Captain of softball powerhouse high school commits suicide; family sues school corporation and former advisor Aichi

In 2022, a female student (18 years old at the time) who was the captain of the private Seiyou High School softball team in Seto City, Aichi Prefecture, committed suicide. On the 7th, the bereaved family filed a lawsuit in the Nagoya District Court against Nanzan Gakuen (Nagoya City), which runs the school, and the former advisor, alleging that the suicide was due to inappropriate guidance by a male advisor at the time and that the school had neglected the situation. They filed a lawsuit in the Nagoya District Court, demanding a total of approximately 47 million yen in damages, including compensation.

The school's softball team is a strong team that even participates in national tournaments. According to the complaint and other documents, since the female student became the team captain in July 2021, she has been particularly scolded as the team's captain for any mistakes made within the team. The former advisor once said things like ``If I wasn't the captain, I wouldn't be playing in the game'' in front of other club members. During practice on April 19, 2022, he reportedly said things like, ``I don't need you anymore. You're not cut out to be captain.'' The female student committed suicide on the same night.

In the lawsuit, the family claims, ``The fact that he made statements that were dismissive of his character and did not follow up afterward was unbecoming of a leader.'' The school is also accused of ``blankly entrusting instruction to a former advisor and leaving a situation where there was excessive reprimand.''

Third-party committee points out ``issues with the guidance system''

An investigation report compiled in 2024 by a third-party committee set up by the school in response to the incident found that while the female student was under pressure as captain, ``the strong verbal guidance may have increased her sense of inadequacy and self-blame.'' ``It is believed that this was an impulsive suicide attempt, and we cannot deny the possibility that the club's response was a contributing factor.''

The former advisor was said to have been teaching alone for more than 20 years, and the report stated, ``For a highly specialized and capable advisor to be teaching alone for many years, it is difficult for a third party to monitor the situation, and there is a risk that the guidance will become closed and self-righteous.''It also questioned whether there were issues with the way the guidance system was structured and its functionality.

In an interview with the Asahi Shimbun, the female student's mother (57) said, ``I want society to understand that abusive language is harassment, not guidance.I don't want something like this to happen again.''

Nanzan Gakuen said, ``We cannot comment because we have not received the complaint.''