A building housing the offices of school operator Musashino Higashi Gakuen is seen in the Tokyo suburban city of Musashino, Jan. 30, 2025. (Mainichi/Buntaro Saito)
TOKYO — Musashino Higashi Gakuen, an educational corporation operating schools in Musashino, Tokyo, announced April 15 it had filed a lawsuit seeking some 725.72 million yen (about $5.1 million) in total damages from eight people, including a graduate who previously filed a criminal complaint against its chairperson.
Musashino Higashi Gakuen, chaired by Kenzo Matsumura, stated it plans to further increase the claimed amount in the lawsuit filed April 15 at the Tokyo District Court. The school also sent a notification about the lawsuit to current students’ guardians via a messaging app.
A document published on the school’s website under the joint names of school director Atsuhiko Katoh and administrative director Kunimasa Sanuki contains an “overview of the lawsuit,” explicitly listing the full names of the eight defendants, including the graduate, their guardian and a weekly magazine reporter who had published articles concerning the school. According to the document, the amount sought includes “33 million yen in damages for Mr. Matsumura.”
According to a source close to the school, the former student who was in their second year at Musashino Higashi Specialized High School was asked in January 2024 to submit a written apology for opposing Matsumura during a meeting. The student objected to this and filed a criminal complaint against the chairperson in June, accusing him of coercion. The school expelled the student in January 2025, but a settlement was later reached, allowing the student to return and graduate that March. Prosecutors dropped the case against Matsumura the same month due to insufficient evidence.
One of the individuals named as a defendant in the school’s lawsuit announcement said, “I’m shocked. I did nothing unjust, so I’m having a hard time understanding this.”
When contacted by the Mainichi Shimbun on the night of April 15, Musashino Higashi Gakuen’s administrative office said, “We were in meetings all day and are not aware of anything about the lawsuit. We had not heard anything beforehand about taking legal action.”
(Japanese original by Buntaro Saito, Tokyo City News Department)
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