Japanese Teacher Terrorizes and Tortures Nine Year Old for Having American Great Grandfather

The Japan Times Online ^ | 09 OCT 03 | KYODO

[Mortimer Snavely]

Lawyers aid schoolboy harassed over American heritage

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) More than 500 lawyers have joined hands with a 9-year-old boy in a lawsuit filed Wednesday with the Fukuoka District Court demanding 13 million yen from his school and a teacher who repeatedly ordered the child to kill himself.

The boy, a fourth-grader who attends a municipal school in Fukuoka's Nishi Ward, suffers posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of his teacher's actions, according to the lawsuit.

In an effort to show solidarity with the pupil and to make him feel that he is not isolated, 503 lawyers from around the country have put their names to the lawsuit. It is rare for such a large number of lawyers to be involved in one case.

According to the suit, between May and June this year the 46-year-old male teacher repeatedly told the boy, whose great-grandfather is an American, to commit suicide, saying such things as: "Your blood is filthy, jump from your condominium and die," and "Haven't you died yet? Make sure you do today." The teacher has since been suspended from work.

Furthermore, the teacher injured him on several occasions by making the boy choose from five forms of punishment, when it came time to go home. In one such punishment, "Pinnochio," the boy's nose was pinched so hard that it bled, the lawsuit said.

Lawyers for the boy, who suffers convulsions and nausea and has said he wants to "change his blood" and that he does not deserve to live, made an appeal to colleagues nationwide asking for support.

The Japan Times: Oct. 9, 2003
(C) All rights reserved

[Mortimer Snavely]

I just heard about this. There's no remedy over there for this kind of thing, by the way. The bureaucrats respond only late in the day, at the last possible moment, when angy outsiders resort to force.

Question: Isn't the kid an American citizen by birth?

[Mortimer Snavely]

ka-PING!!

[Mortimer Snavely]

"angy" = "angry"

[sully777]

What a world! I just noticed that Japan is on a slow, steady march to rearm itself.

[Timesink]

Question: Isn't the kid an American citizen by birth?

Not if only his great grandfather was American. One of his actual parents would have to be as well.

[sourcery]

The teacher would be right at home at any American university--where old white males are seen as evil incarnate.

[AnnaZ]

Ping.

[The Red Zone]

According to the suit, between May and June this year the 46-year-old male teacher repeatedly told the boy, whose great-grandfather is an American, to commit suicide, saying such things as: "Your blood is filthy, jump from your condominium and die," and "Haven't you died yet? Make sure you do today." The teacher has since been suspended from work.

In Japanese culture this is 10x worse than it would be in American. Small nuances of dishonor can provoke great shame. Imagine abuse like this.

[TaMoDee]

Hey, The last time I was in Japan 13M Yen was about 23 cents.

(Of course that was a couple of generations ago.)

[4MORE-YEARS]

The teacher will be dealt with as the story has hit national press and has caused Japan "National Shame". On the other hand, there are thousands of students of Korean and Chinese heritage who get routinely get hassled by teachers and bullied by other students and do not get any press coverage and offers of help from 500 lawyers. Japan is a deeply racist society and there is no internal incentive to change anything unless the "shame" element is brought into play. BTW, the current governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, is the guy who wrote "The Japan that can say No" in the 80's (which supported a stronger and more nationalistic Japan which could free itself from the control of America by threatening to sell its military grade technology to the Soviet Union). Ishihara routinely espoused the superiority of the Japanese race and even made comments regarding 'The Bullying Of Asia By The Merciless American Jewish Trio' (he is referring to Albright, Rubin and Soros). By all accounts, he is still one of the most popular politicians in Japan.

[GeronL]

sounds like the direction our Public Schools are headed

[Finalapproach29er]

It ain't culture- it's bigotry.

[america-rules]

There are nutjobs in every country so don't take this as Japans normal routine.

I have a son who went to a Japanese school until 7th grade and now goes to an American college and he never had one problem because his blood was 50% non-pure !

My kid doesn't know what he has because the school he goes to has a couple hundred Japanese girls and he speaks and writs Japanese like a native :)

[Consort]

13 million ¥ = $118,338.84 (I think.)

[Consort]

Could this be a "Shinto: Religion of Peace" thread?

[sushiman]

ping for later

[GeronL]

I have a son who went to a Japanese school until 7th grade and now goes to an American college and he never had one problem because his blood was 50% non-pure !

Which 50% is 'non-pure'?

[HangFire]

Just goes to show that jerks are everywhere:-(

[pbmaltzman]

So, I guess this is one more example that goes to show that "racism" and "xenophobia" aren't only the white man's problems, eh?