Could I sue you for making another sexual joke after I specifically asked that people not? I am trying not to sound like too much of a bitch here, but it’s really, really not funny.
It seems like if you’re managing to get this kid’s energy channeled into academic improvement, you’re doing very well. I had an enormous crush on my Spanish teacher (of course, this was in a classroom with 30 kids) when I was 14, and the effect on my grades was just the opposite… I was too distracted. 14 year old boys are (generally) only capable of thinking with head #2.
BTW, this was 32 years ago and I, happily married for years, still remember this teacher vividly. But I don’t speak much Spanish.
Well, the age of consent in Japan ranges from 13-17, depending on the prefecture, so you might want to check that. 
Seriously, treat him as you would treat any other student, eventually he will grow out of his crush. Or he might become fixated on you, and stalk you a couple years in the future, but really, that isn’t that common.
It doesn’t matter what the age of consent is in Japan. It is inappropriate for a teacher to get involved with a student, even if the teacher is 30 and the student is 25.
It seems to me we’ve got an awful lot of Americans (myself included), discussing what’s essentially a Japanese cultural dilemma.
What we think, what works in Kansas, or NYC is immaterial. How do Japanese students exhibit crush behavior? What do Japanese teachers do in crush situations? Are the people telling the OP this is a crush situation Japanese or gaijin?
I’m far from a Japan expert, but I have visited the place a few times, as well as much of the rest of the world. A person who’s only experienced the USA and/or Western Europe will be hard pressed to comprehend the sheer alienness of the Japanese culture from our own. Not better or worse, just different at a very fundamental level that renders an awful lot of our ideas of “human nature” wrong.
Folks who’ve only experienced 1 or 2 similar cultures develop a misguided notion of what constitutes “human nature.” An awful lot of what we assume to be universal to humanity is really very specific to a culture. It’s “culture nature”, not “human nature.” When dealing only within our own culture, that distinction is immaterial, so we tend to ignore it. But in a cross cultural situation, ignoring that difference (or being unaware it even exists) is foolish.
If I was in the OP’s shoes, I’d be talking directly with native Japanese at the school, be they teachers or management or whomever. And I’d ignore any/all advice I got from non-natives, on both existence/non-existence of the problem and any proposed solutions. If necessary, get some of them to watch a session or two, clandestinely if necessary.
Well great, there goes my marriage.
Anyway, I think ivylass is right (in her earlier post, that is), it’s probably not that big a deal. As long as you’re not egging on the flirting, his coming out of his shell and being more spontaneous in starting conversations is great. Based on my own experience, that’s pretty much a 100% success when you’re teaching teens, regardless of how their grammar or vocabulary is. I suppose you could start making the lessons a little more serious, but don’t do a complete 180. It sounds like he’s getting into seeing English as a way of communicating rather than just a set of facts to be memorized for colege exams, and that’s a major hurdle to overcome. If you start pelting him with grammar drills you risk reversing that progress.
Btw, I thought you were still living in the states. When did you make the move to Japan?
Oh, I certainly won’t do that, especially since I know Yoshi is going to English cram school as well. Yes, that’s right, his parents have him enrolled in English conversation school and English cram school. This may have contributed to his reluctance to speak up. If I were an overworked Japanese schoolkid forced to go to two different evening foreign language lessons on top of my regular classes and club activities, I’d probably be pretty sullen too.
I also suspect that some of Yoshi’s previous English teachers did not always do a good job of hiding their frustration with him. So, despite what my coworkers say, I do think it’s possible that he doesn’t have a crush on me. I may just be the first English teacher he’s had who didn’t seem very intimidating. I’d like to attribute this to my stellar teaching ability and warm personality, but it’s more likely because I come across like a harmless lunatic.
Anyway, I’m more than happy to let the cram school worry about grammar drills. But my private conversation lessons with other students are all more structured than Yoshi’s have been. They usually read a pre-selected article before their class, and we use that as the basis of our discussion. I’ve been thinking that I should try to find Yoshi some easy YA science-fiction short stories to read.
Four months ago today!