Photo/Illutration Mako Saiki’s manga “Ienaikoto wo Shitanowa Dare?” is published in two volumes. (Tomoko Yamashita)

An online manga that explores the impact of teachers’ sexual violence against students has been published in book form.

Mako Saiki initially ran “Ienaikoto wo Shitanowa Dare?” (Who did what is unspeakable?) on Kodansha Ltd.’s website from 2019 to 2021 after interviewing school nurses, victims, health care workers and counselors about the issue.

The story was published in two volumes by Gendai Shokan in July.

The story revolves around a junior high school nurse who receives a call from a woman who had been sexually assaulted by a male teacher during her student days—and identifies the perpetrator as a teacher now working at the nurse’s school.

The manga portrays how the predatory teacher uses different grooming tactics to prey on students, and the impact that sexual violence has on the victims over time.

The male teacher, for example, takes advantage of a student who feels unsure of herself by telling her to “just leave everything” to him.

But he approaches a proud student by telling her that she is “special.”

Saiki, 63, said these episodes are based on what she learned from her interviews about real cases.

The manga shows that it can take decades for victims to understand what they went through.

“Elementary and junior high school students may not (immediately) recognize that they have been victimized,” said Saiki, who has created many manga about social issues.

“Some victims become aware of what they suffered for the first time after they experienced emotional outbursts or became unable to move for days,” she explained.

In one scene of the manga, the teachers’ room is lit well into the night.

“Teachers have become busy and unable to pay enough attention to students or colleagues,” Saiki said. “I wanted to ask what makes a school good for children.”

Azusa Saito, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Sophia University, said Saiki’s manga reflects the “painful reality for victims of sexual violence and their supporters.”

Saito, who has been supporting those victims, said they suffer from severe and long-lasting problems.

“Some find it difficult to keep living, being unable to form healthy interpersonal relationships or feeling they want to ‘disappear,’” she said.

“An overwhelming majority of teachers treat students with respect,” Saito said. “But we want people to understand that sexual violence can occur anywhere.”

In fiscal 2022, 242 teachers, or 0.03 percent of the total, received disciplinary measures over sex crimes and sexual violence, according to the education ministry.

Of them, 119 were disciplined over acts against students, 25 more than in the previous year.

A ministry survey found that 29 teachers committed sexual violence against students at hotels and 18 at home, while many others victimized students at school, including 18 in classrooms.

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