School director charged in relation to student's death

10.30pm

The director of a West Auckland school for problem Japanese teenagers has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice -- the tenth person to be charged following the death of a Japanese student.

Nozomu Shinozaki, a 22-year-old from Yokohama, died early yesterday morning at the Columbus Academy in West Harbour.

The cause of his death is not yet known, but it is believed he died from head injuries.

Today at the Waitakere District Court the academy's director, 49-year-old Kutsuo Kanamori, also known as Soon Keuk Kim, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, after he allegedly told students under his care not to co-operate with police.

Nine students from the academy, aged between 17 and 26, have been charged with the assault and kidnapping of Mr Shinozaki.

The accused are: Kazuhiro Sato, 19, Ryu Fukushima, 22, Ryuji Hiraki, 26, Hidetaka Nishide, 26, Masato Fujita, 19, Motomu Kobori, 19, Daisuke Fukuda, 20, Kato Tomohisa, 17, Nobu Oshima, 18.

All of the accused were remanded on bail for two weeks by Judge John Hole.

They entered no pleas.

Mr Shinozaki, whose family have arrived in Auckland, is believed to have gone to high school in Auckland, and was working in a Japanese restaurant.

It is not known how long he attended the Columbus Academy.

The International Columbus Academy is a non-profit organisation based in Yokohama, Japan.

Its website says it was set up in 1989 to help problem Japanese teenagers.

The teenagers are sent to academies in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

The Auckland academy in West Harbour has been open since the mid-1990s.

It is advertised as helping students who have problems fitting in to the Japanese education system with activities such as outdoor sports, learning "living English" and mixing with the community to restore their confidence.

The Japan Times is reporting the academy caters for about 50 students, 30 living in its West Auckland campus and another 20 living in home-stay accommodations around the city.

The news of Mr Shinozaki's death has brought at least four Japanese television networks to Auckland, and the story is running in Japanese newspapers and on websites.