Police in Tokyo have arrested a 36-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of having sex with two girls, a junior high school student and an elementary school student.
According to the police, Ryuji Nishida is suspected of engaging in lewd acts with a 13-year-old junior high school student and a 12-year-old elementary school student in December last year in a karaoke booth in Shibuya Ward after promising to give them 40,000 yen, NTV reported.
On Dec 21, one of the girls posted on social media that she was looking for a sugar daddy. Nishida saw the post and sent her a message saying, "I want to meet you.”
The girl showed up at Shibuya Station with a friend and Nishida took them to a karaoke parlor where he allegedly had sex with them between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Nishida claims he didn’t know the girls were under the age of 16.
The incident came to light in June when one of the girls was taken into custody by police in Tokyo’s Kabukicho red-light district.
Police said the two girls have been engaging in sugar dating to earn money to spend time at game centers.
© Japan Today
36 Comments
JeffLee
An unemployed "sugar daddy." Why do these articles always raise more question than they answer?
tora
Papakatsu is really a euphemism for prostitution. Although they probably had some regulars on the side too.
factchecker
Police said the two girls have been engaging in prostitution to earn money to spend time at game centers.
Fixed the last paragraph for you.
Fighto!
Another perverted child rapist caught - but sadly likely just the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully he spends many years in prison. Would be ideal if something was surgically removed from the paedophile.
puregaijin
Perverted, maybe. But child rapist ? How ? What if he’s telling the truth ? I do understand the girls are minors , but all said and done , they’re soliciting no?
Fighto!
You really think a 12 year old child understands the implications of what she is doing? That they can consent?
He is a child rapist - and needs to be severely dealt with.
Peter Taylor
No, I do not think a 12 year old will understand in the same way as a mature person. He’s a pervert for looking out for a particular age group. Did you read my question? What if he’s telling the truth ? I’ll simplify: why if he genuinely didn’t know their ages. Sigh !
TokyoLiving
Not a rapist, It was consensual sex, today's young people think almost like an adult.
This is the world now...
Fighto!
Claiming to believe a 12 year old elementary child is over 16? Seriously? That is not a legal defense, and rightly so.
I genuinely worry about the amount of defending of men who have sex with children that takes place after each of these stories.
Creepy.
Mr Kipling
And where were the "parents"?
Halk
Yes, this is 100% rape, and I'm going to guess that you're very young to not know about sexual consent of minors.
Even if a minor seems to want or ask for it, it's illegal for an adult to have sex with them. Kids can't make good decisions about sexual consent and it's harmful and illegal for an adult to take advantage of them.
It’s important to remember that having sex with a minor is a serious crime to protect them.
More detail:
Consent is not valid: Minors, especially those under the age of consent, do not have the legal capacity to give informed consent to sexual activity. Their decision-making is often influenced by factors like vulnerability, peer pressure, or financial need.
Exploitation: An adult engaging in sexual activity with a minor takes advantage of their immaturity and lack of experience. This is a form of exploitation.
Long-term harm: Sexual activity with a minor can have severe psychological and emotional consequences for the minor, including trauma and difficulty forming healthy relationships later in life.
Legal consequences: Engaging in sexual activity with a minor is a serious crime that can result in imprisonment, fines, and other legal penalties.
Hervé L'Eisa
These two young girls were actively engaging in prostitution. They knew what they were doing.
That said, the guy also clearly broke the law(several laws) and will more likely pay the bigger price. The girls will likely also continue with their "career".
Fighto!
And another person who does not understand - or wilfully ignores the fact that 12 year old children cannot give consent.
Halk explains it perfectly.
WoodyLee
A creep on the loose, so did he actually pay them? I doubt it very much since he has no job.
I blame it on the Platforms these girls use to advertise themselves, in this day and age Creeps like him should have never had access to their profiles or been able to contact them, there are technologies available to do just that but these platforms will NOT implement it bcz. they lose revenues.
Zaphod
Fighto!
Perverted, yes. But "rape"? Perhaps in a strictly legal sense, but not in the way the word is meant to be used. These kids were into prostitution, which is an adult activity. Where are the parents?
Why do people overuse such strong words immediately? Such hype de-values the word. It is similar to calling every military conflict a "genocide". Words have meanings, if they mean everything they mean nothing.
Hercolobus
He needs to be taught a lesson in jail.
what about the girls, will they go to jubee?
Yohan
For sure he did not know the real age of one of the girls when answering to her post on social media that she was looking for a sugar daddy.
However after meeting them face to face he should not go with them to private rooms and consider to report them to police. The minimum age to engage in prostitution is 18 (and not 16) - he should notice the age difference and refuse to continue any contact with them.
The valid question however is about the parents of these two girls. These girls created a profil on social media looking for a sugar daddy, they met the man in Shibuya, but they were taken into custody by police in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Kabukicho red-light district 6 months later.
Parents should be kept responsible what their offsprings are doing.
girl_in_tokyo
YohanToday 11:19 am JS
He looked for young girls to have sex with, and when he saw them and how young they looked, he still wanted to have sex with them.
13 year olds look like 13 year olds, act like 13 year olds, and no 13 year old is going to look, sound, or act 18.
He is a child molester and rapist no matter how you try to justify this.
Yohan
Why to blame only the man? 12 y/o girls should not be allowed to create profiles and to advertise themselves on social media looking for sugar daddies.
It is up to such social media sites which accepts profiles pointing to sexual services to insist on identification/age check during sign-up - for example by a credit card, copy of a driving license etc...
It is also up to parents to check what their daughter who is still in elementary school is doing around 9 PM in Shibuya and Shinjuku and also questioning her from where the money is coming from she is spending in game centers all the time.
wallace
Whether he knew the real ages of the girls it is Statutory -rape and should be treated so. A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity, period.
mountainbear
I think you need to go and read up on what children are and how they develop.
Looks like you are notth only one here who lacksbasc undertsanding of what it means o be a child.
Xanadu Tokyo
ZaphodToday 10:19 am JST
Perverted, yes. But "rape"? Perhaps in a strictly legal sense, but not in the way the word is meant to be used. These kids were into prostitution, which is an adult activity. Where are the parents?
Where do ya'll draw the line?! 10 years old, 5?
wolfshine
Regarding some of the earlier discussions, if proof can be established that the defendent definitively knew that they were minors, the punishment should be harsher. If not, I would argue the punishment should potentially be more lenient. It can often be difficult to determine a female's age from looks alone. Some girls in their teens look like they are in their twenties, and some women in their twenties look more like they are in their teens. Petite women very much exist, especially in Asia, and also with modern makeup the lines are even more blurred. Of course, the people reviewing the case should objectively consider the physical appearance of the victims as well as the information surrounding the defendent and make an honest/objective decision from there.
Also, Japanese popular culture does not aid well to the cause of stopping the sexualization of children. Everytime I am in Akihabara I come across some product or poster blatantly promoting or engaging in lolicon, and this subculture has unfortunately spread worldwide to other countries and communities.
mallace
Er, ... ccording to the law, having sex with a child is considered rape, regardless of the child's consent or actions towards the adult.
Adults are held to higher standards of behavior and are not permitted to exploit or manipulate vulnerable children.
Zaphod
Xanadu
It is a sliding scale, of course. There is no magic "line" where a "chiid" suddenly transforms into an "adult", at say, 18 years old. Similar situation as with those endless abortion debates. Why is it necessary to immediately jump to the strongest term like "pedophilia"? My main beef is that this devalues the term. If everything is "pedophilia", then nothing is.
mallace
Sorry, but your 'sliding scale' does not match that of the law, pediatricians, and parents everywhere (16-18).
This man is a pedophile according to the definition of this word so why on Earth does using it here 'devalue' the 'term'?
pedohphile:
sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object. specifically : a psychiatric disorder in which an adult has sexual fantasies about or engages in sexual acts with a prepubescent child.
wallace
Legally a child becomes an adult at 18 regardless of their emotional and intellectual development which is not fully realized until later years.
Some dude
I can only quote the UK's greatest ever satirist, Chris Morris, who absolutely nailed the media hysteria back in 2001.
"But today, the number of children having sex with adults is beyond belief. If you define a child as anyone under 30, the figure is over 86%"
bund
Makes no sense, and the reference is irrelavant. They are 12 and 13 years old.
Some dude
Makes no sense, and the reference is irrelavant. They are 12 and 13 years old.
Yes, which makes this guy a criminal.
Two things can be true at once. This guy can be a danger to children, which he certainly appears to be, and appropriate measures can and should be taken.
The media also loves, loves, loves stories like this, as they can go gonzo on the "let's whip the readers up into a vigilante frenzy" line.
If you're not British, don't know who Chris Morris is, and weren't around in the early 2000s, the above reference is over your head and you should stick to being outraged.
tigerjane
Where are the parents? My teen is always home, and not out creating trouble and or selling their body.
Lord Dartmouth
I don't agree with girl_in_tokyo about much, but on this, absolutely!
Jonathan Prin
How do you stop these girls from doing it ? Prison? Beating ?
Only parents can stop it by educating.
What could be done is police sending such ads with age indicated and then showing up to take the perv and "educating" him.
You won't stop sex lol. If you do, you are extinct !
Yohan
I was asking this already before in this thread.
Hopefully police will check out what kind of families these two girls are from.
Good to read that police took them into custody.
To walk around during nighttime in Shibuya and Shinjuku for at least 6 months, to look out for men on the internet who are willing to pay for sexual services is clearly not normal behavior for girls who are only 12 years old. For sure these girls had more than only one customer.
About game centers and karaoke: (in the province where I am living) - Age Limit 16 y/o, up to 6 PM.
Minimum age for prostitution (sex against money) in Japan is 18 for all participants and not 16.
Parents should be kept responsible what their underage offspring is doing.
Yohan
By law in Japan a child is everyone under 18 (the age of majority) and not 16.
The age of consent in Japan is 16 for a sexual relationship, but only if there is no transfer of money or otherwise valuable items involved like expensive gifts etc.
In case of sex against money = prostitution and the minimum age is 18 for all participants is required.
Pedophilia is a medical term, it is a psychiatric disorder in which a person (gender irrelevant) who is clearly past puberty is sexually excited to prepubescent children (gender irrelevant).
With this arrested man in question this is clearly not the case, to call him a pedophile is wrong.
Hebephilia is likely the correct medical term, it is the sexual interest by an adult in pubescent children who are in early adolescence, typically ages 11–14.
wallace
The age of consent is 18 years covered by local prefecture ordinances. Some exceptions for teen relations.