A male high school teacher in Tokyo was dismissed from his job for having sex with a female student 25 years ago, according to a Sept. 2 press release by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education.
Between November 2001 and March 2004, the 53-year-old teacher had sex with the student at his residence. The board won’t disclose his name or place of employment because doing so could identify the victim. Details of how the relationship began are also being withheld.
The case isn’t an isolated example of Japanese schools handling sexual misconduct by teachers quietly. In June, Unseen Japan reported on the dismissal of a teacher who allegedly sent his female student 192 sexually coercive emails. Police didn’t arrest the former teacher until more than a year after his dismissal, prompting questions about why the school hadn’t involved law enforcement sooner.
This case has garnered additional attention in the media, however, because of the sizable time gap. Online, many people are siding, not with the victim, but with the man who once had power over her.
The teacher admits to sex with the student…but the language stops short of calling it assault
The teacher discharged on Sept. 2 has admitted to having sex with the student. “I feel sorry that my actions ended up hurting the victim,” he told board investigators, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Media reports and the board itself have not characterized the teacher’s actions as an assault. Instead, they’ve described what happened using the phrase “sexual intercourse.”
The wording is intentional, as a recent Unseen Japan analysis examined how Japanese media can soften descriptions of sexual violence by using neutral or euphemistic language rather than explicitly naming the conduct as sexual violence.
In this case, the distinction is particularly consequential because the board’s own disciplinary standards make clear that sexual intercourse with a pupil or student warrants dismissal regardless of whether it was consensual.
Why could the board punish him 25 years later?
The man’s dismissal hinges on a key fact: there is no statute of limitations in Japan for disciplinary measures.
