Kiryu Daiichi's baseball manager resigns over groping incident

Thursday 14th August, 05:01 PM JST

MAEBASHI —

The manager of the Kiryu Daiichi Senior High School baseball team resigned Thursday to take responsibility for a groping incident involving one of the team member, who was arrested. ‘‘I’m very sorry for the victim. I feel my responsibility is grave,’’ Haruo Fukuda, manager of the Gunma Prefecture high school baseball team, said at a news conference. The team was allowed to participate in the ongoing national championship following the incident. Noboru Takahashi, the school’s headmaster, also offered his resignation, according to the school.

Kiryu Daiichi took part in the national tournament at the Koshien Stadium near Osaka despite the incident, after the nation’s high school baseball body authorized it to do so. Traditionally, high school baseball teams withdraw from competitions as a collective responsibility if any of their members are involved in immoral behavior. The manager’s resignation follows the arrest on July 31 of a second-year high school student on suspicion of groping a female high school student on the street, when she was on her way home. His name is withheld because he is a minor. Kiryu Daiichi lost to Kanazawa of Ishikawa Prefecture 1-6 in the first round of the tournament last Thursday.

Kyodo

4 Comments

outofmydepth at 07:10 PM JST - 14th August

i have heard that this was not the first incident so i suspect that someone knew what was going on. if that is the case then resignation is appropriate. but on the whole, as done in japan, i am not sure if resignation is an answer esp. if it is just for show. and don`t they still get to keep their pensions, etc. if they resign?
medievaltimes at 12:25 AM JST - 15th August

Hold on a minute. Maybe I am reading this wrong but this is what I see.

The groping took place before the baseball games began. Why didnt the dude resign before any games were played?

Also, whats with this "I feel my responsibility is grave" garbage? The manager is responsible for what happens while that player is on the field, no? How in the heck is the manager responsible for something that happens away from the field? If you apply that logic (I know this is Japan) to other jobs, managers would be resigning left and right.

Could we please quit with this childish "saving face" and "shame culture" mentality already? Its 2008.
lipscombe at 04:05 AM JST - 15th August

Could we please quit with this childish "saving face" and "shame culture" mentality already? Its 2008.

in some places it is still medievaltimes
seansezso at 01:29 PM JST - 15th August

So was the manager supposed to put the player's hands and tackle in a locked box between matches and practices??? Keep them on a leash or something? Have anti-groping training and make sure its hit home?

I am not feeling this grave responsibility. This cultural practice might be effective in the sense that it prevents bad behaviour of the individual, because the individual knows others will be punished too, and rethink his or her plans. But it is also wildly unfair. I would be bitter if I were the manager, watching my work and sweat go down the toilet for one player's alleged misbehaviour that I could not possibly control.