Ohtawara City Council agreed to pay 60 million yen to student injured during judo training
A first-year student and judo club member of a junior high school in Tochigi Prefecture lost consciousness when he severely hit his head against a tatami mat after a senior student had thrown him using osoto-gari technique in August 2016. Ohtawara City Council unanimously agreed on October 30 to pay compensation of 60 million yen to the former student.
The first-year student was a beginner who joined the judo club 4 months before. He was thrown by a first-dan third year student when the senior student was practicing throwing techniques during judo club activity. The hospital diagnosed him with a diffuse axonal injury, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage and bilateral acute subdural hemorrhage. He regained consciousness about 10 days after hitting his head, but still has complications. Settlement negotiation with the city continued since his parents had claimed compensation 3 years ago.
Members of the school judo club, including the student who threw the victim, said that the victim’s judo level was lower than other first-year students. He was enrolled in a special needs classes and his parents had repeatedly told the judo club coach that he required more time to learn compared to other children.
When the coach received the information from the senior student that the first-year student had lost consciousness, the coach remained at his seat and told the senior student to bring the victim to where he was. He dragged the unconscious student to the coach’s seat.
The coach was aware that the third-year student had previously bullied younger members by using choking techniques, but nothing had been done to correct it. In 2016, in addition to this injury, the judo club had 4 cases of bone fracture and 5 cases of ligament injury.
A report by the city-established investigation committee, issued in September 2017, indicated that the direct cause of the injury was lack of training. The victim, a judo beginner, who was unable to properly break fall, was thrown by a senior student without receiving sufficient instruction.
After the city council approved the settlement, measures to prevent similar injuries were put in place, in addition to apologies given by executive members of the council.
Related sources:
The above article was written based on the following three media reports.
The Sankei News https://www.sankei.com/life/news/201030/lif2010300012-n1.html
The Mainichi https://mainichi.jp/articles/20201031/ddl/k09/040/090000c
The Shimotsuke https://www.shimotsuke.co.jp/articles/-/372547
and NHK News
