Jan 24 (Japan Today) - On January 15, a 16-year-old first-year student at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Machida Sogo High School got into a heated argument with a teacher in the school hallway. Prior to the argument, the student had been disciplined for wearing an earring to school, in violation of the dress code.
As the two were talking, another student filmed the exchange, which can be seen in the video below (which has been posted via multiple accounts on YouTube and Twitter). As it starts, the angered student can be heard saying “Don’t mess with me.†He also commands the 50-something educator to “Use that tiny brain of yours and think about it†and asks him “Are you a damned idiot?â€as well as “How the hell am I going to be compensated, huh?â€perhaps in reference to the ostensibly confiscated earring.
The teacher’s responses aren’t audible, as the student’s speaking with much more frequency and volume. Eventually, though, the teacher offers a much more physical rebuttal, chest-bumping the student away from him before swinging his right first into the student’s face and knocking him to the floor.
After landing the haymaker, the teacher grabs the student by one arm and pulls him back to the center of the hallway. As the two jostle, a number of students can be seen running into the hallway, calling for the teacher to stop, at which point he lets go of the student he punched, who’s still lying on the floor.
The student is reported to have suffered a bruised face and a cut on the inside of his mouth.