The vice principal of a public elementary school in Tokyo on Thursday was suspended for six months after asking a female college student who had visited the school for teacher training to sell her pantyhose. The vice principal resigned the same day.
According to the Tokyo Board of Education, which took the disciplinary measure, the unnamed 57-year-old vice principal, who worked at a school in the Tama district in western Tokyo, asked the student in her 20s to "do some volunteer work" at a bar he invited her to last October. The teacher then asked to buy the pantyhose she was wearing at the time, saying he "was asked by an elderly acquaintance."
The vice principal gave her ¥5,000 for the pantyhose. A couple of days later, he called her up again, this time asking her to go with him to a karaoke bar, and touched her in the shoulders and neck, saying he "wants to become a masseur after retirement."
The student reported the incidents to her university, returning the ¥5,000 to the teacher through the college. The vice principal has reportedly said he "wanted to get closer to her and offer her advice as she aspired to become a teacher."