Biwako Seikei Sport College “Power Harassment Cover-Up Allegation” Parties Involved in the Inexplicable Decision to Appoint “Chairperson of the National Sporting Goods Ceremony Committee

Biwako Seikei Sport College (Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture) has produced many professional athletes since its opening in 2003, including more than 30 J-League players and Ai Aoki, 39, who represented Japan in synchronized swimming at the Beijing Olympics.

The university’s faculty members also have a strong influence on the sports world, with former president Masaaki Okawa (66) having served as a director of the J-League, then as chairman of the B-League, and now as chairman of the V-League.

On September 9 this month, about 50 people, including members of the soccer team, went missing during a kayaking “training” session on Lake Biwa, and the disappearance of some of them, although only temporarily, caused a great commotion.

What happened to a prestigious sports school? ……

A certain allegation originating from such a prestigious sports school is now causing controversy in the prefecture. Let’s listen to the commentary of a local media source.

A teacher at the school, Mr. X, is suspected of power-harassing his students. Mr. X resigned this spring, and the truth is unknown, but there are rumors that he may have been disciplined and dismissed for power harassment. However, Mr. X was the chairman of the ceremony committee for a prefecture-wide sporting event called “Watashiga Shining National Sports and Disability Sports,” which is scheduled to be held in 2013. Since the event was of high public interest, there were skeptical voices within the government asking, “Is it right to appoint a person who was suspected of power harassment to a key position?

FRIDAY Digital was provided with several sources to find out if the allegations whispered throughout the prefecture are true. An official at the school told FRIDAY Digital, “Mr. X’s power harassment has long been viewed as a problem within the school.

The staff had long heard that Mr. X was power-harassing certain teachers and insidiously harassing some students ……. Some students suffered from mental illnesses as a result of the power harassment, and their parents protested to the university.”

SENSITIVE INFORMATION.”

Whether there was or was not power harassment, Mr. X left the school, according to the report, without being sure. A former faculty member at the school testified, “Mr. X was president of the university until the end of June this year.

Mr. Okawa, who served as president until the end of June of this year, suddenly announced at an emergency faculty meeting in April that Mr. X had been disciplined and dismissed as a result of the harassment incident. However, the details were ‘not to be disclosed even internally. After that, Mr. X’s name quietly disappeared from the university’s website. Some faculty members said, ‘If you dismissed him on disciplinary grounds, you should make it public,’ but the university did not seem to care.

When FRIDAY Digital contacted the public relations manager of Biwako Seikei Sport University to confirm the facts, he neither denied nor affirmed the disciplinary dismissal of Mr. X. He simply replied , “We cannot answer this question because it involves personnel matters.

We then contacted Osaka Seikei Gakuen, which manages the university, about the following questions: “Is the power harassment by Mr. X true?

The Human Resources Division responded as follows: “With regard to your questions, we believe that sensitive information about Mr. X (his real name in the response) is behind them, and as a result of comprehensive consideration, we have decided that the University should not respond (including publicly announcing it). Hence, we have been and will continue to be consistent in our response that we cannot answer questions regarding personnel matters.”

From a moral standpoint, is it right to entrust Mr. X with the chairmanship of the Ceremony Committee? When we asked the “Watashiga Shiga Shining National Sports and Disability Sports Executive Committee” for the Shiga prefectural government’s opinion, the person in charge revealed the situation as follows: “The committee member in question was appointed on July 31, and he was not a member of the committee.

The committee member in question has already voluntarily resigned as of July 31. We do not know the reason for his resignation, but we were not aware of any harassment or disciplinary action taken by the university. Since there was no problem with his activities as a committee member, we did not ask him about the university’s disciplinary action, nor did he explain it to us himself.

Mr. X has already resigned as a prefectural SPO committee member. On the other hand, it is true that Mr. X had held the important position of chairman of the ceremony committee for a major event for some time, partly because the university did not disclose his disciplinary action.

Criticism of the “Don’t-Do-It-Against-Me Principle

University governance expert Hiromichi Yoshitake, professor emeritus at the University of Tsukuba and president of Tokyo Kasei Gakuin University Educational Corporation, questions the school’s handling of the situation.

If it is true that the university has taken disciplinary action, it should make public the facts and disposition of general harassment cases,” he said. This is necessary from the perspective of preventing recurrence as well as informing people inside and outside the school about the school’s attitude and discipline. Universities are public educational institutions, and private universities also receive subsidies from the government and are exempt from taxation except for profit-making projects. In addition, it is desirable that both good and bad facts be made public as much as possible to help students and parents choose a school.

While we must avoid publication in a manner that identifies individuals, including their names, out of consideration for the rights of those who have been punished, it is necessary to communicate the facts. This may have resulted in the provision of information to the prefecture. Universities are built on the support of the community and society. From that point of view, I hope the university will show its attitude and discipline as an institution of public education.”

We also contacted Mr. X at home to confirm the fact that the disciplinary dismissal action had been taken against him, but he did not respond, only forwarding our calls to his cell phone. A former teacher sighed.

I am angry at the university’s lack of social responsibility as an institution of public education and, above all, its lack of consideration for the victims of power harassment. At the very least, it should have been made clear whether or not disciplinary dismissal action was taken. I think this incident will make the school’s cover-up widely known.”

In these days when even private companies are required to publicize scandals and take prompt action, the “reticence” of Biwako Seikei Sport University, a public organization, is attracting intense scrutiny.