Report alleges physical, sexual abuse faced by 800 Japanese child athletes

A human rights group has released a scathing report on the violence, verbal and sexual abuse experienced by young athletes in Japanese schools and sports clubs, some of which have led to children becoming permanently injured, dying or taking their own lives.

The report issued by Human Rights Watch, titled "I was hit so many times I can't count: Abuse of child athletes in Japan", calls on the nation's sporting authorities to intervene to prevent future tragedies.

More than 800 former child athletes, including a number vying for spots on Japan's Olympic and Paralympic teams, were interviewed for the 67-page survey, which looked at 50 sports and covered 45 of the nation's 47 prefectures.

The authors cited numerous cases of corporal punishment " known as taibatsu " by coaches in schools and sporting federations.

Male and female athletes reported being punched in the face, kicked, beaten with baseball bats or kendo sticks, being deprived of water, choked, whipped and being sexually abused or harassed.

"I am tired of being beaten. I am tired of crying. That's why I don't want to be in this world any more," wrote a 17-year-old female javelin thrower in the suicide note she left in the early 1980s, according to the report.

A basketball player said one of his high school coaches punched a player so hard that he broke his nose. "At practice games, I saw a coach punch a player, drag students around, throw hot coffee in players' faces," he said. "This kind of intimidating coaching style happens so often in any high school."

The report detailed coaches doing things like forcing injured athletes to continue training, denying them water, forcing teammates to physically assault those perceived as slacking and making an example of others by shaving their heads.

At least five young athletes reported being the target of sexual assault or harassment by senior members of the team or coaches.

While child abuse is illegal in Japan, the problem has not been resolved, Human Rights Watch said in its report. Photo: Kyodo

One female swimmer said she was traumatised by the "treatment" that she underwent for a shoulder injury, which the coach insisted that she be completely naked for, according to the report.

While child abuse is illegal in Japan, the problem has not been resolved, the report said, pointing out that between January 12 and June 12 of this year, at least 39 cases of abuse against child athletes were reported across Japan.

It also accuses the Japanese government of failing to keep comprehensive data on the prevalence of such cases. It also points out that the problem has been allowed to persist because perpetrators of abuse are "rarely held accountable".

"Sports federations in Japan are allowed to set up their own systems to track abuse and abusers " which many simply choose not to do," said Kanae Doi, director of the Japan office of Human Rights Watch in a statement. "This exposes children to unacceptable risks, and leaves parents and athletes with few options to file complaints or seek remedies against powerful abusers."

The report details a series of recommendations for the Japanese government, the Japan Sports Agency, the ministry of education and others, including that new legislation be enacted to protect children from abuse in the sporting arena, to act on reports of abuse and to follow through with criminal prosecutions of anyone found to have abused young athletes under their care.

The Post contacted the agencies cited in the report for a response but had received no reply as of Tuesday evening.

Pupils walk to school in Osaka. File photo: Kyodo News via AP

Kyle Cleveland, a professor of Japanese culture at the Tokyo campus of Temple University, said a culture of bullying permeated every level of Japanese society and would be difficult to address.

"It runs deep in Japan," Cleveland said. "It starts in schools and goes through university and into the workplace and is designed to enforce conformity and deference in a vertical hierarchy.

"That means it is baked into the whole system, from start to finish, and that is what will make it so hard to change," he said. "The most tragic thing is that the protocols to stop this very thing happening are all in place already, they are just never enforced."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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