A building housing the offices of school operator Musashino Higashi Gakuen is seen in the suburban Tokyo city of Musashino. (Mainichi/Buntaro Saito)
TOKYO — Details of financial damage claimed by an educational corporation in Tokyo that sued 10 people including a former student for 725.72 million yen (about $5.04 million) in compensation have emerged, with the institution asserting that articles by a reporter who interviewed a graduate and others resulted in “lost profits” due to a decline in enrollment.
According to the lawsuit, since January 2024, the reporter for weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun published nine articles in its digital version based on interviews with parties including students of the specialized high school operated by educational corporation Musashino Higashi Gakuen. The articles alleged incidents such as corporation chairperson Kenzo Matsumura losing his temper during an internal meeting. The school group argues that these articles diverged from the facts and significantly damaged the social reputation of both the institution and Matsumura, constituting defamation.
The school operator claims that as a result of the articles, at least four prospective students withdrew from its elementary and junior high schools for the 2024 academic year, and that the number of new entrants for academic 2025 decreased by 105 compared to the previous year. The corporation calculated the damage based on the tuition fees these students hypothetically would have paid if they had enrolled, considering the past internal advancement of students. In the case of those who withdrew from its elementary school, for example, it assumed these students would have progressed to its junior high and high school, and thus estimated that the corporation suffered a loss of nearly 600 million yen (around $4.17 million).
Additionally, the lawsuit claims, “The fact that Matsumura is a well-known figure with social credibility and a good reputation is a factor that increases intangible damage,” and claimed 30 million yen (about $209,000) for emotional distress and other damage. Including another roughly 66 million yen (some $459,000) for legal fees, the total claimed amounted to 725.72 million yen. The school operator also plans to seek additional damages for further declines in enrollment from the 2026 academic year onward.
In its lawsuit, the corporation sued 10 people in total: the weekly magazine reporter, the former student and eight parents. The parents were included as defendants for allegedly spreading information about Matsumura’s language and behavior online and via flyers.
One of the parents named as a defendant commented, “I have been active, thinking the institution would end up deviating from its initial philosophy. If we are sued for that, it will become difficult to speak out.”
The graduate, who previously filed a criminal complaint against the chairperson, was expelled in January 2025, while in the third year at the specialized high school. The student sought a provisional injunction to preserve their status in a filing with the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court, but after that the two sides reached a settlement, and the student returned to study at the school and graduated in March.
In April, the educational corporation announced the lawsuit on its website, listing the real names of eight of the 10 defendants, including the former student.
(Japanese original by Buntaro Saito, Tokyo City News Department)
AloJapan.com