"Physical punishment is education," Hiroshi Totsuka, 65, said at a news conference following his release from Shizuoka Prison, repeating his beliefs on how children should be taught.

Hiroshi Totsuka

He criticized prosecutors and the media, and said he will continue to run the school.

The Totsuka Yacht School in Mihama, Aichi Prefecture, currently has seven trainees.

Totsuka was sentenced in 1997 by the Nagoya High Court to six years in prison after two of his charges, aged 13 and 21, died and two others went missing after they jumped into the sea during what the school called "training" between 1980 and 1983.

The ruling that "the training methods neglected human rights and had nothing to do with education" overturned a lower court's judgment that gave him a suspended prison term.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 6, 2006
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