Nobunari Oda resigns as coach from Kansai University due to "moral harassment"

[Guest turquoiseblue]

English translations by Iron Klaus:

 

Quote

Tell us about the corruption in figure skating. #NobunariOda: "Coach #Hamada is a wonderful leader. She has clout. She is 30 years my senior and as a leader I am not that experienced. It was difficult for me to say anything to her. "

Did you want to go to court? #NobunariOda: "If she had responded in a sincere way this wouldn't have been necessary." (His eyes filled with tears and he wiped his nose with a handkerchief.)

 

The law suit is being launched mid-season now. #NobunariOda: "I would have preferred this to be over before the season started. I am sorry this had to happen mid-season."

 

How will this affect the skaters? #NobunariOda: "I don't think it will affect them." (After talking to his attorney)

 

What do you have to say to Coach #Hamada and Kansai University? #NobunariOda: "I would like this to be made clear in court. Kansai University supported me when I was competing. I wanted to give them something back. It would have been nicer if they had understood me."

 

In the letter of petition it says that Coach Hamada ignored you and said bad things behind your back. What made you decisive about going to court? #NobunariOda: "There was something concrete. This will be made clear in court."

 

Why is only Coach #Hamada being taken to court? #Hattori: "The person who directly engaged in illegal actions was Coach Hamada. It is not the time to take legal action against Kansai University.

 

#NobunariOda: "There was open hostility from her these past few months and I was afraid whether I was in the rink or outside the rink."

 

How have you asked the University to help? #Hattori: "Nothing concrete. We have only requested that they help. Perhaps they will be in touch with us." #Oda: "This is my Alma Mater. It is regretful I must part ways with them like this. The chances of me returning is low.

 

How did she react when you told her you could not even go to the rink because of her? #Oda: There was no apology. 'Is that so?' was her reaction. That's when I realized she had no intention of apologizing. I was hoping the university would have intervened.

 

What made you resort to judicial proceedings? #Oda: I don't think I am *that* weak. But even someone like me has been forced into this. I want the facts to be out in the open. Kansai University is also an important place to me. I don't want this to be repeated.

Do you think there are others who feel the same way as you about her? #Oda: "Yes. I do think there are others."

 

Former Olympic skater sues Kansai University coach

 

Quote

After filing the lawsuit, Oda told reporters that he had asked the university to investigate the allegations but that the university, instead of responding to his request, asked him not to make the allegations public.

 

Hamada has issued no comment on the lawsuit.

 

Kansai University has declined to comment, saying it is not aware of the content of the lawsuit.

 

The university said it is regrettable that legal action has been taken during ice staking season, when many athletes are working hard.

 

[Paskud]

16 minutes ago, turquoiseblue said:

How will this affect the skaters? #NobunariOda: "I don't think it will affect them." (After talking to his attorney)

Heh, of course it will.

[yude]

21 時間前, LadyLouさんが言いました:

Hopefully Yamato Tamura is, instead, the good person he looks to be, and can keep coaching the skaters. It's probably too much to hope skaters themselves won't be affected by all of this, but I hope they'll be protected as much as possible 

 

 

I was relieved to see Tamura was in K&C at Japanese Jr. Nationals for their skaters. 

 

I was so disappointed at Kansai University. In one word, they tried to cover up what was happening there. But was I surprised? Not really 

 

 

[sweetwater]

Nobu posted a blog post yesterday which explains what happened since he became the club manager until he made this decision. It seems that he has written it in October and made it private until yesterday. This time, he didn't post an English version, so I am not sure if it is ok for him to share it in English, but since his comments in the press conference yesterday have already been shared, I translated it to share his take on what happened. If I may ask you a favor, please don't share this post on another platform in copy-and-paste style or in a screenshot. I want to keep things simple for him as much as possible, so I want to keep it controllable in case it causes him unneeded trouble.

 

Spoiler

Regarding the harassment or the workplace bullying

 

It was coach Hamada and the president (t/n: of Kansai Univ.) who recommended me as the club manager. At that time, I was busier in show business than I am now, so at first, I declined the offer and recommended coach Hamada as the manager. However, the president and the coach offered me the job again asking me to try my best even if I was busy, so I decided to take the job.

Once I took the job, I made up my mind not to make my busyness an excuse and tried to arrange my works in show business to make more time for coaching since my goal was to train younger generations.

I went to the rink. The monthly service records I submitted to Kansai Univ. can confirm it if you take a look. (t/n: In October, Coach Hamada stated that Nobu had never gone to the rink since when he became the manager in an interview released by Bunshun)

 

Following a trend in collegiate sports these days to attach importance to schoolwork, at the end of January this year, the club advisor and I explained the changes regarding the practice time and club regulations  (t/n: to people concerned I guess) we were going to make in order to help students to excel both in academics and sports. We also distributed handouts I made there. The vice advisor, coach Honda, and coach Hamada were also there and everyone at that meeting approved this policy. We discussed it and made amendements and refined it.

We had the meeting to listen to everyone's opinions, but she did not seem to problematize this rule change, and she did not ask me questions or consult me about it afterward.

If any student has a problem balancing (t/n: training and schoolwork) and comes to me and the club advisor, we would support them. It is our job to help students to achieve the best results in sports while aiming to graduate as well.

We decided to set this policy and to change of the rules according to Kansai Univ's policy to excel in both academics and sports, after much consultation with the club advisor who was also an assistant to the president. I also had exhaustive discussions with executive club members regarding the rule changes and the club advisor has checked the result and approved it. Kansai Univ. testified that I made a strong request regarding the coaching method and that we (t/n: Nobu and coach Hamada) had different opinions, etc. I cannot help but feel that it is questionable and contradicts what they've said.

 

It was shortly after this meeting when coach Hamada started harassing me. First, she tried not to look me in the eye and ignored me when I greeted her. She constantly backbit me in my sight and stopped talking when I walked past her. Then she sometimes greeted me and confused me. There was a false rumor that I had been playing it my way. I was shocked when I heard about it. She also suddenly yelled at me on the ice. At another meeting, she kept on denying my opinion and said something that hurt me. At this meeting, multiple people involved with Kansai Univ. were also present. The club advisor told me that one of them worried about me and contacted him/her. At that time, I could not understand why she treated me that way and could not stop crying.

At the end of May, she somehow found out about the new rules before I had a chance to explain. She did not like the new rules and the harassment escalated. I was trying not to mind it, but one day, after I got to the rink, I started having tinnitus. My body started shaking and I could not stand on the ice feeling dizzy. I had once enraged coach Hamada by asking her to stop a dangerous training on the ice, so I was determined to proceed carefully about the rule change and be patient. However, my body reached its limit before my mind did, and because of inexperience, I could not deal with it and became unable to go to the rink.

While I was away from the rink, coach Hamada told someone involved with Kansai Univ. that I was trying to drive her to resign. Club advisor told me that the vice president inquired of him/her if it was true. I had been intimidated by the hostility toward me for four months since February,

 

I used to feel that coach Hamada and I had a good relationship. Once she asked us to share the ice when it was assigned to our team and we willingly accepted it.

Also, my first job as the manager was to accompany her (t/n: or her student) to apologize to the president for her student's getting poor grades. Coach Hamada was thankful at that time too, so I was very shocked at how things suddenly changed.

 

I have many shortcomings. If someone points them out, I would take it seriously and do my best to improve myself. I was inexperienced as a coach and the manager as well, so I thought that I should never forget to learn from my seniors and listen to their opinions when I get things going.

However, I got harassed without having a chance to have a calm discussion. I thought I was following the university's policy and carefully taking steps forward, but the university did not deal with the situation even if I consulted them. So I had no choice.

I have worked for Kansai University not only as a manager. When they asked me to take part in an event or to perform for them, I responded to their requests as much as possible even with no pay. That was because I wanted to repay them for their favor since they had always been supporting me heartily. They even built the rink for us. I wish they understood such feelings and sincerely dealt with this problem before I talked about it myself.

 

This is what happened.

 

This is my personal opinion, but I don't think it is wrong to postpone study and to focus on skating. If you are gifted and achieve good results putting your all into what you can only do now, things will work out for you by themselves. However, if you have entered, or are willing to enter a university or a high school, I hope you have the will and the academic ability to be able to graduate at least.

 

[Sukigirl]

11 minutes ago, sweetwater said:

Nobu posted a blog post yesterday which explains what happened since he became the club manager until he made this decision. It seems that he has written it in October and made it private until yesterday. This time, he didn't post an English version as well, so I am not sure if it is ok for him to share it in English, but since his comments in the press conference yesterday have already been shared, I translated it to share his take on what happened. If I may ask you a favor, please don't share this post on another platform in copy-and-paste style or in a screenshot. I want to keep things simple for him as much as possible, so I want to keep it controllable in case it causes him unneeded trouble.

 

  Hide contents

Regarding the harassment or the workplace bullying

 

It was coach Hamada and the president (t/n: of Kansai Univ.) who recommended me as the club manager. At that time, I was busier in show business than I am now, so at first, I declined the offer and recommended coach Hamada as the manager. However, the president and the coach offered me the job again asking me to try my best even if I was busy, so I decided to take the job.

Once I took the job, I made up my mind not to make my busyness an excuse and tried to arrange my works in show business to make more time for coaching since my goal was to train younger generations.

I went to the rink. The monthly service records I submitted to Kansai Univ. can confirm it if you take a look. (t/n: In October, Coach Hamada stated that Nobu had never gone to the rink since when he became the manager in an interview released by Bunshun)

 

Following a trend in collegiate sports these days to attach importance to schoolwork, at the end of January this year, the club advisor and I explained the changes regarding the practice time and club regulations  (t/n: to people concerned I guess) we were going to make in order to help students to excel both in academics and sports. We also distributed handouts I made there. The vice advisor, coach Honda, and coach Hamada were also there and everyone at that meeting approved this policy. We discussed it and made amendements and refined it.

We had the meeting to listen to everyone's opinions, but she did not seem to problematize this rule change, and she did not ask me questions or consult me about it afterward.

If any student has a problem balancing (t/n: training and schoolwork) and comes to me and the club advisor, we would support them. It is our job to help students to achieve the best results in sports while aiming to graduate as well.

We decided to set this policy and to change of the rules according to Kansai Univ's policy to excel in both academics and sports, after much consultation with the club advisor who was also an assistant to the president. I also had exhaustive discussions with executive club members regarding the rule changes and the club advisor has checked the result and approved it. Kansai Univ. testified that I made a strong request regarding the coaching method and that we (t/n: Nobu and coach Hamada) had different opinions, etc. I cannot help but feel that it is questionable and contradicts what they've said.

 

It was shortly after this meeting when coach Hamada started harassing me. First, she tried not to look me in the eye and ignored me when I greeted her. She constantly backbit me in my sight and stopped talking when I walked past her. Then she sometimes greeted me and confused me. There was a false rumor that I had been playing it my way. I was shocked when I heard about it. She also suddenly yelled at me on the ice. At another meeting, she kept on denying my opinion and said something that hurt me. At this meeting, multiple people involved with Kansai Univ. were also present. The club advisor told me that one of them worried about me and contacted him/her. At that time, I could not understand why she treated me that way and could not stop crying.

At the end of May, she somehow found out about the new rules before I had a chance to explain. She did not like the new rules and the harassment escalated. I was trying not to mind it, but one day, after I got to the rink, I started having tinnitus. My body started shaking and I could not stand on the ice feeling dizzy. I had once enraged coach Hamada by asking her to stop a dangerous training on the ice, so I was determined to proceed carefully about the rule change and be patient. However, my body reached its limit before my mind did, and because of inexperience, I could not deal with it and became unable to go to the rink.

While I was away from the rink, coach Hamada told someone involved with Kansai Univ. that I was trying to drive her to resign. Club advisor told me that the vice president inquired of him/her if it was true. I had been intimidated by the hostility toward me for four months since February,

 

I used to feel that coach Hamada and I had a good relationship. Once she asked us to share the ice when it was assigned to our team and we willingly accepted it.

Also, my first job as the manager was to accompany her (t/n: or her student) to apologize to the president for her student's getting poor grades. Coach Hamada was thankful at that time too, so I was very shocked at how things suddenly changed.

 

I have many shortcomings. If someone points them out, I would take it seriously and do my best to improve myself. I was inexperienced as a coach and the manager as well, so I thought that I should never forget to learn from my seniors and listen to their opinions when I get things going.

However, I got harassed without having a chance to have a calm discussion. I thought I was following the university's policy and carefully taking steps forward, but the university did not deal with the situation even if I consulted them. So I had no choice.

I have worked for Kansai University not only as a manager. When they asked me to take part in an event or to perform for them, I responded to their requests as much as possible even with no pay. That was because I wanted to repay them for their favor since they had always been supporting me heartily. They even built the rink for us. I wish they understood such feelings and sincerely dealt with this problem before I talked about it myself.

 

This is what happened.

 

This is my personal opinion, but I don't think it is wrong to postpone study and to focus on skating. If you are gifted and achieve good results putting your all into what you can only do now, things will work out for you by themselves. However, if you have entered, or are willing to enter a university or a high school, I hope you have the will and the academic ability to be able to graduate at least.

 

Thank you! Poor Nobu.

[Figure_Frenzy]

On 11/16/2019 at 11:05 AM, LadyLou said:

Well let's wait for Nov 18th, eager to have more info from direct source instead of relying on 'insiders' spilling the beans to a tabloid

For sure, if everything really started because Nobu merely wanted to make figure skaters follow the same rules other athletes in the same uni followed, I don't see how could anyone even get mad at him... and totally incomprehensible how Kandai didn't stand by Nobu

(A scenario that really really  worries me, though, is one where Hamada might have been worse than just "strict" with skaters, as a tabloid suggested)

 

The way I see it, Nobu's latest press conference (and his latest blog post) lent a considerable level of credibility to the things said in those tabloid articles — it really showed that the things mentioned in the tabloids were consistent with what Nobu himself said.

 

I wish Nobu and his legal team the best with the lawsuit proceeding, may it goes well. As for Hamada, what an irresponsible way to go about it 😑. I'd appreciate it if she at least acknowledge her mistakes to Nobu and try to not bully future training staffs the way she (mis)treated Nobu.

[EisElle]

thank you @sweetwater for translating Nobu's blogpost

 

reading that, I can feel that the harassment came as something truly incomprehensible and unexpected for Nobu, I feel his disbilief and even, perhaps, his questioning himself to understand what he could have possibly done wrong. I'm glad that now he's standing his ground.

It won't be easy in court to talk again about what is a dark time for him, I hope at least it will bring good things for him, as some form of "catharsis" (and hopefully positive outcome too), and for the figure skating world and people at large as awareness.

[Paskud]

 

 

 

 

 

[Paskud]

Spoiler

Quote

Nobunari Oda, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics men's representative of figure skating, suffered mental distress due to moral harassment when he was the director of the Kansai University ice skating club, and was forced to resign as director in November 2019. It was revealed on the 2nd that both sides are heading for reconciliation in the case of filing a lawsuit with the Osaka District Court for damages of 11 million yen from coach Mie.

At the 7th speech preparation procedure at the end of February, it was confirmed that both sides would present the settlement plan requested by the other party. In this case, Hamada also counterclaimed in February for infringing her honor rights in the proceedings and claimed damages of 3.3 million yen. 

https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2021/03/03/0014120415.shtml

 

Is Daily a reliable source?

 

Quote

Nobunari Oda, who was the director of Kansai University's ice skating club, asked Hamada for damages of 11 million yen for receiving moral harassment from coach Mie Hamada. Both sides present a settlement plan in the proceedings .

https://twitter.com/boomsports/status/1366883665309954048

 

[Yuzuwinnie]

On 19/11/2019 at 14:46, Figure_Frenzy said:

 

À mon avis, la dernière conférence de presse de Nobu (et son dernier billet de blog) a conféré un niveau de crédibilité considérable aux propos tenus dans ces articles de tabloïd.

 

Je souhaite à Nobu et à son équipe juridique le meilleur dans la procédure judiciaire, que tout se passe bien. Quant à Hamada, quelle manière irresponsable de s'y prendre . J'apprécierais qu'elle reconnaisse au moins ses erreurs à Nobu et essaie de ne pas intimider les futurs membres du personnel de formation de la façon dont elle a (mal)traité Nobu.

 

Je viens de découvrir ce qui est arrivé à Nobu et je sais que c'est tartif car je suis inscrite ici depuis peu et c'est et   ( je met cette tête de Yuzu car c'est son grand ami : il lui a donné ses fleurs à un NHK mais l'année ?  ) : c'est une horreur de subir , car quand cette femme a pris Nobu comme proie a abattre , elle est allée loin , car c'est le but de détruire / dénigrer et il a bien senti que sa santé en prenait un coup , eh oui quand on se reçoit des paroles qui piquent / insulte etc.... , le mental et le corps réagissent en négatif et dans son malheur , elle lui a crié dessus en public , ce qui une preuve ( et peut être d'autres ? ) irréfutable pour aller en justice et j'espère VIVEMENT qu'il aura eue ses dommages et intérêts et , hélas , tout harceleurs ne reconnaitront jamais leurs torts  , bon vous dire pourquoi ma réaction , c'est que j'en ai subit un et mon ex était intrafamilial et sans témoins : donc pas de preuves  , donc plus vicieux et insoupçonnable et , donc , pour la justice = RIEN pas encore de loi en France et j'ai aussi des réactions hyper négative sur ma santé et j'ai lu à un moment le Dr Hirigoyen , dont j'ai lu son livre qui m'a bien aidée et je me rappelle d'un Nobu comme cela qui rit et fait le clown avec Yuzu et la présentatrice et c'est la même année que son HM et ce qui m'a aidé c'est d'admirer le patinage et Yuzu depuis 2014 et mon groupe de rock Français , Indochine et mon témoignage est un soutient pour Nobu et est ce que vous savez la suite ? depuis 2 ans .........