The Kyoto prefectural board of education said Thursday it has learned that a male high school wrestling coach was involved in seven cases of physical violence from 2004 to 2012.
The board reprimanded the coach, who is a teacher at Amino Senior High School in the city of Kyotango, on the day with a 10 percent pay cut for three months.
The board said in a report released Thursday that in the seven cases that happened over the nine years, the 41-year-old coach slapped or kneed six male students of the wrestling club, injuring two of them.
The coach told the board that he used physical force as a means of coaching and didn't consider it abuse. He also admitted he indulged himself in committing the violence, according to the board.
The board said other teachers did not speak up because the wrestling team performed well, and the coach was never warned because the school wanted to win its prefectural matches.
The high school is known as a wrestling powerhouse whose alumni include Chiharu Icho, who won the female 48-kg silver medals in both the Athens and Beijing Olympics, and bronze medal winner Kenji Inoue in the male 60-kg class.
The coach has been at the club since 2002 when he was transferred to the school. Inoue was one of his students.