１ vs. ３。
A post alleging that a male student with a mild disability was subjected to a group assault by three 14-year-old classmates at a junior high school in Ehime Prefecture has been circulating on X. Some have suggested that the school might be Matsuyama Municipal Kita Junior High School. He’s got a solid build, though—he might actually stand a chance of winning, don’t you think?
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Designation of a “Serious Incident”: The Difference Between Matsuyama and Okinawa
In the case in Ehime, the 14-year-old alleged perpetrator is classified under Japan’s Juvenile Act as a “juvenile offender” (hanzai shōnen). Unlike children aged 13 or younger—who are categorized as “juveniles who have committed an act prohibited by law” (shoku-hō shōnen)—a 14-year-old has reached an age where they may be subject to formal criminal proceedings. While cases involving younger children typically result in protective measures—such as temporary custody by a child consultation center, placement in a child self-reliance support facility, or probation—the legal approach shifts once a child reaches the age of 14. Furthermore, the Act on the Promotion of Measures to Prevent Bullying defines situations involving suspected serious harm to a person’s physical or mental well-being, or to their property, as “serious incidents.” Under this law, schools and the entities that establish them are required to form an investigative body to establish the facts of such cases.
In December 2025, the Matsuyama City Board of Education designated a separate bullying case at a local elementary school as a “serious incident,” releasing a report that noted a “need for improvement” in how the school handled the situation. In contrast, in January 2017, a video surfaced showing a student at a junior high school in central Okinawa being assaulted by classmates; at the time, the local board of education stated that they did not “view it as bullying.” These past examples illustrate that even when such incidents—including those captured on video—come to light, there is no uniform standard for whether schools will classify them as “serious incidents.”
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