A male teacher at a public junior high school in Kasai, Hyogo Prefecture, burned a student's hair with a lighter during a class in January.

According to the Kasai City Board of Education, on Jan 20, the 26-year-old teacher warned a 13-year-old student that his sitting posture was not appropriate, Fuji TV reported. When the student did not change the way he was sitting after multiple warnings, the teacher took a lighter from his pants pocket, lit it and held it against the boy's hair, burning some of it.

The teacher later apologized to the student and his parents, describing his action as a joke but admitting it was inappropriate. However, the school did not report the incident to the education board, Fuji TV reported.

© Japan Today