared with 94 cases reported in 2002. The figure for 2005 was the second highest in the last decade, behind only the 170 recorded in 2000, according to the NPA.
12-year-old girl jumps to her death in Osaka; (EJ) November 12, 2006.
Elementary school children accused of extorting over 100,000 yen from schoolmate; (EJ) November 11, 2006; Despite being aware of the incident, both the Kitakyushu Municipal Board of Education and the school failed to treat the case as schoolyard bullying. (Update: November 13) Principal of troubled elementary school hangs himself.
2 junior high school boys arrested for tying up, assaulting schoolmate; (EJ) November 11, 2006
Ministry grapples with bullying problem; (EJ) November 11, 2006; The Justice Ministry has demanded schools improve anti-bullying measures after concluding that homeroom teachers had not been supportive of bullied students in 15 cases from 2001 to 2005. The number of serious bullying cases investigated by the ministry increased by about 50 percent during the same five year period.
Ministry of Science and Education amends bully-suicide number from zero to 16; (J) November 10, 2006.
Surge in people seeking assistance over schoolyard bullying, 300 consultations in 2 days; (J) November 10, 2006.
Junior High School girl in Hokkaido hospitalised, attempted suicide due to bullying; (J) November 10, 2006.
Parents hiring private eyes to spy on schoolyard bullies; (EJ) November 10, 2006; The number of such requests further increased after a number of schoolchildren killed themselves in Hokkaido, Fukuoka and other areas this year after being bullied at school.
171 Korean kids, schools attacked for North antics; (E) November 10, 2006; The harassment included violence against students and an incident in which a school's musical instruments were thrown out into its athletic field in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
School flooded with calls over bullying video posted on Net; (EJ) November 9, 2006; A high school in Sapporo's Shiroishi-ku was flooded with phone calls after video clips of a first-year student being bullied were posted on the Internet, and an online message encouraged people to contact the school, it has been learned.
Questionnaires on bullying at cities in Fukuoka and Nagano Prefectures; (J) November 8, 2006; Out of the 28,000 students given the questionnaire in Kurume City 841 pupils replied that they were being currently bullied. In Matsumoto City an educational committee found there were 47 cases of bullying.
Boy threatens suicide over bullying inaction; (EJ) November 7, 2006; The education ministry gets a letter from a student threatening to kill himself at school next Saturday because he is being bullied and has received no help from teachers.
Majority of schoolchildren don't believe those who bully classmates are at fault; (EJ) November 7, 2006; The older schoolchildren are, the more pessimistic they become about the prospect of eliminating schoolyard bullying, the survey showed. In a multiple-reply question as to who they could consult over being bullied, a mere 19 percent cited teachers and 39 percent said their parents while a majority, 56 percent, replied friends.
Teens harass 15-year-old on way to school over 2~3 year period; (J) November 3, 2006; The school warned the 3 boys to stop their bullying last year but the violence apparently started again in recent months.
14-year-old boy dies after plunging from apartment building; (EJ) November 2, 2006; At least one Japanese newspaper questions whether the boy was worried after teachers at his school warned him and his mother about his lifestyle on the day before his death.
Teen bullied to death; (EJ) October 31, 2006; Satisfied the school had dealt with the aftermath of the girl's death with sincerity, and that it had admitted their 14-year-old daughter's suicide was prompted by bullying, the girl's parents decided to take no further action. Imagine then, their feelings when a recent education ministry report asserted there had been no student suicides as a result of bullying during the past seven years.
Nagasaki girl found hanging at school dies; (EJ) October 31, 2006.
Gifu school finally admits that bullying caused girl to kill self; (EJ) October 22, 2006; In a detailed survey following the girl's death it was discovered that there were 41 other cases of bullying at the same school.

'Urgent issues' dominate debate; Daily Yomiuri Online; November 1, 2006. Discusses how bullying-related suicides are a large scale national problem that is not being addressed by a proposed bill to revise the Fundamental Law of Education. (cached copy)
Ministry of Justice receives 647 reports of bullying in one week period; (J) October 31, 2006.
New penalties for teachers who bully students; (EJ) October 26, 2006; The number of suicides caused by bullying has increased across Japan, and the Metropolitan Government's move is aimed at preventing teachers from harming children through their words or behavior, and stopping bullying from becoming serious.
Child suicides prompt probe into bullying; (EJ) October 17, 2006; These articles come in light of suicides like the Fukushima case (next entry down) and another in Hokkaido.
School says teacher provoked bullying of student who hanged himself; (EJ) October 16, 2006; A junior high school teacher was the chief instigator of the bullying that tormented a 13-year-old student so much that he committed suicide.
Mother strangles 14-year-old daughter following 'bullying' at school; (EJ) September 10, 2006; "My daughter had been worried about educational problems, and I wanted to put her out of her misery," law enforcers quoted her as saying. The woman had been in and out of hospital over the past five years to be treated for serious depression.
City told to pay for teacher's bullying; July 29, 2006; The Asahi Shinbun; A 49-year old Fukuoka elementary school teacher abuses a student whose great grandfather was American. (Read carefully, this is not "bullying" it is abuse.) Teacher himself is not fined, suspended for 6 months, and he is now back on the job, teaching young minds. (cached copy)

2005 or earlier

Foreign mothers fight for children's futures; Japan Times; July 19, 2005. Article about the nine Filipino women fighting in court to have their children with Japanese fathers recognized as Japanese citizens. Discusses the discrimination, bullying and other problems of not being legally recognized as Japanese and being of mixed race in Japan. (cached copy)
'Japanese' kids speak out over identity battle; Daily Yomiuri; October 2, 2005; Discusses a lawsuit demanding that the government recognize children whose Japanese father recognized paternity after birth rather than before birth, as is currently necessary to receive Japanese citizenship. Discusses other problems these children have, such as inability to speak anything but Japanese preventing them from living elsewhere and bullying at school. (cached copy)
Serious juvenile crimes soar; Yomiuri Shinbun; July 18, 2003. Discusses rising crime rate among juveniles. National Police Agency says that cases of murder, arson and inflicting bodily injury was about 1,760 in 2002, an increase of about 10 percent from 1997. The age of criminal responsibility under the Juvenile Law was reduced to 14 from 16 in 2001. One boy who had set six houses on fire in July 2001, killing one woman, mentions bullying as a reason he became unhappy enough to do commit these crimes.
Elementary school pupils more violent than ever, record 2000 cases for '05; (EJ) September 13, 2006; According to the annual ministry survey, pupils of public elementary schools committed a record 2,018 acts of violence in the 2005 school year, up 6.8 percent from the previous year.
SLEEPING THROUGH THE ALARM BELLS Child abuse breeds excuses

Teachers' Offences Against Children

2007

Articles on Bullying, Teachers' Sex Offences Against Children - 2007

2006

4-year prison term sought for former grade school teacher over indecent assault of student; (J) December 15, 2006; The defendant is also accused of attempting to abduct a minor.
Teacher busted for obscene behavior with schoolgirl in Yokohama hotel; (EJ) December 14, 2006;
Teacher beats boy after he accidentally threw ball at his face; (EJ) December 11, 2006; The furious teacher dragged the boy on the ground and hit him in the head. The boy suffered slight injuries to his back and legs.
Update: Ex-teacher slapped with 18-month prison term for molesting student; (EJ) December 5, 2006; The teacher molested the girl on the premises of the school where he worked and filmed it on a video camera on Aug. 17, last year. He had earlier been handed a one-year prison term for similarly molesting another girl in March this year.
- Teacher gets one year in prison for repeatedly molesting student; (EJ) October 25, 2006.
Complaint filed against teacher who posted photos of dead children on his Web site; (EJ) December 4, 2006; The 33-year-old teacher's Web site is said to also contain pictures of children who died from abuse or in natural disasters. Some of the photos showed the children naked.
Junior high school teacher arrested for groping girl on train; (J) November 29, 2006.
Former teacher rearrested on suspicion of raping junior high school student in August; (J) November 8, 2006; In what appeared to be personal details of female victims, thousands of names, addresses and photos were found in notebooks at the suspect's house. Okamoto has confessed to carrying out 40 offences in 13 different prefectures. He was first arrested and dismissed from his teaching position in 1998 for molesting a student.
High school teacher arrested for groping teen on bus; (J) November 3, 2006.
Teacher suspended for molesting disabled girl; (E) November 1, 2006.
Teacher busted for having sex with 15-year-old prostitute; (J) October 31, 2006.
Volunteer held in abduction of schoolboys; (EJ) October 28, 2006; Update: April 4, 2007; Cram school teacher arrested again for abducting more children.
Teacher suspended after slapping student in face for sitting in wrong chair; (EJ) October 24, 2006; The teacher slapped the student in the face several times. The boy collapsed and hit his head on the floor, school officials and police said. His injuries reportedly will take one week to heal.
Education Board fires teacher for inappropriate sexual behavior with female student; (EJ) October 21, 2006.
Update: Teacher arrested for molesting schoolgirl faces fresh charges; (EJ) October 13, 2006.
- Primary school teacher arrested for groping high school girl; (J) September 23, 2006; The suspect is thought to have carried out multiple similar offences during the 2005/6 summer vacations.
Teacher fired for having sexual relationship with junior high school student; (EJ) October 5, 2006.
Primary school teacher fired for molesting 10 students; (J) October 4, 2006; During school recess the 33-year-old teacher had the girls sit on his knee while he touched the lower part of their bodies. The victims were from the lower grades and the incidents occurred between May and July of this year.
Teacher arrested for violating child prostitution law, 'wanted girlfriend';; (EJ) October 2, 2006.
Teacher handed 10 years in prison for molesting kids; (EJ) September 27, 2006.
Primary school teacher arrested for having sex with a minor; (EJ) September 26, 2006.
Ex-nursery school head-teacher gets 42-month prison term for molesting 4 & 5-year-old girls; (J) September 22, 2006.
Primary school teacher arrested for paying 14-year-old girl for sex at Saitama hotel; (J) September 20, 2006.
Teacher fired for kissing student, lifting up her skirt; (EJ) September 20, 2006.
Teacher faces charges for fondling girls in his primary school class; (E) September 13, 2006.
Elementary school teacher busted for child prostitution; (EJ) September 13, 2006.
Child care worker rearrested over lewd acts at nursery school; (EJ) August 29, 2006.

Other School Related Abuse and Crime

2007

Articles on Bullying, School-related Crime - 2007

2006

More teachers on mental health leave; (EJ) December 16, 2006; The number of teachers at public schools who took leave for depression or other kinds of mental health problems marked a record 4,178 in fiscal 2005, up 17 percent from the previous year, the education ministry said.
Saitama: Man trespasses on primary school grounds, hits boy and runs away; (J) December 13, 2006; The 10-year-old received minor injuries in the attack.
Sleep-deprived man arrested after storming into 'noisy' nursery with knife; (EJ) November 30, 2006.
Six youths hurl Molotov cocktails at school gate; (EJ) November 28, 2006.
School bus driver nabbed for drunk driving; (EJ) November 27, 2006.
10-year-old swallows nail in drink bottle at school; (EJ) November 18, 2006; The nail was apparently put in the drink bottle deliberately.
Man fails in attempt to abduct teen after trying to force her into his car outside school; (J) November 1, 2006.

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The information on this website concerns a matter of public interest, and is provided for educational and informational purposes only in order to raise public awareness of issues concerning left-behind parents. Unless otherwise indicated, the writers and translators of this website are not lawyers nor professional translators, so be sure to confirm anything important with your own lawyer.
Last modified: January 08, 2008	Copyright © 2003-2006	Contact us
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