SNA (Tokyo) — On March 27, 2023, the Tokyo District Court handed down a mixed ruling in the latest case of what is called academic harassment, or akahara. Courts increasingly handle such cases, and this one caused quite a stir in the public mind since the defendant was none other than celebrated art critic Michio Hayashi.

The plaintiff was a graduate student who studied at Sophia University under Hayashi, 25 years her senior. Hayashi allegedly coaxed her to enter into a sexual relationship with him that continued for ten years. After the plaintiff broke up with him, she was diagnosed with clinical depression.

She sued him for over ¥24.5 million (US$184,000) in damages, claiming that Hayashi had “groomed” her and that his decade-long sexual relationship with her constituted akahara.

This Japanese expression, deriving directly from the English words “academic” and “harassment,” refers discrimination and bullying of staff or students at institutions of higher learning.

“Although it was not an appropriate relationship, the affair did not rise to the level of illegal behavior (a tort),” the court ruled.

Nevertheless, the court ordered Hayashi to pay almost ¥1.3 million (US$9,800) to the plaintiff.

The court rejected the claim that the relationship was illegal or violated the plaintiff’s rights under the Civil Code:

A wrongful act should be interpreted to have taken place [only] if a comprehensive consideration of the relationship between the two parties, their ages, their marital status, and events leading up to the affair are such that we can conclude that the sexual relations began under circumstances which deprived the victim of her free will. We cannot accept the proposition that the plaintiff continued a sexual relationship against her own consent for an entire decade.

Sophia University determined Hayashi’s relationship with the plaintiff to be inappropriate and a derogation of his duties as an educator. They fired him last year, a decision affirmed by the court:

Hayashi was a university professor and mentor, meaning the plaintiff was in a position to comply with his instructions. The disciplinary dismissal was fair, based on reasons such as that the relationship between plaintiff and defendant was inappropriate; the defendant entered a sexual relationship with a current student at his own university; and engaged in behavior such as advising her on her thesis in love hotels.

The court verdict rejected the plaintiff’s claim that Hayashi had “groomed” her. The government has begun deliberations on legislation to criminalize specifically the act of “grooming” children due to the growing number of cases of adults using social media to luring minors into personal relationships in order to molest or rape them.

Upon hearing the verdict, the plaintiff wept and expressed vexation: “I felt how tough it was to argue that he had groomed an adult. But this verdict will make victims afraid to come forward and feel that suing is pointless. I think there will continue to be victims. That is wrong, so I will fight as much as I can fight.”

Personally, I think the verdict was spot on. At its core, harassment is behavior against or without the consent of the other party. Evidence that objectively and fairly demonstrates a violation of consent is required in order to establish harassment. That evidence appears to be missing in this case.

The plaintiff says she is considering appealing the verdict, and if that occurs we will continue to follow this case. But in an appellate court as well, she will still need to present a clear argument that demonstrates how her consent was violated.

I am not concluding that there was no harassment. I cannot know that.

I too work in academia, and I know that much of academia is a closed-off, authoritarian world where men still tend to dominate. But specific claims of harassment against individuals require a fair, objective reading of the submitted evidence and testimony.

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