The Saitama District Court on Friday ordered the municipal government to pay 1 million yen in compensation to a 23-year-old woman who was bullied by her female teacher in 1992.
The bullying occurred while the woman was a student at an elementary school run by the city of Saitama.
Presiding Judge Naoki Ishihara called it a case of "persistent bullying by a party who held absolute authority" over the then 10-year-old victim, and that it constituted a serious human rights violation.
But the judge rejected the plaintiff's demand for compensation from the teacher, who is now in her 50s.