Yokohama school teacher arrested for requesting pictures of young boy naked

Tuesday 23rd June, 01:04 PM JST

YOKOHAMA —

A 27-year-old elementary school teacher in Yokohama City was arrested Monday for asking a 13-year-old boy to send pictures of himself naked, police said.

Akio Kazuno, who was a teacher at Eda Higashi Dai-ichi Elementary School, reportedly met the boy at a school volunteer event last year, and sent the boy messages on his cell phone pretending he was a junior high school girl who wanted to be friends. Kazuno started requesting pictures of the boy posing naked once they became “friends,” and used threats such as saying that he would forward the pictures to the boy’s friends if the boy did not comply.

According to police, Kazuno has admitted that he “wanted pictures of young boys.”

News reports

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Latest 15 of 32 Total Comments Show All

hakujinsensei at 07:25 PM JST - 23rd June

sometimes I am left practically speechless from these posts.

and amorpheus, hanging around nude and getting blow jobs in the park will ease sexual tensions so people will not pursue underage sex?

Now, I am all for sex in the park, I will see if I can get my girlfriend worked up for it by our date on thursday. But I dont think that even if she puts out under the trees that it will change my sexual proclivities ; )

The guy has inappropriate sexual desires and getting laid in the park, seeing tits by the beach, as opposed to getting it in the love hotel and eliminating sushi from his diet will bring no change.

Major counseling is in order here. Of course it is beyond time but there had to be some problems in his upbringing as well. For god sakes didnt he have a lego set? It is clear which pieces go together. Like size go together and the pegs go in the holes... no matter how much you want it to be unnatural coupling just does not produce viable works ; )

There should definitely be some more competent psychological screening to keep these guys out of the classroom.
jonnyboy at 07:30 PM JST - 23rd June

actually, japan was traditionally very open about sexuality, you might like to read up on the original version of Momotaro. it was when they came up against the uptight west (well, uptight americans...) that things started to get confused
hakujinsensei at 07:51 PM JST - 23rd June

Right on jonnyboy, Japan was certainly liberated sexually before Xavier landed and brought his repressive religion with him.....homosexuality, child sex, unwanted babies were just tossed in the river.... oh wait, isn't that the problem? I guess all that repressiveness did nothing to stave the trend. Just a little too liberated for those of us that have children whom we would like to not be exposed to sexual predators?

I think what should be focused on here is parenting. Preventing whack jobs like this teacher in the first place and taking responsibility to provide enough supervision for junior high boys to keep them out of these kind of unsavory situations.
kirakira25 at 08:20 PM JST - 23rd June

Oh God, another day another perverted elementary school teacher.

And yes - I agree that it does happen elsewhere - but unlike Japan, the UK does criminal checks on all teachers (which doesn't prevent the problem but helps to minimise it) and if this was the UK - this guy would be sacked, put on the sexual offences register, receive appropriate treatment and counselling adn would certainly never be allowed to work with children again.

Can anyone hear honestly say hand on heart that this is going to be the likely outcome in this case???? I doubt it.
timorborder at 09:10 PM JST - 23rd June

and amorpheus, hanging around nude and getting blow jobs in the park will ease sexual tensions so people will not pursue underage sex?

That is one of the best comebacks I have read in a long time. Good on you son. As you point out, sexual permissiveness is wider society has nothing to do with the instance of such nutjobs.
Pukey2 at 09:18 PM JST - 23rd June

LoveUSA:

it is a disease of the brain. Some men want to be women and dress like women.

Are you suggesting that all paedophiles are targetting boys only? You really do need to open your eyes and read the news more. But then again, relating paedophilia with homosexuality would suit your bible-bashing, ultra-conservative agenda.
Sarge at 09:26 PM JST - 23rd June

Nutter!
BeaverCleaver at 09:32 PM JST - 23rd June

hakujinsensei "Just a little too liberated for those of us that have children whom we would like to not be exposed to sexual predators?"

If you do not like the way Japan does things, take you kids and get. Japan takes a gentler approach. Japan gets gentler results. If you favor a hard line, its just a plane ride away. Bye.
smithinjapan at 10:01 PM JST - 23rd June

amorpheus: I think you got lost somewhere along the way if you think sexual repression is the reason for such behaviour. First and foremost, johnnyboy is on the ball by saying that Japan is more sexually open in a number of ways than other countries. Sure, they may not openly kiss in parks, hold hands all that much, or have nude beaches, but that's not the reason why pedophilia exists at all. It's a mental illness that won't be cured if a person sees a topless female on a beach tour in Australia or something.

This person is sick, and while I was poking fun at some nationalistic posters that think Japan is not lagging in terms of tackling the issue of child-pornography, in this case in all seriousness I don't think it's as much a societal issue as it is an issue of sickness of the individual. True, Japanese society may encourage it more with the constant rape manga/porn, the children's uniform and 'cuteness' fetishes that exist openly and all over, and perhaps that's why the man felt so emboldened as to threaten the boy, but the sickness isn't limited to borders in this case.

BeaverCleaver: "If you do not like the way Japan does things, take you kids and get. Japan takes a gentler approach. Japan gets gentler results. If you favor a hard line, its just a plane ride away. Bye."

Ah, the 'if you don't like the fact that Japanese can legally posses a picture of your child naked to pleasure themselves to get out' crowd. Do people like you actually have anything valuable to contribute to the conversation, or do you just insist on undermining those who defend the Japanese system by making the 'pro-Japan' side look foolish?
norinrad21 at 01:57 AM JST - 24th June

He's going to apologize and a few years from now he will be caught again doing the same thing in some small town.
WMD at 06:53 AM JST - 24th June

BeaverCleaver:

"If you do not like the way Japan does things, take you kids and get. Japan takes a gentler approach. Japan gets gentler results. If you favor a hard line, its just a plane ride away. Bye."

Stupid as to be expected from a fresh off the boat but highly amusing!
amerijap at 06:58 AM JST - 24th June

The legal system in Japan has traditionally been lenient to sex offenders compared to western counterparts, possibly because most cases are regarded as individual offense-- rather than the crimes organized by a drug cartel, mobsters, or human traffickers. I agree that child porn and pedophilia are usually contextualized as the local crimes committed by a psycho or a pervert. Japanese people don't encounter as many cases of sexual crimes(molesting/sexual assault/child porn)as in the US or other foreign country where we are likely to see such crimes almost everyday. I wouldn't say Japan is lagging behind the US or other country in tackling these crimes. But people's rationality and moral values on humanity and sexuality are being tested, as recent news of child porn and pedophilia are now gaining the Japanese public attention.
kirakira25 at 06:03 PM JST - 25th June

Japanese people don't encounter as many cases of sexual crimes(molesting/sexual assault/child porn)as in the US or other foreign country where we are likely to see such crimes almost everyday.

First of all, do you think that's because they are happening less here or because they are not being reported as much here? Secondly we ARE seeing them here almost every day. And this in a population less than half that of the US.

I wouldn't say Japan is lagging behind the US or other country in tackling these crimes

You're kidding, right??!

But people's rationality and moral values on humanity and sexuality are being tested, as recent news of child porn and pedophilia are now gaining the Japanese public attention

OK, then we are basically screwed. Why do you suppose so many of those in top government voted against possession of child pornography being made illegal???

.
amerijap at 02:53 AM JST - 26th June

First of all, do you think that's because they are happening less here or because they are not being reported as much here? Secondly we ARE seeing them here almost every day. And this in a population less than half that of the US.

Possibly, due to the media's representation(or their agenda setting, I would say) and partly due to the size of county. Actually, Japan has a relatively large population for its country size - 128 million compared to 180 million in the US.

You're kidding, right??!

Your guess is as good as mine. I need more pieces of evidence and information if I pass my judgment upon Japan's policy to crack down on child porn and prostitutions.

Why do you suppose so many of those in top government voted against possession of child pornography being made illegal???

Hello, what sort of assumption is that? I didn't mention anything about the government officials' stance on child pornography or any related crime. It has nothing to do with politician's motion.
BAYANI98 at 03:40 AM JST - 27th June

*** But people's rationality and moral values on humanity and sexuality are being tested, as recent news of child porn and pedophilia are now gaining the Japanese public attention.*

I've been browsing on this site since the very beginning , and that seems to be over 10 years ago at the turn of the last century . And even then , news stories were ALREADY common. The Japanese public have always known about this. They just take it for granted, and if they act surprised, it's all just a show for the foreign media. Seriously, just read the Tale of Genji.

Stupid as to be expected from a fresh off the boat but highly amusing!

My my, we are rather bitter now are we?

OK, then we are basically screwed. Why do you suppose so many of those in top government voted against possession of child pornography being made illegal???

Sigh, has no one here ever heard of Tatame and Honne? Officially prostitution is banned, but actually the red light district is the number one adult recreational pasttime in this country...