Two Japanese elementary school teachers were arrested on June 24 for secretly filming underage girls and sharing the footage with other educators in a hidden group chat. Police say the videos, taken without consent, showed the girls undressing.
According to police, the men took voyeuristic images of girls under the age of 13. The recordings were taken without the children’s knowledge or consent. Investigators say the teachers used smartphones and hidden cameras, placing them beneath girls’ skirts or in locations where children were getting changed — taking advantage of their professional access to violate students in spaces meant to be safe.
The men produced and shared at least 70 images and videos, which were uploaded to a private social media group chat. That chat, police believe, included approximately 10 other educators, many of them also working in elementary or junior high schools. There, the footage was not only shared, but praised.
Comments recovered from the chat include: “This one’s really good,” and “I could stare at this forever.”
The men used pseudonyms, but messages referencing school schedules suggest they were actively teaching children while engaging in this behavior.
Among the materials uncovered by investigators were digitally manipulated images — what investigators called “sexual deepfakes.” In at least one case, the face of a real child was digitally grafted onto the nude body of an adult woman, producing a highly realistic simulated child pornography image. The child’s identity, police believe, came from the men’s own students. A manufactured image of child sexual abuse, created with intent and care, was then distributed for group consumption.
The Men Behind the Crime
In March 2025, police detained an unnamed public school teacher on suspicion of property damage. But during the routine search of the suspect’s smartphone, investigators uncovered something far darker: a private group chat filled with sexually exploitative videos and images of young girls.
That discovery led police to two men: Yuji Moriyama and Fumiya Kosemura, both of whom had not only filmed underage girls without consent but shared the footage with praise.
Moriyama, 42, taught at Kosaka Elementary School in Nagoya. He wasn’t a homeroom instructor but held a senior position as a lead teacher, supporting the principal and vice principal in overseeing staff and student affairs. Police believe he also managed the group chat, placing him at the center of the abuse network.
Kosemura, 37, taught at Hongodai Elementary School in Yokohama. He served as both a homeroom teacher and a grade-level coordinator, a role that put him in daily, direct contact with children across multiple classes.
Both men confessed to the charges during police questioning. A law punishing voyeuristic photography and videos was enacted in July 2023. It was part of a wider overhaul of Japan’s laws on sex crimes.
Public Response and Institutional Failures
Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa addressed reporters after the arrest of the Nagoya teacher. Visibly shaken, he said: “There are no words. I am truly sorry. I am filled with anger over what they have done. When someone who is supposed to protect children does something like this, what are the children supposed to believe in? We can no longer rely on the assumption that teachers are inherently good.”
Hirosawa also acknowledged how difficult it is to spot these individuals in advance. He urged the public to report any suspicious behavior using the city’s “Mayor’s Hotline,” an online and fax-based reporting system that allows residents to bypass bureaucratic channels and speak directly to the city.
In addition, the city has announced plans to conduct a broad survey of teaching staff in an effort to identify potential risks and prevent future abuse. The method and scope of this survey is still being considered.
