A record 115 teachers at public schools were reprimanded for sexually indecent acts in fiscal 1999, with a record 67 losing their jobs, according to an Education Ministry survey released Tuesday.
The number reprimanded, which includes teachers at elementary, junior and senior high schools, was 1.5 times the previous high of 77 in fiscal 1998, the survey shows.
While only 22 teachers were disciplined for sexual indecency in fiscal 1990, the number has been rising continuously ever since, the survey shows.
Of the 115 reprimanded, 56 were dismissed with no chance of reinstatement, 11 were asked to resign, and 24 were suspended.
Twelve teachers had their salaries cut, five were issued serious warnings and seven received lesser warnings.
Fifty-six teachers committed indecent acts against children at their school, while six molested graduates of their schools and others molested students from other schools.
In addition, a record 1,924 teachers took a leave of absence during fiscal 1999, up 12 percent from the previous fiscal year, according to the survey.
Of those taking leave of absence, a record 43 percent did so because of mental distress.
The number of teachers disciplined for using corporal punishment -- illegal under the School Education Law -- was 387, up four from the previous fiscal year.
Among them, 238 teachers, or 61 percent, injured the children they were punishing. Only two were dismissed. Nine were suspended.
Meanwhile, 96 teachers were disciplined for not raising the Hinomaru or for not singing "Kimigayo," the national anthem.
That number was down 65 from the previous fiscal year, when a record 161 teachers protested government proposals to officially recognize the Hinomaru and "Kimigayo" as state symbols.
Official recognition of the flag and the anthem -- enacted Aug. 9, 1999 -- remains a sensitive issue because of their association with Japan's wartime aggression and the Imperial Family.