https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2f9ab ... 63c8e7ede8
Translation:
Japan is cracking down, especially when it comes to teachers. Yet a 3 year sentence even though there were multiple minors involved and CP was produced is still light compared to the west. Still, a 3 year sentence at 44 with a new system in place to stop a return to teaching or related work is, in many ways, like a life sentence.On 7 November, the Saitama District Court heard the case against Mikichi Tonozaki, 44, a former junior high school teacher, who was charged with violating the Child Prostitution and Pornography Law and the Child Welfare Law by engaging in lewd acts with a number of male students at a public junior high school in Saitama Prefecture where he worked. Judge Takuhisa Nakagawa sentenced Tonozaki to three years' imprisonment (the prosecution requested four years and six months). At the sentencing hearing, Judge Nakagawa condemned some of the offences as "outstandingly illegal" and stressed that they "must be strongly condemned".
A former teacher at a public junior high school was sentenced to prison for indecent acts and voyeuristic photography of several students he supervised in club activities. According to a report by the Asaka City Board of Education, which has jurisdiction over the junior high school attended by the student victims, the former teacher had a history of being singled out by students, parents and other staff for his achievements, including leading club activities to national competitions, and it emerges that he took advantage of his superior position.
At his trial, the defendant explained that the reason for his crime was his "weak heart that could not suppress his sexual desire". 'I interpreted it as the student accepting me. Now I think it must have been difficult for him to refuse".
According to the report, the defendant Tonozaki is known for his strict teaching. However, there was also a strong desire for guidance from parents and students, and at a meeting of the city's Board of Education after the incident, it was reported that a student who had been his homeroom teacher shed tears when he was explained the situation, indicating that he was trusted. At the trial, the defendant's brother testified that he was never aware of Mikichi's proclivities and that other family members were also surprised. It is believed that he did not show signs of committing the crime to those around him.
On the other hand, some students stopped attending school or dropped out of the club due to his overly strict discipline. In its report, the city's Board of Education noted that "several members of the teaching staff were aware that the teacher in question was feeling excessive pressure to continue to produce results (in club activities)". As a measure to prevent recurrence, the report cited the improvement of a system to pick up the voices of students and teachers through a consultation service and other means.
Last month, the House of Representatives passed a bill to establish a 'Japanese version of DBS', which would check whether people who work in jobs that involve contact with children have a history of sexual offences. The House of Councillors has begun deliberations and the Government aims to pass the bill in the current parliamentary session. Schools and other institutions will be required to check, and those with a history of sexual offences will not be able to work in child-related occupations for up to 20 years from the end of their sentence. A former teacher who was involved in student counselling at a prefectural school told the Saitama Shimbun, "There was a teacher at the school where I worked who was disciplined and dismissed from his post for groping a pupil", adding, "Teaching used to be called a holy profession, but that is no longer the case".
In some cases in the prefecture, teachers who had been employed in other prefectures in the past, concealing the fact that they had been disciplined or dismissed for indecent behaviour towards students, were found by the national government's official gazette information search tool and were disciplined or dismissed by the prefectural education bureau. A former male teacher stressed that "considering the weight of harming children's future, it is absolutely unacceptable".
One reason for wanting to highlight this article is that Japan does still seem to recognize minor attraction, to a degree. “I felt the student had accepted me” (ie allowed his advances, making it mutual) seems a line almost impossible in a western context.