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TOKYO - JAPAN is probing the death of a naval officer who died after being forced to fight 15 other men during training for an elite counter-intelligence unit, the defence minister said on Tuesday.
His death is the latest incident to tarnish the image of Japan's defence establishment, which has been beset by scandals including bribery.
The 25-year-old petty officer died in September after wrestling with 15 other trainees one after the other under the watch of two supervisors, Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
'We are investigating the case thoroughly,' Mr Hamada told reporters. 'As to whether this training was out of the ordinary, I wouldn't say that it was not out of the ordinary.'
A preliminary naval investigation by the school in the western city of Kure, near Hiroshima, found the officer was punched so hard in the jaw that he fell unconscious. He was sent to hospital and died two weeks later.
The school trains a special unit that can raid spy ships. It was established after a 1999 incident when North Korean spy ships intruded into Japanese waters until being chased out by the coast guard.
Japan's military - which has not seen combat since World War II when the nation became officially pacifist - has repeatedly faced charges of failing to care for its troops' psychological health.
In August, a court ordered the government to pay compensation to the family of a young naval officer who hanged himself on his ship after being insulted by a supervisor and ordered to fetch alcohol.
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