TOKYO -- A Tokyo high school has withdrawn its expulsion of a third-year student who filed a criminal complaint against the chairman of the school's operating corporation for allegedly forcing her to write a letter of apology, sources told the Mainichi Shimbun on Feb. 4.

Musashino Higashi Specialized High School in the suburban Tokyo city of Musashino granted the student's claim that the expulsion was unfair. According to an individual connected to the operating corporation, the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court had recommended a settlement in response to a motion by the student for a provisional disposition to preserve her status. Both parties discussed the matter and reached a settlement on Feb. 4.

In January 2024, the student objected to the chairman, who was vice chair at the time, over the way a meeting on school rules progressed. Angered by her objections, the chairman demanded through a teacher that she write a letter of apology. The school reportedly warned her parents that she would face expulsion if she refused, prompting her to reluctantly submit the letter.

After this, the student filed a criminal complaint against the chairman, claiming that she was coerced into submitting a letter of apology. In August 2024, the Metropolitan Police Department forwarded documents on the case to the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, and prosecutors are conducting a voluntary probe. In January this year, the school suddenly expelled the student, who had already been accepted into a university.

(Japanese original by Buntaro Saito, Tokyo City News Department)