News
Station Cites Principal's Arrest for Pulling Nymphet
posted on by Egan Loo
The TV Saitama station in Japan has explained in a statement on October 11 that it suspended its broadcast of the controversial Kodomo no Jikan (Nymphet) television anime series "out of consideration for the community in light of the [alleged] solicitation of children by an elementary school vice-principal in Sapporo and other incidents." The Sapporo arrest is unrelated to the recent, alleged axe assault incidents by minors that caused stations to preempt the School Days and Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai anime series.
The Kodomo no Jikan anime series is based on a manga of the same name that was created by Kaworu Watashiya and serialized in Futabasha's Comic High! manga magazine. It tells the story of three elementary schoolgirls, one of whom has a crush on their new teacher. This one girl in particular puts the teacher in many embarassing situations with her unsubtle advances.
The TV Saitama and Mie TV stations both announced that they will suspend or delay their broadcasts of Kodomo no Jikan. KBS Kyoto and Chiba TV are currently still planning to premiere the program on early Friday morning and early Saturday morning, respectively.
54-year-old Takayuki Hosoda, a vice-principal of an elementary school in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo, was arrested on October 1 on suspicion of soliciting obscene behavior from a 16-year-old girl for 6,000 yen (about US$50.00) on the evening of September 21, after meeting her in a "deai-kei cafe." He is also accused of shooting obscene photographs and movies of about 600 girls. A deai-kei cafe or deai cafe ("cafe for encounters") is a business designed to introduce potential partners to each other in booths. The suspect allegedly contributed his material to magazines from 2000 to 2007, and received about 18,000,000 yen (US$150,000) in compensation. Sapporo's board of education ordered the vice-principal's disciplinary dismissal on October 10.
