News On Japan

Player says coaches ordered dangerous tackle

May 23, 2018 (NHK) - A college American football player who injured an opposing team's quarterback during a game in Tokyo says he was ordered by his coaches to make a controversial late tackle.

On May 6th, the Nihon University defender barreled at the Kwansei Gakuin University quarterback from behind a few seconds after he passed the ball. The quarterback suffered a knee injury that was expected to take 3 weeks to heal.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the player detailed his coaches' instructions. He said that on the day of the game, he asked the head coach to put him in, as he was ready to seriously hurt the quarterback. He added that he did so on instructions he'd gotten from another coach the day before.

The player said the head coach told him his words would be meaningless if he didn't follow through on them. He added that later, when the players were lined up before the game, the coach reminded him that failure was unacceptable.

The player said his mind was blank immediately after the game, and that he did not even realize that the quarterback had been replaced due to his injury. The player said he had never been in such a state.

The quarterback filed a complaint with police on Monday. His father told reporters that he wants to know why the defender did such a dangerous thing.

Nihon University plans to submit the results of its in-house investigation to Kwansei Gakuin by Thursday.

Source: ANNnewsCH

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Japan began applying a new numerical alcohol threshold for dangerous driving offenses on July 21, introducing a clearer standard for cases involving impaired driving that could lead to fatal accidents.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government approved its first annual basic economic and fiscal policy on Tuesday, pledging "responsible and proactive fiscal policy" and envisioning about 370 trillion yen in public- and private-sector investment in strategic industries through fiscal 2040.

A covert network of shuttle tankers is carrying crude through the increasingly dangerous Strait of Hormuz as renewed fighting between the United States and Iran disrupts shipping and raises concerns over how Japan will secure the oil it needs.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has criticized moves by Japanese and Ukrainian companies to cooperate on drone technology, warning that such ties would be regarded by Moscow as a "clear hostile act."

The rainy season ended in the Kanto-Koshin and Tokai regions on July 20 as strengthening high pressure brought intense heat across Japan, with temperatures forecast to reach 38 C in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, and Kofu.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A police officer fired a warning shot into the air after a 42-year-old woman approached officers while pointing a kitchen knife at them on a street in Eniwa, Hokkaido, on July 17.

A 45-year-old man was arrested early July 20 after allegedly crashing a passenger car into a convenience store in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and walking around the parking lot carrying a kitchen knife and a golf club.

A 42-year-old man was arrested after allegedly driving under the influence and intentionally ramming a motorcycle in Togitsu, Nagasaki Prefecture, leaving its rider seriously injured.

More than a dozen people were injured after a massive rope suddenly snapped during a tug-of-war at a festival in Kitami, Hokkaido, sending participants falling backward onto an asphalt road.

A public housing complex in Aichi Prefecture where about 70% of households are occupied by foreign residents is showing signs of improvement after introducing multilingual communication, foreign-led neighborhood activities and a 3,000-yen fine for residents who skip community cleaning duties.

A fire that broke out at the long-established Echigo Tsurukame sake brewery in a densely populated residential district of Niigata City on July 19 destroyed the brewery and spread to at least six nearby homes, with firefighters still unable to declare the blaze fully extinguished by noon on July 20.

Two people found dead in a collapsed home following a landslide in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, have been identified as a married couple in their 60s who lived at the property, city officials said.

Bacteria found in excrement on the uniform of a former nurse arrested on suspicion of killing a hospital patient by contaminating his intravenous drip matched bacteria detected in the victim's blood, investigators have found.