Oct 13 10:11 PM US/EasternTOKYO, Oct. 14 (AP) - (Kyodo) — Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Tuesday a Maritime Self-Defense Force sailor who died last month may have undergone exercise that went beyond the norms of training at an MSDF academy.
"Given the circumstances we are aware of so far, I don't deny that I am feeling there was something special or unusual" in the incident, Hamada said, pledging to try to get to the bottom of the incident.
The 25-year-old petty officer third class died Sept. 25 after being forced to fight 15 other members during training to join a special task force of the MSDF at the force's 1st Service School in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Sept. 9, according to the MSDF.
"I have never heard that such a thing is done in the Self-Defense Forces" as a matter of practice, Hamada said, referring to the situation in which one fights against many opponents in the name of training.
Hamada held key defense-linked posts in the government and the dominant Liberal Democratic Party before becoming defense minister.
The deceased sailor's father claims his son died due to bullying during training.
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