NAGOYA — Authorities in Nagoya will investigate about 12,000 teachers across all municipal schools after the arrest of a local elementary school teacher suspected of secretly photographing girls and sharing the images in a social media group.
Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa announced Monday that an independent panel of experts will be established by the end of July to examine whether similar misconduct exists among other teachers.
“Citizens and the public are suspicious [of whether there are more teachers involved in such acts],” Hirosawa said at a press conference.
The investigation follows the arrest of a male teacher from Nagoya and another from Yokohama. Both are accused of sharing indecent images and videos, including photos of girls’ underwear, in an online chat group believed to consist mainly of teachers.
The scandal surfaced after police examined the phone of Shota Suito, 34, a Nagoya municipal elementary school teacher, who has been indicted for throwing semen on a 15-year-old girl’s backpack in January and later smearing semen on a student’s musical instrument. Suito admitted to the charges and to being part of the chat group. Nagoya’s board of education dismissed him on Monday.
Meanwhile, Japan is moving to strengthen laws aimed at preventing sexual violence against children. A draft interim report approved Monday by an expert panel of the Children and Families Agency highlights the use of security cameras as an effective measure to deter sexual crimes like secret photography.
The new law, set to take effect in December 2026, will also establish a system for checking sex crime records for those seeking jobs involving contact with children and require schools and childcare facilities to implement protective measures.
Officials emphasize the need for balancing security measures with privacy, calling for discussions with children, parents, and businesses to set clear rules for camera usage in schools.
