Newspaper articles of judo injuries resulting in death: 1984 – 2010 [41]
First year junior high school student dies after judo club teacher uses violence
The Asahi Shimbun
August 3, 2005
An emergency call (119) was made by a judo club teacher (25) of Mikage Junior High School that a student had collapsed in the bathroom of a hotel in Awaji, Hyogo prefecture on Aug. 2 at around 10:35 pm. The after-school judo club was staying at the hotel during a summer camp. When the ambulance arrived, Yuki Nagahara, a first year student, was suffering convulsions. He was taken to hospital but died 3 hours later. According to the investigation by Tsunanishi Police, two club teachers took Yuki to the lobby of the hotel after dinner between 9:00 and 10:00 pm, and the head teacher (29) of the club made him formally kneel down on the floor. The teacher slapped his face and kicked his chest and abdomen because he was not taking the practice seriously. Shortly after Yuki collapsed while taking a bath. The police are investigating the teacher on suspicion of inflicting bodily injury resulting in death.
Yuki seemed unwell in the afternoon of Aug. 2 and he fell asleep during practice at the martial arts training hall in Awaji city. An autopsy showed that he died of acute heart failure due to heat stroke or due to organ damage as a result of hyperthermia.
Yuki was 170 cm tall and weighed 120 kg; he had won the sumo championship at the Kobe City Inter-Junior High School Athletics Competition.
Kobe District Court order compensation against Kobe city; judo club member died from heat stroke during summer camp
The Asahi Shimbun
July 26, 2007
Yuki Nagahara (13 at the time), a first year student of Mikage Junior High School in Kobe, died during a judo club summer camp in Aug. 2005. The Kobe Local Public Prosecutors Office filed a summary indictment against the former judo club head teacher (31) and the assistant head teacher (27) on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.
The Kobe District Court ruled the former judo club head teacher to pay 500,000 yen and the former judo club assistant head teacher to pay 300,000 yen in compensation to the parent.
Kobe District Court support professional negligence of Kobe city in death of junior high school student during summer judo camp; order compensation payment
The Asahi Shimbun
May 20, 2010
The Kobe District Court ruled on charges filed against the city by the mother of Yuki Nagahara (13 at the time), a first year student of Mikage Junior High School, who died from heat stroke 5 years ago at the after-school judo club summer camp. She sought compensation of 52.2 million yen against the city which hired the teacher who failed to respond appropriately to her son. The chief judge ruled the city pay approximately 18 million 660 thousand yen for neglecting duty of care in an educational activity. The case indicated that Yuki attended the judo club summer camp in Awaji city of Hyogo Prefecture on Aug. 2, 2005. During practice he informed the former head teacher and the former assistant head teacher of the club that he was feeling sick, as if he had influenza, and that he wanted to drink water; however, he was told to continue training. He lost consciousness after the practice and died early the next day. “He had the symptoms of heat stroke, however the teachers failed to conduct their duty of care in telling him to stop training,” stated the chief judge. The responsibilities of the school principal and the head of the city board of education, which were included in the plaintiff’s complaint, were not discussed in the ruling. The legal counsel for the plaintiff stated, “We regret that the court did not rule against the responsibility of the principal and the city board of education, because it would be important in preventing similar injuries in the future.”
