An international student from Vietnam once deeply loved Japan before a terrifying incident changed his perspective entirely. He later told reporters he felt intensely afraid even getting close to the area surrounding his former school.
The disturbing 2021 incident prompted Japan's Immigration Services Agency to impose its first-ever revocation of a Japanese language school's accreditation. The agency utilized its harshest administrative penalty against the Nishinihon International Education Institute in Fukuoka.
However, the Fukuoka High Court stunningly overturned that landmark decision in March. After the agency declined to appeal by April 9, the school formally prevailed, marking a complete victory following a three-year legal dispute.
The high court acknowledged that a staff member physically restrained the Vietnamese student using a metal chain. Yet the judge ruled the disturbing act constituted a spontaneous action by an individual rather than organizational complicity.
A Dream Derailed By Hours Of Terror
The incident began when the 21-year-old student arrived, hoping to study automotive parts manufacturing. He discovered that the school's Japanese language curriculum abruptly shifted from basic syllabary instruction to general conversation — a leap most students could not follow, leaving many asleep in class.
When he requested a transfer due to ineffective instruction, several staff members surrounded himand demanded that he hand over his passport and residence card. After he refused, an employee retrieved a chain fitted with a metal lock from a bicycle parking area.
"At first, they tried to wrap the chain around my stomach. I resisted as hard as I could, and in the end, they used the chain to lock my belt to a teacher's belt," the victim later told reporters.
With no other instructors intervening, the humiliating physical restraint lasted for several terrifying hours. School staff continued monitoring him in his dormitory until he fled to a friend's home the following day.
Former Staff Allege Profit Over People
The school initially attempted to characterize the severe incident as merely a prank by a staff member. However, a former employee interviewed by Japanese media described the incident as being the result of deeper structural issues and a problematic management philosophy.
The former staff member said the school had significantly expanded enrollment in recent years, resulting in a chronic shortage of qualified instructors. Under a management philosophy that prioritized financial returns, school leadership reportedly issued strict directives to instructors: student transfers or withdrawals were not to be permitted under any circumstances. Instructors faced severe reprimands from management whenever a student expressed a desire to leave.
Critics have argued that this high-pressure environment indirectly led frontline staff to take extreme measures.
High Court Lowers Institutional Accountability
Faced with the evidence, the Immigration Services Agency acted in 2022, determining the incident constituted a human rights violation. The revocation of the school's accreditation forced approximately 630 enrolled international students to transfer to other institutions.
The school's operating entity filed an administrative lawsuit challenging the severe penalty. While a district court upheld the agency's ruling, the Fukuoka High Court eventually issued an interim stay allowing the school to admit students.
Presiding Judge Okada Takeshi stated the restraint was best characterized as a spontaneous action by a single employee. He reasoned the extreme sanction should be reserved only for cases of the most egregious organizational misconduct and found that administrative guidance aimed at prompting corrective action would have been sufficient.
Following the conclusion of the case, the school stated it felt "immense relief and joy," and pledged to continue improving the quality of education provided to students.
The central question raised by the incident, however, remains unresolved: when a staff member used a chain to physically restrain a foreign student in full view of colleagues, and a court ultimately determined this amounted to nothing more than an individual's impulsive act, critics have asked whether the legal threshold established by the ruling effectively lowers the standard of institutional accountability for Japanese language schools. （Related： Taiwan's Lai Government Has No Good Answer on Indian Migrant Workers ｜ Latest ）
