How can a teacher beat a child to death and not get in any trouble?  This is ridiculous.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-...826f1.html

Well, for one thing, the lead example of that article has to be handled carefully. For one thing - every case of repressed memory should be carefully examined to make certain that it's not in fact a false memory (http://faculty.washington.edu/eloft...ciam.htm).

Tie in the 'excessively outrageous' factor of the reported behavior and you are looking at a potential case of where the plaintiffs are trying to scare the defendants into a settlement with bad PR.

I'm not saying it didn't happen - especially given the prior example listed of Takashi Saito and what I was told about Japanese martial arts training attitudes from a man I knew who studied Karate in Japanese Dojos for many years - I'm just saying that the more abusive the claim, the more care needs to be taken in investigating.

But that's just a generality. A little closer to specifics there may be

Still, that was a well written article for it provides something missing from almost all journalism nowadays. Comparative information. Breaking it down into deaths per year and providing a comparison with other Judo associations pretty much nails the problem to Japan's door.