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© KYODOJapanese baseball star Yamakawa not to face charges over alleged rape
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Paul
So this woman accused him of rape, destroyed his career and reputation. Prosecutors drop the case because there is a luck of evidence that she was actually raped. Wouldn't it have been better to make sure they have all the evidence before making it public and destroying his life?
Hello Kitty 321
One law for the rich and famous and another for the rest of us?
Yubaru
So, I await the folks who always say the woman is right and the man is wrong, even when there is no evidence to support the allegations to come to this woman's defense!
BigP
She just destroyed his life. I hope he takes her to court for damages. Name and shame her!
browny1
Simply - we don't know the facts.
It does fit the custom in Japan though of out of court settlements, thereby ending any legal/civil proceedings which could bring more damage to the alleged perpetrator.
Sounds like this to me.
Mr Kipling
It is important to remember that in Japan criminal cases can be dropped if the victim comes to an arrangement with the criminal. Usually financial, and often not a huge amount. The lack of evidence would be the lack of a victim statement.
TorafusuTorasan
The scandal-oriented news sites explained how the younger players served as date recruiters for their senior teammate. From management standpoint, Yamakawa had to get a long suspension to try to shield the rest of the team. Opening a full scale inquiry into who knows how many young players who had some connection to the scheme could be quite ugly.
girl_in_tokyo
PaulToday 06:49 am JST
How was his career and life destroyed, exactly? Was he fired? Did the public turn on him? Can he no longer find work as a baseball player? Did his wife divorce him? I'm curious what you know, and how you are sure that his career and life are destroyed.
Also, how do we know that he is actually innocent? Dropping a case due to insufficient evidence does not mean he is entirely innocent. It just means they cannot prosecute.
But - to be totally clear, I can agree that this case is unproven, therefore we must give the accused the benefit of the doubt in terms of how we speak of him and the case. But we also cannot positively state the woman was lying.
How does anyone know she is lying? Why is he innocent until proven guilty, while she is a liar until proven honest? There is a very clear bias against victims who report sexual assault.
Paustovsky
That is the most Japan sentence I've read this week. My wife's friends describe men with poor social skills as "like a baseball player".
Hello Kitty 321
Thank you girl-in-tokyo, a voice of reason as always.
virusrex
In many parts of the world this would mean the accused is most likely innocent since lack of evidence would only come as a reason when every possible way to prove the accusation (even indirectly) was tried and eliminated. Unfortunately in Japan prosecutors are famous for abandoning cases the moment they judge it would be difficult to prove the accused is guilty, even if there are clear evidence that indicate it. This is well known, so some people will have this in their minds when thinking about the case.
Leo T
More false claims by women. Where are all the posters that say men are always wrong?
Leo T
She should be thrown in jail for making false claims.
Something needs to be done so these false claims stop coming up and ruining peoples lives.
Yubaru
So, how do we know he isn't innocent! Be exact in your explanation.
The rest of everything you wrote is actually fluff and meaningless, as this statement is the heart of not just this, but any article about a "man" being accused of a crime that there is no evidence to support.
You are going to reply with something along the lines of: "I'm just stating a fact! " But out of the other side of your mouth you are saying, "He is guilty as sin!" "The girl is right"
Sven Asai
Well, they think they are rich, can do anything bad and nothing will happen to them. And somehow they are obviously right. They are rich, do anything bad and nothing happens to them.
rainyday
This is probably what is going on.
In a case like this usually the main (or only) evidence the prosecutors have is the victim’s statements. If the victim reaches a settlement with the perpetrator a precondition of that settlement is that the victim in effect agrees not to pursue the criminal case, and without their cooperation the prosecution can’t proceed so it gets dropped.
We can’t draw any conclusions about what actually happened from this outcome. Its equally possible that he actually raped her and she decided to take a settlement rather than go through the stress of the case proceeding as it is that there was no rape and she was making a false complaint in order to get a payout from the guy.
girl_in_tokyo
YubaruToday 12:01 pm JST
As I said: I can agree that this case is unproven, therefore we must give the accused the benefit of the doubt in terms of how we speak of him and the case.
How much clearer do you need me to be?
So you disregarded my actual explanation, and then asked me to explain further?
No, I did not state that. Please ... stop misrepresenting my opinions and accusing me of saying things that I did not, and would not, ever say.
girl_in_tokyo
Leo TToday 11:53 am JST
Where is the evidence that she lied?
As far as I know, this case didn't even go to court. But if there was, and it was proven that she lied, please do give us the link. We are waiting.
opheliajadefeldt
girl_in_tokyo...............................There is a very clear bias against victims who report sexual assault.
Sadly, it is the same everywhere. In many, if not all, Patriarchal and misogynistic societies, women always come second.
Concerned Citizen
@girl_in_tokyo
Well said.
Dr Maybe
She should be thrown in jail for making false claims.
You should be thrown somewhere, preferably somewhere without a computer so that we don't have to read your ridiculous posts.
Pacificpilot
It’s an uphill battle for women when they the alleged rape in Japan’s male dominated society. The female victim was probably interrogated by male investigators, and the case was reviewed and terminated. by male supervisors
nukkuheddo
apparently the alledged encounter occurred in a hotel. Then I'm sure there is video of he/her entering and leaving the hotel - and I'm sure that video has been observed by the authorities. Perhaps if you are a celebrity you should video the encounter in the room as well.
naturalboke
Just to be clear, charges being dropped is not the same as false claims. Sexual assault often happens when two people are alone making consent very hard to prove either way. The charges being dropped does not mean he didn't do it nor does it mean he did. He did however allow himself to be put in a position where he could have been accused. In my opinion if you are famous (or not) one night stands are very risky and you might want to stick to traditional relationships with dating etc being a good base for consent although even this is not enough to 100% prove consent.
Leo T
girl in tokyo
Where is the evidence that she lied?
Well the prosecutors didn't file charges
aka No proof and false claims
Leo T
Dr Maybe
You should be thrown somewhere, preferably somewhere without a computer so that we don't have to read your ridiculous posts.
I hope false claims never effect you and your family.
Its sad that you condone people making false claims, you agree with people making false allegations about people?
Leo T
Pacific pilot
It’s an uphill battle for women when they the alleged rape in Japan’s male dominated society. The female victim was probably interrogated by male investigators, and the case was reviewed and terminated. by male supervisors
Or maybe they are false claims and she was trying to get cash?
Leo T
Naturalbroke
He did however allow himself to be put in a position where he could have been accused.
I do agree
But how about the girl not enter his hotel room?
What did she think he wanted?
To play Nintendo Switch?
girl_in_tokyo
Leo TToday 08:17 pm JST
That is speculation, not evidence.
You don't know; you're guessing, and it's equally likely that her claims were not false, but the prosecution dropped the case because they didn't feel confidence enough to get a guilty verdict. This is a known phenomena in the Japanese justice system.
girl_in_tokyo
Leo TToday 08:23 pm JST
To have drink? To chat? To get to know him better? To make out a little, but not have sex?
Lots of reasons. And none of them are justification for rape.
Leo T
girl in tokyo
"To have drink? To chat? To get to know him better? To make out a little, but not have sex?
Right, that's what people do in hotel rooms.
NEVER has a guy invited a girl to his hotel room not trying to get lucky.
No one is that naive
girl_in_tokyo
Leo TAug. 31 11:19 pm JST
What part of "there is no justiciation for rape" are you having trouble understanding, exactly?
Rather than being derisive, you should feel very bad indeed for a naive young woman who is so innocent that she thinks she is safe going to a hotel room with a man just to have a chat.
Also, I've been in a lot of hotel rooms with people I was visiting, and none of those people raped me. Because they weren't rapists.
The difference between a woman being safe in a hotel room and being unsafe is the presence of a rapist.
ElecFixer
We've all got to earn a living somehow
girl_in_tokyo
ElecFixerToday 08:12 am JST
Are you seriously trying to imply that I'm a sex worker?
I think that post VERY clearly breaks the rules of this forum.
As an aside, I'm not offended - I see nothing wrong with sex work. What I find offensive is that you tried to shame me, it as if it IS something offensive. That's misogynistic AF, dude.
Leo T
girl in tokyo
What part of "there is no justification for rape" are you having trouble understanding, exactly?
What part of it wasn't rape don't you understand?
No charges are being filed
She went to his hotel for consensual sex
Knew what she was doing
You are ALWAYS so quick to call out men, how about call out the woman for once?
girl_in_tokyo
Leo TSep. 1 01:56 pm JST
Oh, I'm sorry, I missed the part of the article where it said the woman was proven to be lying, and was charged and convicted of filing a false police report. I also must have missed the article that she was sued in civil court and lost the case, and had to pay the man for defamation of character.
Oh, wait. That didn't happen.
I'll say it again: why are men innocent until proven guilty, but women are liars until proven honest.
Oh, wait. I know that answer, too.
Because misogyny.
sir_bentley28
For all you defending the woman, here is the truth!There were lies about the rape case! There were many discrepencies in her "story"! So the prosecutors dropped the case! Here's my proof :
source :
https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2023082900775/
And YES! It DOES happen! Women have sex with prominant figures (celebs, rappers, musicians, people with money) for ulterior motives (status, fame, money, more money (if they get preggers) and if it doesn't go their way, well.......
girl_in_tokyo
sir_bentley28Sep. 4 09:15 am JST
The article you linked to says:
So the discrepancies in the statement by the woman means she is lying, but the discrepancies by the man show ... nothing?
I'm not saying she isn't lying, or that he is lying, I'm saying there is no way for us to know.
I do know one thing, though: if the victim were a man, you would be citing innocent until proven lying; but since this is a woman, you need no evidence at all to accuse her of lying.
sir_bentley28
girl_in_tokyo
What do you know about me? You know NOTHING about me or my train of thought! He said it was consensual and she said it was rape! Did he force himself upon her? Doubt it because she would've said so in her statement. Was she drugged? No. Was she invited to his room? Yes. Now I'm not saying that taking an invite to a guy's room IMMEDIATELY means sex, but I doubt she thought he wanted to talk to her about the Lord and saviour. False accusations like these happens to prominant people. Look at Mike Tyson's reason for his incarceration. My evidence of her lying is the history of some women (NOT ALL) lying to get money, status, fame or other motives. Again, it all comes down to he said/she said.
girl_in_tokyo
sir_bentley28Today 08:43 am JST
I am responding only to what you wrote. If you have other thoughts, do convey them.
She said it was rape, which means that she said he forced himself upon her - that is the definition of rape.
We do not know if she was drugged, or drunk, or completely sober. We also do not know who invited whom, or whose idea it initailly was, or any other details as they were not provided - thus, this is purely speculative.
I have visited male friends, co-workers, and acquaintances in their hotel rooms, and I have invited them to vistit my hotel room. None of those times was I thinking about sex.
It is entirely possible she did not have any thoughts of sex, and it is entirely possible she did - either way, we do not know and cannot speculate.
Also, even someone who has initially consented to some form of sexual activity is not automatically consenting to all sexual acts - someone may consent to kissing, touching, groping, or more, without consenting to sex.
A person who is naked in bed with someone can still be pushed past the point where they have consented, and that is still rape.
And it does not matter if the person is a man or a woman. Look at the Johnny's case - regardless of who asked whom into whose room, and whether the person had any idea that sex would or would not take place - it was rape, because the person involved did not freely consent to sex.
Again, if you are going to accuse her of lying and making false accusations, you need evidence, and the fact that some other women in the past have lied is not evidence that this woman lied, just as some other famous men in the past have raped women is not evidence that this famous man raped a woman.
You always say "evidence is needed" when a woman accuses a man of rape, but when it comes to accusing a woman of lying, you ignore the need for evidence. Where are your protestations that someone is innocent until proven guilty?
And yes, it all comes down to he said/she said in this particular case, which means we do not know what actually happened so any statements are purely speculative.