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2 school teachers in Japan arrested, allegedly took upskirt pics of children & shared them with 'nearly 10 teachers' in group chat
One of the men is believed to be the administrator of the group chat.
June 28, 2025, 04:18 AM
Two elementary school teachers in Japan were arrested for allegedly sharing upskirt pictures showing girls' underwear in a group chat with other teachers.
Police said the two men, aged 37 and 42, shared the indecent pictures in a group chat with nearly 10 elementary and junior high teachers, AFP and The Japan Times reported.
The men are teachers at elementary schools in Yokohama and Nagoya respectively, according to The Japan News.
They have admitted to taking upskirt photos of "girls under 13" in Kanagawa prefecture and Aichi prefecture respectively, said police.
The older suspect is believed to be the group chat's administrator.
How their offences came to light
Authorities began investigating the group after another member was arrested in March for allegedly putting bodily fluids on a girl's backpack at a train station in Nagoya, according to The Japan News.
About 70 clips were shared in the group including upskirt photographs, clips of girls changing, and "deepfakes" created from the girls' headshots, BBC reported, citing Japanese media.
Some of the photographs in the group appeared to have been taken at school or during extracurricular activities, police said, according to AFP.
"I feel really angry. This can never be tolerated," Japan's education minister Toshiko Abe told media on Jun. 27.
The ministry reportedly plans to hold a meeting with the heads of local education boards in light of the incidents.
Upskirting is banned in Japan
Japan banned upskirting as part of its wider overhaul on sex crime laws in 2023, BBC reported.
The same bill that banned upskirting also criminalised the filming of children "in a sexual manner without a justifiable reason".
Other reforms expanded the definition of rape and raised the age of consent from 13 to 16.
In 2026, Japan plans to introduce its first national background check system for sex offences for those seeking or holding jobs that involve contact with children, The Japan Times reported.
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