University disbands boxing team after arrest of two members for robbery

Friday 19th June, 09:20 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 24 Total Comments Show All

JEC81 at 04:03 PM JST - 19th June

Pretty normal. This is the Japanese way. Live with it.
GW at 04:37 PM JST - 19th June

Too bad this stupid idea of group punishment only applies to sports & crappy "tarento", if the same applied to thew LDP we cud have been done with those thieving SOBs decades ago!
jonnyboy at 04:49 PM JST - 19th June

Too bad this stupid idea of group punishment only applies to sports & crappy "tarento", if the same applied to thew LDP we cud have been done with those thieving SOBs decades ago!

none of japan's social rules apply to those in suitably high positions of power. it's only the average joes to have to bow, stoop and defer to authority. those at the top of the heap do just as they please. the government is a good example, another one the head of japan post who promised to punish himself for the mistakes he'd made... japan has a socialist system with none of the advantages (ie. equality) and all of the disadvantages (ie. authoritarianism)
realist at 04:51 PM JST - 19th June

Bad news from "Kinki" university - methinks there are a lot of "kinki" universities in this country!!!!
jonnyboy at 04:55 PM JST - 19th June

excellent article about the flaws in the application of the "group responsibility" doctrine in the japan times this week

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20090616zg.html
medievaltimes at 06:00 PM JST - 19th June

Becuase this is Japan and that's the way things are done here. Just this week, my son's class missed a second scheduled computer lesson because the whole class had to discuss disruptive behavior caused by a small minority. It's ironic that the second class was scheduled as a substitute for the first one that was canceled for exactly the same reason.

In Japan, there is a strategy of punishing the whole group for the sins of the minority, in the hope that the group dynamic will have some effect. Everything here works in groups; you are part of the group the group is part of you. This helps Japan to create and maintain products/processes, etc; at worst, it promotes bullying. The leader punishes the group and the group punishes the miscreant.

Hmmm. Interesting approach.

But it seems to me that this approach isn't very logical, practical or effective at producing the desired result (preventing unviversity students from robbing people).

What a depressing way to go thru life...knowing that someone you may not even be friends with could easily destroy something you worked so hard for becuase of something THEY did.
kirakira25 at 07:25 PM JST - 19th June

@kingsaint: don't you know sarcasm when you read it?! Who's the moron??!
jonnyboy at 08:34 PM JST - 19th June

"group discipline" is a great way for people in positions of authority to do absolutely nothing to help solve a problem and instead getting the subordinates to watch over each other. it seems like it rather undermines the point of having superiors they do nothing to oversee problem solving, doesn't it
Beerplease at 08:40 PM JST - 19th June

You gotta love Japan. One university I worked at expelled for parking their car on in a campus parking lot. But the same university only reprimanded another student for breaking and entering the dorm rooms of other students and stealing money.
Beerplease at 08:41 PM JST - 19th June

expelled a student
sharky1 at 08:53 PM JST - 19th June

I can see disbanding the team if they were the only two on the team, but mass punishment itself is a violation of Japanese law. I think we should be reading a new story about the university officials being arrested soon.
KingSaint at 10:28 PM JST - 19th June

@kirakira25: Sorry if i couldn't tell "I think the Kinki University president should resign, since he allowed the boxing team to exist in the first place." was sarcasm or stupidity, but if that is your idea of sarcasm, you might want to work on it.
smithinjapan at 11:40 PM JST - 19th June

Let the poor thieves come back and stay in a residence with the other disbanded team members. Give said team members extra socks and heavy bars of soap, along with some rope and gags... you know, just as supplies and all.
azzassa at 06:24 AM JST - 20th June

Like said previously, a clear result and assumable goal of group punishment is ostracism and bullying by peers.

@KingSaint I agree with kirakira25, and soldave, a completely different poster of the sarcastic remark. I think us 3 would agree that it is you that doesn't understand sarcasm... Oh wait, so I guess group-bullying deviant agitators has some uses after all!
WMD at 05:20 PM JST - 20th June

Boxing is hardly a team sport is it?? Ha ha ha you don't see tag boxing teams with 2 or 3 in the ring at the same time. Crazy to scrap the club beacuse of 2 morons. Boxing is a great sport and self defence and ther should be more clubs not less.