Infidelity Allegations Against Koshien Regular School Baseball Coach: Principal’s ‘Baffling Attempt to Cover It Up

Baseball Coach and Female Teacher’s Adulterous Relationship

The prestigious baseball club, a regular participant in the Koshien National Championships, is reeling.

The baseball team at Tokai University Sugo High School (Akiruno City, Tokyo) is a prestigious high school baseball team that has participated in the Koshien National Championships a total of nine times in spring and summer. Most recently, the team reached the quarterfinals of the spring 2011 National Invitational Tournament. Trouble at such a prestigious baseball club was reported in the September 12-19, 2012 issue of Asahi Geino (Asahi Entertainment Weekly).

According to the article, Hiroyasu Wakabayashi, 58, a social studies teacher and manager of the baseball team, is having an affair with a fellow female teacher. The relationship lasted two to three years, and was discovered when rumors spread that Wakabayashi, who lives with his students in the dormitory, went out at night with the female teacher.

More recently, the female teacher has even begun to interfere in the management of the baseball team. Such a situation is commonly known not only by the baseball team but also by many parents as well as within the school. Even so, the coach did not seem bothered by the warnings from the principal and board chairperson, and continued the affair at the time of the news report.

Incidentally, the director was sent to prosecutors in 2010 on charges of assaulting a student, but the charges were dropped in May 2011. He was dismissed from his post in January 2011, but resumed coaching in June 2011. The magazine asked the director and the school’s principal, Hidehito Minegishi, about the confirmation of the “adultery scandal” and the punishment, but the principal replied, “We have no information on the matter,

The principal replied, “We will not respond to any of your inquiries. Please understand.

However, the problem did not end there. However, the problem did not end here. FRIDAY received new information from a parent at the school.

The principal suddenly started talking about the article in a school broadcast.

According to a parent who provided information to this magazine, “a few days after the release of the weekly magazine, Principal Minegishi suddenly started talking about the article in a morning announcement to the students. The contents of the principal’s speech were as follows,

The principal said, “Recently, there has been an article in a weekly magazine slandering our baseball team, but please don’t pay any attention to it.

The school principal told the parents about the contents of the article. A parent reveals the specifics.

The weekly magazine was published on September 3. Although school officials, baseball team members, and parents of baseball team members were aware of the publication of the article, it was not widely reported on the Internet news, etc., so I think there were many students who were unaware of the report itself. In fact, I heard that most of the students had no idea what the article was about and were very confused.

Afterwards, students started talking about it, asking “What’s a weekly magazine article? and it spread throughout the school. In the first place, the mere report that the director was having an affair was a major problem, and I have no idea what the principal’s real intention was in announcing it to the entire school.

This magazine asked why such an announcement was made in the school. We asked Principal Minegishi about the true reason for such an announcement, but the vice principal who answered the phone said, “It’s not true,

The vice principal, who answered the phone, simply said, “I can’t answer any questions, including whether or not the broadcast was true.

I can’t answer any questions, including whether or not the broadcasts were true. We also contacted the affiliated school, Tokai University Educational Corporation, but they would not give us an interview because they are under different management (Tokai University Sugo High School is under the management of Sugo Gakuen Educational Corporation).

A former baseball team coach, who had participated in the Koshien National Championships in high school baseball, offered the following observations about the situation, using anonymity as an excuse.

The principal takes responsibility for the scandal.

A former baseball coach speculates on the inner workings of the game based on his own experience.

For example, if the coach is talking on the phone with someone at night, the students will listen in. So, the coach is always asking himself whether his words are not abusive or whether he is not physically punishing the students. In such a situation, if he was sneaking out of the dormitory at night, as the article says, I can only think that this supervisor was completely underestimating his students. Moreover, he is also a teacher. He is a disqualified human being before he is a supervisor.”

What is your opinion of the principal’s “sudden announcement” to the school?

The director is a well-known general who has participated in the Koshien National Championships many times. Therefore, it is possible that he had considerable power within the school. In order to protect the school management and the number of students, we cannot afford to lose such a person. I can understand why you would want to protect him. I can understand why they would want to protect him.

In any case, as a school, In any case, it is certain that the school was afraid that rumors would spread outside the school through the press. If you think about it in the context of an ordinary company, such a decision by the top management would never happen. The principal’s response was wrong, but it did not seem to me to be an unusual case for a strong sports school.”

Some parents have called for the resignation of the director. The Tokai University Sugo High School baseball team was eliminated in the first round of the 2024 Tokyo Metropolitan High School Baseball Tournament on October 5. The school must not forget that the biggest victims are the students.

FRIDAY Digital welcomes your information and tip-offs. Please send your information to the following information form or to the official X.

Information form: https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/tips
Official X: https://x.com/FRIDAY_twit