A 40-year-old part-time lecturer at Sugamo Middle School and High School in Tokyo filed a lawsuit on July 17, 2025, seeking approximately 5.3 million yen in damages from the school. The teacher, identified only as "Mr. A," claims the school illegally reduced his wages by cutting his teaching assignments.
The lawsuit centers on two separate reductions in Mr. A's workload. First, his weekly class load was dramatically cut from 14 classes to 4 classes in the 2022 academic year, reducing his income to about one-third of its previous level. The school notified him of this reduction in late February, when it was too late to find alternative employment at other schools for the upcoming year. He was forced to work in completely unrelated jobs to supplement his income.
The second reduction occurred in 2024, when his class load was cut from 14 to 12 classes. This happened after Mr. A had converted from a fixed-term contract to an unlimited-term contract in 2023 using Japan's "five-year rule," which allows workers to request permanent contracts after five consecutive years of employment.
Mr. A's pay was calculated based on the number of classes he taught, with each class worth 23,800 yen in 2022. His bonuses were also tied to his class load, so the reductions significantly impacted his total compensation.
The teacher suspects the first reduction occurred because the school hired a full-time regular employee to teach the same subject. His class load was restored to 14 in 2023 after a regular teacher left the school.
Mr. A's legal team argues that both reductions violated Japan's Labor Contract Law. They claim the first reduction was an unreasonably unfavorable change to working conditions, while the second violated rules requiring mutual agreement for changes to unlimited-term contracts.
At a press conference following the lawsuit filing, the plaintiff's lawyers emphasized that part-time teachers are in extremely vulnerable positions and often have no choice but to accept whatever class assignments they receive, even drastic reductions announced at the last minute. They called for systematic reforms, including advance notice requirements for class scheduling.
Mr. A also consulted with the Ikebukuro Labor Standards Inspection Office, which issued corrective guidance to the school in May 2025 for eight violations, including failure to properly notify employees of work rules.
The school represents a significant case study in the treatment of non-regular employees in private education. Of Sugamo's approximately 100 staff members, 36 percent are non-regular employees. The article notes that other part-time teachers have previously faced similar class reductions or contract terminations, with some leaving to work at cram schools or prep schools instead.
When contacted by the news outlet, Sugamo School responded that they had not yet received the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.