Journalist Ito says she was 'desperate to protect' herself from rape

Vince BlackToday 04:07 pm JST

Somehow she conveniently forgets the time between drinking heavily, a choice she made, and waking up in a hotel room, another choice she made.

Sounds like she's just after cash.

It seems you are not very familiar with the case. Ms. Ito said she had one cup of sake before feeling dizzy, which made her believes Yamaguchi slipped her a date rape drug. The taxi driver reported that she asked continuously to be taken home, but Yamaguchi ignored her and took her to his hotel. There is also video footage of Yamaguchi carrying her into the hotel because she could not walk. She was incapacitated and unable to consent to sex.

Also, the case reeks of political interference. Ms. Ito reported the attack right away, and the police were planning to go forward with the arrest. But as it turns out, Yamaguchi is apparently friends with Shizo Abe - he wrote a flattering biography of him and they remain friendly. The top prosecutor called off the arrest literally seconds before Yamaguchi was to be arrested as he came out of Narita airport. The police were forced to drop the case.

Also, just so you know, women don't make money by pretending to have been raped. Even if she did win the case, which is not very likely considering how these cases generally go, she still has to pay her lawyer.

In these cases the only people to make money are the lawyers.

The reason she spoke up is because rape is all too often ignored in Japan and she wanted to make a stand. Thanks to her, other women will feel empowered to come forward and report their rapes, and more attention will be paid to the lack of resources for victims. In addition, she did not want Yamaguchi to get away with raping more women - did you know that research shows that on average, a rapist rapes four times?

Somehow she conveniently forgets the time between drinking heavily, a choice she made, and waking up in a hotel room, another choice she made.

drinking heavily doesnt excuse rape, enticing a woman whos heavily drunk into your room or entering her room while shes drunk doesnt excuse rape also. If your a guy and need to get a women drunk to have sex with her your clearly got some mental health issues

@Vince Black read the article, she says:

"I felt dizzy when I was dining together (with Yamaguchi), and when I woke up at a hotel I was being raped,"

Which seems to me she was drugged.

@Vince Black

Don’t blame the victim. Also, it was all for show or if she was lying, I don’t think she would persistently pursue the case as much as she has. Regardless of how many times they dropped the case, she keeps pursuing it. I commend her for taking a stand and for not backing down.

Victims deserve the benefit of the doubt.

The BBC report on this “Japan’s Secret shame” is worth searching for on YouTube simply for the comments section. Some of the Japanese guys are quite angry by the claims ;-)

But anyway, taxi driver confirmed she couldn’t stand by herself and Yamaguchi had to carry her into the hotel. Evidence showed intercourse definitely happened so it does seem difficult to side with Yamaguchi on it.

Women rarely report rape and sexual assault in Japan so that fact that Ms. Ito is doing just that, is brave. We're the same age but I can't even imagine the pressure and anxiety.

This is a well publicized case that Abe has swept under the rug to protect his friend. Abe is often compared to Trump in many ways, fake issues, policy failures, and I guess we can add protecting a rapist as one more (although wth Trump he is the accused rapist).

Got to admire the tenacity of this woman. She is fighting the big boys and has lost twice but has not given up. She is not doing this for 11 million yen as the poster above incredibly claimed. She is doing this because she knows she was raped and the criminal Yamaguchi belongs in jail. Most women do not file charges as they know the system is rigged against them even though they were the ones who are the victims.

Wow...why all the down votes for all the supportive comments towards someone who alleges she was raped?

This story infuriates me. The woman received so many threats from men and women alike that I believe she had to leave the country at one point. And Abe, friend of this disgusting rapist, has defended the man, too, and I believe in part because of that the woman was pressured at first from coming forward at all. As for him suing HER -- absolutely abhorrent. He'll probably win, too, while she'll lose.

Wesley:

The reasons for the decision are opaque, which is why Ito titled her book "Black Box".

Having seen the documentary on Her story and watched her have to painfully retell the series of events I'm not sure how many people could believe that she would go to the trouble of making this all up to end up public shamed and shunned, its an incredibly difficult task questioning the backwards systems in Japan but also questioning somone in a position of power.

Beiing married to a Japanese women now I often wonder if people realise how difficult it is for women to even raise such issues, not only is there the stigma still attached to it in Japan but you get stupid old men banding together to defend the actions of other equally stupid old men in an attempt to cover up their own guilt with claims of chivalry, when in fact they are the lowest of low.

I don't know what i would do if one of those scum buckets ever pulled something like that on my wife or my daughter but I think people can at least take hope that women in Japan are now making themselves heard on a world wide scale that this sort of behavior particularly by people in.positions of power is completely unacceptable.

I hope the guys career is destroyed its the least he deserves.

Victimized a second time...by the judicial system

@girl_in_tokyo, I cannot believe that you got voted down many times. I followed the reportings on Ito's case as well. One piece done by BBC Two, also report on the case - though one sided (Ito's). Nevertheless, no means no!

I wish her well; she has come a long way.

Why did she leave it nearly 3 years to report it? Within those three years her career needs to be analyzed, was it failing? If so her want for money is rationalized.

You know very well why it takes victims years to come forward.

They will be questioned ad infinitum, disbelieved and villified. Their sex lives will be under scrutiny - usually by men and the trauma of rape cannot be dismissed as something you easily get over.

This article is extremely brief. If you don't know of this case, please read up. There is a mountain of info concerning this in Japanese and English. Foreign Correspondence Club of Japan is worht checking out.

As girl-in-tokyo and others have indicated - the whole sad saga took on a huge twist when the head of the police (Abe's mate) abruptly stopped the arrest at Narita - altho technically it wasn't his right to call. And as noted Ito is Abe's chum who wrote his glowing biography.

All too too convenient to be coincidental. Once again the common citizens of Japan get screwed by the spooners and their rogues.

@ yildiray

Your BBC report recommendation on “Japan’s Secret shame" was very worthwhile. For those who haven't seen the video, have a look. Ms Ito comes across as a very open credible person.

It's easy to understand there are negative consequences for doing the wrong thing, but much later realized the evil created from there being negative consequences for doing the right thing. Kudos to you Ms Ito. I hope you do move from being a lone voice in the wilderness.

If you haven't followed the case outside of here, you are in no position to make any comment. It's been better reported in foreign media than in Japan. If the testimony of the taxi driver, the CCT footage, and her own testimony isn't enough to convict or at least prosecut the perpetrator in a court than I don't know what is?

Please everyone, read girl_in_tokyo’s rundown of the news reports. (above) And if you have the inclination, go a bit further and study the news yourself. (English and Japanese) The case needs to be seriously reconsidered.

Following the incident, she filed a complaint with police but prosecutors dropped the case in July 2016, citing insufficient evidence.

Ito later filed a complaint with the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, but it also judged in September 2017 that the prosecutors' decision was "appropriate," saying there was no reason to overturn it.

Having observed the standards of the Japanese (so-called) Justice system recently, why am I not supprised.

I hope there is an investigation and the correct outcome is reached.

It’s about time ladies voices were heard, and taken seriously on issues like this.

I hope she made some kind of contemporaneous notes or comments to friends or family around the time of the alleged attack - as such words could be crucial in backing up her claim.

Good for her! I hope more women in Japan blow the lid off one of the dirty secret of this society.

Toxicity report?

Did no one read that major article that came out a couple months ago?

Police officers in Japan typically don’t give women rape kits when they claim they have been raped.

Normally family members try to persuade victims not to come forward and then police tend to try and persuade victims not to go through with it also.

Those cases tend to be hard to prove in Japan because in order for it to be considered rape, the law here requires the victims to prove they resisted with every fiber of their being. Also, the reputation of the victims also take a huge hit.

The article said less than 4% of rapes are reported.

Very brave of her to go after the big boys in Japan. I hope she gets justice.

he slipped her a drug? Ok, toxicity report.

Many drugs used to incapacitate victims leave the body quickly. By the time they recover it's too late. Seen it myself many times through work.

Call me a traditionalist, Osaka-Doug, but I like definitions that actually involve violence, coercion, or exploiting a provable helpless state (such as being drugged).

Is that limited to rape or also to other law breaking like robbery ?

Pick-pocketing doesn't involve violence, coercion or exploiting a provable helpless state so that is not robbery according to your stance, is it ?

Imagine a world were robbery was treated the same way as rape : A says : "B stole my phone." ; B says : "A give it to me" ; Cops ask A : "Did you fight with your uttermost effort to protect your phone ?" ; A answer : "No, I was too surprised / I was too scared / I was unable to understand what was going on, I know B. B should not do that. That can not be happening. / ... " ; Cops : "So it is not robbery."

In case that need to be said : rape is by its nature an act of violence. So rape involve violence just by being committed.

World Health Organization's definition of violence : "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation."

Further, even from a theoretical, idealist perspective, pushing the requirements so low means you are not so much criminalizing rape (even in the ever loosening definitions that seem all the rage today), but de facto criminalizing sex. Consent structurally becomes a justification (as in justifiable homicide). So we have to think, whether we want to criminalize sex.

Rape is not sex. Rape is violence.

Sex is something shared in between consenting people from the beginning to the end. A definition of rape as the lack of consent is just obvious as sex is all about consent.

Criminalizing rape is never going to criminalizing sex. (Thought if you consider sex as penetration by criminalizing penetration that should obviously criminalize rape.)

oldman_13: "If it was any other country but Japan, majority of people here would automatically side with the guy (he said/she said)"

If ever there were a more naive or intentional comment of denial, I've not seen one of late. If it were any other industrialized country but Japan, the man would be behind bars, not able to sue the rape victim. As said, and which you've chosen to ignore, this woman was chased out of country at one point by men and women alike, calling her names you would not believe simply for trying to tell what happened to her, and then even worse when it became public. Many are more angry at her for besmirching this Abe-beloved man and celebrity than they are for a woman being raped. Now, swallow that, bud, while you talk about other nations and pretend Japan is on the high road here. Again, any other nation and the guy would be behind bars. Where is he here? Why was the government at the highest levels allowed to step in and stop the courts? THAT is Japan.

oldman_13: "If it was any other country but Japan, majority of people here would automatically side with the guy (he said/she said)"

If it were any other industrialized country but Japan, the man would be behind bars, not able to sue the rape victim. As said, and which you've chosen to ignore, this woman was chased out of country at one point by men and women alike, calling her names you would not believe simply for trying to tell what happened to her, and then even worse when it became public. Many are more angry at her for besmirching this Abe-beloved man and celebrity than they are for a woman being raped. Now, swallow that, bud, while you talk about other nations and pretend Japan is on the high road here. Again, any other nation and the guy would be behind bars. Where is he here? Why was the government at the highest levels allowed to step in and stop the courts? THAT is Japan.

I can't see her actually winning this civil case, but provided his countersuit doesn't win, women in Japan still win from the increased focus on date rape in Japan. Every woman in Japan should support her because she is championing their cause. As can be seen in some of the comments above, she is doing it at the expense of herself continuing to be accused of asking for it anyway by simply meeting the man in a bar.

The taxi driver's testimony suggests she was incapacitated. I hope the judge sees sense and does not let his countersuit win. Incapacitated means no consent.

Norman GoodmanToday  11:28 am JST

"...Rape is always violent. Even if the woman is not awake or aware of the violence being perpetrated against her, she becomes aware of it later

I cannot figure out if you are talking about psychological violence there or what? Unless you specifically say "psychological violence" men are not going to get it. If you are not talking about punching, slapping and tossing people around its just not the standard definition of violence. Some stupid guys have put videos up on the net of them raping passed out girls. They were physically gentle. They were not beating them like a rage doll. Why does this confuse you?..."

This is disturbing. The "standard definition of violence" - as determined by whom?

The act of unconsented, unwanted sexual penetration by one person upon another is an act of violation. A violation of rights, a violation of body & mind & dignity. It doesn't matter if the sheets are satin and Debussy is playing in the background and the perpetrator has washed themselves or whatever - the forced penetration in of itself is the violent act. It is an act of physical power, control, supremacy over another - an act that was not given permission for. It is a violent act - no slapping required.

And the fact that in your experiences, some may send "mixed messages" is of no importance to the case at hand. Evidence abounds that Shiori Ito was raped and vested forces saw to it that this will go nowhere.

But they didn't account for Ito's unwavering sense of injustice and her fierce determination to right a wrong - not just for herself, but for the 1,000s who are violated by predators daily and have no voice, no way, no help.

darknuts - If victims get the benefit of the doubt then it's guilty until proven innocent.

Which is how the Japanese court system works. I have no doubt this goon is guilty, but has used his influential friends to get him off. This happens in Japan very often. However, because he has been acquitted by a court she has opened up a new can of worms with her law suit and sadly, I feel she will end up the victim again. It is extremely probable she was drugged and raped, but the courts have deemed it differently.

Ah! Mr Ito! He's immune. He's one of Abe's boys.

Life in democratic Japan is down to connections. A good connection with Abe is the trump card!

Just regarding the statement in the headline, but in Japan, a woman has to try to fight off the man for it to be viewed as "rape". Freeze out of fear or self protection and the law will not recognize it as rape. This is of course extra problematic if the woman has been drugged.

Why do so many doubt her claim about being drugged? Imagine a man goes drinking in Kabukicho or Roppongi hostess bars and wakes up somewhere with an empty wallet. He doesn't remember anything beyond going into the bar. He imagines he must have been drugged. What would you think?

Women can be drugged, too. It happens.

She threw up and then wanted to have sex? I am a man and have been in situations where women have been drunk and have thrown up but never one where after that she wants sex. Hard to believe this guy's account. Is there no video of them going to he hotel? What about the staff? Did they see the woman looking uncomfortable, etc?

StrangerlandToday  11:05 am JS

Because everyone deserves due process, and the right to be thought of as innocent until proven guilty.

You’re confusing a person having an opinion with a judge impartially ruling on a case. People aren’t judges and therefore aren’t obligated to not have an opinion in an ongoing case. Onlookers aren’t held to the same standard as a court, for ehat Id think are obvious reasons.

Let’s put out it this way. If a man who was accused of child molestation lived across from you, would you remain neutral and not mention to your children to be extra careful and to stay away from this man, specifically, more so than you would warn them against strangers in a general sense?

To remain neutral is to say that the evidence is unclear or that there isn’t enough evidence to allow one to form an opinion. In this case, however, there is very strong evidence of guilt. To remain neutral, then, is being in denial of the evidence.

The idea that all men should be thought of as guilty by default, due to the fact that some are, is the same justification racists use for their bigotry.

You are confusing having strong evidence and good reason to believe a specific man is guilty of a specific crime with having unfounded prejudicial beliefs about an entire race.

And to be clear, that doesn't mean that everything you are saying is wrong, but it means that we need to hear it from someone who isn't clearly biased in to an unhealthy degree.

Who do you mean? Hear evidence from who that isn’t clearly biased to an unhealthy degree?

If if you mean me, then that’s rather strange since you have access to the exact same information I do, so you can look up the facts of the case for yourself.

If if you mean Ms. Ito, then that’s also a strange statement, because she’s the victim. How can it be said that a crime victim carries an unhealthy bias against the person they accused? You seem to be saying that by the very fact they are a victim, they automatically carry an unhealthy bias and therefore their testimony can’t possibly be trustworthy. How does that follow?

Are you saying we can never, ever, trust the word of anyone who accuses someone of a crime? Explain.

You cannot blame the victim until you have ascertained there is in fact, a victim. Otherwise people are blaming the ACCUSER. So instead of repeating the "Stop blaming the victim" mantra, instead prove she was a victim. I could not find any evidence of what was claimed about the taxi driver (very annoying that), but the taxi driver did testify to some details, such as it taking three minutes for the defendant to get her out of the taxi, and that she threw up on the floor of the taxi. And throwing up tells me that if it was not because she was drugged then its because she drank too much. You don't just have first time sex with a girl that just puked. Can't get her out of the taxi and she puked? Yeah, considering that I believe she was passed out in the hotel room, whether for the drug or the drink. You don't have first time sex with a passed out girl either. Those two things are so obvious they should be literally written in the law with emphasis on first time sex.

I would also like to hear from witnesses at the izakaya to tell us how many she had that night. But at this stage, I would find for her....despite the horrible English language articles I just sifted through that brought up Korean sex slaves as if that's related and a sexual assault she claims from when she was 10, not to mention sheer bias toward any woman with a rape claim. The taxi driver says enough for me. And the 11th hour intervention by "authorities" when the guy is going to be arrested just seals it. He belongs in a jail cell.

Norman GoodmanToday 05:05 am JST

Flute wrote: Rape is not sex. Rape is violence.

This is how people destroy progress in discussions about rape whether they intend to or not. They often think that by trying to redefine the most basic of concepts into the most obviously biased and warped ideas, they are somehow helping.

Are you helping by saying:

To just deadpan declare that "rape is violence" excuses anyone who ever thought of using date rape drugs because it does not usually include physical violence. Ito never claimed any physical violence was used.

Rape is always violent. Even if the woman is not awake or aware of the violence being perpetrated against her, she becomes aware of it later - and in some ways, it's even worse for her to know that something was done to her against her will, and she was unable to stop it. Can you even imagine waking up and finding a man on top of you, holding you down so that you cannot move, raping you? I don't guess you can, if you can describe this as not being violent.

You are speaking of "consensual sex". Animals also have sex. Its not just people and consent between animals is pretty dubious. In fact, consent is difficult to ascertain moment to moment even between the people having sex, but its near impossible for third parties to determine.

I'm terrified that there men out there in this world who say things like, "consent is difficult to ascertain moment to moment even between the people having sex".

Do you know what this means? This means the man is so unaware, so uncaring, of how his partner feels from moment to moment, that he might be doing something to her that she considers to be rape. And he wouldn't even know it, because he is either completing ignoring how she feels, or he knows but doesn't even care.

Sex is a neutral word and a neutral act and that is never going to change. Rape is a negative form of sex and consensual sex is the positive. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Its not helping. The concepts of what is rape and what is sex cannot be distilled down any further.

I don't even know what you mean by that, because if you don't believe it is easy to ascertain consent, then you can't possibly understand what is sex and what is rape.

Why should we show neutrality?

Because everyone deserves due process, and the right to be thought of as innocent until proven guilty.

The idea that all men should be thought of as guilty by default, due to the fact that some are, is the same justification racists use for their bigotry. "Black people are criminals", "Mexicans do drugs", "Men are rapists". If you think on of these three comments does not belong with the others, your opinion cannot be taken seriously.

And to be clear, that doesn't mean that everything you are saying is wrong.

'Proper investigation is obviously necessary' - Yes this is what we are talking about - she is refused proper investigation because the guy is Abe's pal!

Apart from everything said even more disgusting is the lame behavior (or lack of) of the Japanese journalists all too afraid to investigate and make more publicity!

The freedom of speech have deteriorated severely in Japan with less and less outspoken people whose voice can be heard. The vast majority is served only the mainstream propaganda and apathy is the norm.

Young people don't ask questions but are attracted by Abe because he is cute!!!

The people in power have went to even ask a victim to consider her accusations might hurt the eventual criminal! It's simply ridiculous !

People are talking as if the man is vulnerable. This one certainly is not. He has the prime minister preventing progress of the case, denying Ms Ito her rights to a fair investigation.

Don’t blame the victim.

Victims deserve the benefit of the doubt.

No. They don't. This is dangerous thinking. If victims get the benefit of the doubt then it's guilty until proven innocent. Anyone can be accused of a crime. We need to be sensible when pursuing justice and not let our sympathy blind us.

The victim is not on trial.

She certainly appears to be, in this comments section.

Is this a coincidence?

Ms. Mochizuki is unusual in that she is a reporter covering the Tokyo metropolitan region who attends news conferences held by the central government. But she also stands apart as a vocal woman in the male-dominated world of Japanese politics.

“She is attacking these male bonds,” said Kaori Hayashi, a professor of sociology and media studies at the University of Tokyo. Ms. Mochizuki violates “what they have understood of what journalists should do at a press conference,” she said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/05/world/asia/japan-media.html

 It could be that all the PM said was "Look, you know this is a weak case that won't get a conviction in court anyway. All you are doing is harassing my buddy 

You support the PM using his vast influence to interfere with legal proceedings because the man accused is his buddy? Yeah, that sounds legal.

If it is a weak case or a strong case is not for him to decide. The way you have described it above is despicable, and if that is how justice is served in Japan, then Japan is clearly a deeply corrupt society.

StrangerlandToday  05:24 pm JST

And imagine if you were this man, and innocent. 

You avoided answering the question.

I think that can be taken as a sign that you are afraid to answer, because that answer would weaken your argument. The fact is, you can’t refute my point because it’s a perfectly valid and reasonable point.

Please tell me how he should deal with that situation.

Unlike you, I have no qualms answering questions that might weaken my argument.

Your argument is that forming an opinion before a case is settled is harmful to the accused because it’s terribly unfair to them and potentially devastating. Correct?

The flaw in your argument is twofold.

1) You, as an individual, don’t have to treat this hypothetical person badly. You don’t have to rudely shun them. You can still treat them with basic respect while at the same time protecting your family by quietly telling your child to stay away.

2) Making a risk assessment according to known information is an inherent right of every individual. No one has to justify their reasons for making the decision to avoid contact with a person who’s been deemed an unacceptable risk.

And if the answer to that question is yes, then do you feel black people should also be cool with things like black lives matter, because other black people have done bad things and therefore fear of black petiole is justified just to make sure your kids are safe?

As I said: you are conflating two completely unrelated things. When there is evidence and a reasonable suspicion that a specific person has committed a specific crime, you are well within your right to form an opinion based on that evidence, make a risk assessment, and take steps to protect yourself and/or your family.

On the other hand, if you are basing your suspicion on a broad racial prejudice towards an entire race with zero evidence of any crime at all, that’s blatant racism.

Just as the latter is some serious latent racism, the former is some serious latent sexism. 

Basing an opinion of guilt on the evidence presented in any given case isn’t sexist. And the evidence in this case is substantial.

WilliB

girl in tokyo:

Nobody here has doubted that, so I don´t know why you keep explaining that.

Actually, someone did - twice:

Norman GoodmanToday  05:05 am JST

To just deadpan declare that "rape is violence" excuses anyone who ever thought of using date rape drugs because it does not usually include physical violence. Ito never claimed any physical violence was used. 

> Norman GoodmanToday  11:28 am JST

If you are not talking about punching, slapping and tossing people around its just not the standard definition of violence. 

Some stupid guys have put videos up on the net of them raping passed out girls. They were physically gentle. They were not beating them like a rage doll. Why does this confuse you?

That’s why. Ok?

The issue that it is not sure that rape actually happened. 

Norman seems to think it did, since he clearly admitted that sex while a person is unconscious is rape. So ... it seems to me there’s no doubt here.

Unless that is, you and all these other guys are accusing Ms. Ito of lying. I’d like to ask for your evidence of that. Is there any? Because generally speaking, the police are very good at poking holes in stories and catching people out. That didn’t happen here. So either she’s telling the truth, or the police are incompetent. Which do you think it is?

If you had been raped, would you write "xxさん、お疲れ様です。無事ワシントンへ戻られましたでしょうか？VISAの事でどのような対応をしていただけるのか案を教えていただけると幸いです" to your rapist the day aft

You don't seem to be aware of how serious the trauma is for a victim of a violent rape. Women who have been raped are in shock. Shock cause victims to do things that seem abnormal to onlookers who aren’t cognisant of the effects of shock.

As an example, you’d think that being attacked would cause the victim to fight back, run, or try to escape, right? But that doesn’t always happen - more often than not, victims freeze. It’s a phenomena known by psychologists who specialise in trauma, and is called “tonic immobility”. Google it.

Another known reaction is denial. The denial response is so strong the victim goes about their business as normal, doing the things they normally would do, to push away the memory and preserve their sense of self. Again, you can google this.

Women who have been raped might go home, shower, wake up in the morning, go to work, and do all the things she normally does, including interacting with her rapist. It’s nit at all uncommon.

So the fact that Ms. Ito emailed Yamaguchi as if nothing had happened after having been violently raped by him is not at all indicative that nothing was wrong.

Again: you can google this.

Is rape against the law..... in.... Japan? Why are are the rape convictions at about 50% in Japan? Why is the convictions of other crimes at 99%? Seems off.

And if you go to Ito's instagram page and look at some of her photos of herself, you might have a hard time thinking of her as a victim.

I tried to find it, but couldn't. What kind of pictures can you see that would lead us to think that it's not possible she could ever be raped?

I thought the explanation of girl_in_tokyo was clear enough.

I put a definition of violence in the previous post :

World Health Organization's definition of violence : "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation."

The exchange I put myself into was about criminalization of rape and its legal definition. So as long as a cat can not go to human justice in order to get a fellow cat prosecuted on the claim of rape, I did not think anybody would find talking about rape/sex/coitus/... in the non human world any relevant.

If you are not a lesbian you will probably never know the difficulties of ascertaining consent with a large percentage of women.

you forgot : I had sex with.

I am not sure the problem is not the same the other way round. Except having a bisexual Ranma with lot of experience coming around, that will be hard to tell.

I have had awake, sober women say "No, no, no!" and then ask me why I stopped.

And then you explained it was because they say "no" and if they do not meant it they should not say it.

I have had women say stop simply so they could adjust their body position

And you stopped and asked them if they wanted you to pull out and they say no just that they wanted to change they body position.

You have no idea what its like to shoulder male responsibility

You more or less explained than the male responsibility was to listen to what the other say and ask more information if you had a doubt.

Then again, I have doubt that female responsibility do not involve communicate (talk, listen, ask, ...) with the other person you have sex with.

@hachikou

Other than muddying the waters, can you tell us whether you agree that:

Ito was not in a fit state to consent to sex

@Kazuaki Shimazaki:

Suppose you are in a position of power. You know someone who is being prosecuted. Maybe he is your friend or maybe he isn't, but he caught your eye [1]. You quietly enquire as to the specifics of the case. You sincerely believe even taken as per the casefile it is bullcrap [1] and the only reason it hasn't been terminated already is due to politics [3]. You also know that if you don't terminate it, regardless of the outcome of the case the defendant would never recover [4]

He caught my eye, despite my not knowing him, to the point that I decide to get involved.? Interesting, suspicious, and irrelevant, since in this case the POM and the accused rapist are known to be friends.

What right do I have to interfere in this? None - to do so is an abuse of power.

There is no evidence of this. On the contrary, the reverse appears to be true.

You are offering an hypothetical case, injecting nothing but supposition into it, and trying to connect it to this actual case as if what you write is true. That is very deceitful of you. As if you are trying to make anyone who reads your posts think you have facts about this case, whereas you do not. You are nothing but bluster and hot air., Stop wasting my time.

The fact that she reported the incident to the police right after the incident lends a lot of credibility to her case. She still needs to prove her accusation. Will be interesting to see what comes out from her lawsuit.

I doubt there is a woman alive that feels like being raped is a badge of honor. Why would anyone say they were raped if they weren't, especially a Japanese woman in Japan. It had to take a lot of guts to come forward. Even then, Ms. Ito only went after Mr. Yamaguchi for $11M yen in damages. However, probably in an effort to shut her down, Mr. Yamaguchi went after Ms. Ito for $130M yen. He allegedly said "She was the one who initiated things by pulling me by the hand." Even if she did pull him by the hand, it doesn't give him the right to go further without her approval and the absence of a "no" (as in an unconscious state) doesn't equate to a "yes" either.

Norman GoodmanToday  11:28 am JST

I cannot figure out if you are talking about psychological violence there or what? Unless you specifically say "psychological violence" men are not going to get it. If you are not talking about punching, slapping and tossing people around its just not the standard definition of violence. Some stupid guys have put videos up on the net of them raping passed out girls. They were physically gentle. They were not beating them like a rage doll. Why does this confuse you?

Rape is both psychologically and physically violent.

Psychologically, women have symptoms of trauma such as PTSD and flashbacks, and other long term effects such as fear of going outside, inability to be intimate, anger, self-blame, debilitating loss of confidence, and so on.

As for physical violence, I’m not sure how I can put this delicately, so I’ll just be direct. 

If a man forcefully shoves his penis into a woman’s vagina when she is unconscious and unable to consent, that’s physical violence in and of itself.

Additionally rape tears up the delicate tissues of the vagina and causes abrasions and great pain. Aside from pain, there’s the possibility of HIV, STIs, and pregnancy - can you fathom being pregnant as the result of a rape?

That’s violence to mind, body, and soul. 

No it doesn't. There is even a song called "Pleasure and pain" sung by a woman no less that insists there is a fine line between the two. Its hard to tell the difference sometimes. Even a woman's scream can be confusing. I have run out of the house upon hearing a woman scream, thinking she was being attacked. Then I heard her laughing...it was screams of joy. Its very hard to tell the difference sometimes.

Wow.

I've had several of my posts deleted for what the mods called “being impolite”, but compared to this post? Just...wow. Are the mods really going to just let this go?

This is guy states that he can’t tell the difference between a woman screaming for pleasure and screaming because she’s being raped. 

Again, just wow. 

If you are not a lesbian you will probably never know the difficulties of ascertaining consent with a large percentage of women. 

Well, you’re in luck. I’m bisexual and have had many sexual and romantic relationships with women. I can tell you with absolute authority and certaintity that it’s not at all difficult to ensure consent and avoid taking a woman. All you have to do is ... ask. And if you are still in doubt, you simply stop.

Did that really not occur to you in the situations when you couldn’t tell? Just to stop, check in, and make sure she was ok? Even in BDSM people use safe words, so I really don’t see how anyone can say that there is no real way to ensure consent. And frankly? If you don’t know this, can’t do it, or are so afraid of maybe accidentally spoiling the mood that you’re willing to risk taking someone, then you aren’t mature or responsible enough to be having sex.

She's a pretty Woman.

The problem is, here in Japan, it's a very Male dominated Society, so immediately any claim of impropriety faces an uphill struggle. The subject of date rape is also, a very difficult one to assess especially if as we're seeing in the US, the complaint is raised many years after the event.... in this case however, if as has been suggested above, there is real evidence that the accused is less than honest towards his recollection of events, then one has to wonder if the proverbial book should be thrown at him. I hope a fair trial take place with proper judicial process being followed.

Lalo - while your comments on this case are welcomed as a necessary part of the discussion, it would probably help yourself more if you read more comprehensive accounts of this torrid incident.

Hachikou- your comments don't reflect reality as has been presented openly for years.

Your version of events are quite absurd.

Please read more widely.

noypikantokuToday 09:25 am JST

I am against rape and sexual harrasment. But I hope the media and the people would show neautrality on both parties. Proper investigation is obviously necessary. This is I think the power of women, when they cry rape 80% of the sympathy is already on their side even if we still don't really know yet if they are telling the truth or not. I think these stories should not go out to media until the trial is over as obviously she already gets sympathy before the verdict is out. There were already cases in the past were men were wrongfully accused and you can't bring the reputation back. If the guy found guilty then he deserves all the proper punishment for the crime he committed and I hope there is also a law that will prosecute women if they wrongfully accused a man.

Why should we show neutrality? There is no such obligation, particularly when there is a large amount of evidence and all of it points towards a massive political coverup to protect a man who is a friend of Shinzo Abe.

Think about it for just one second - when Ms. Ito came forward, what happened? She was attacked on social media, slut shamed on national TV, called all kinds of names from "liar" to "whore", was accused of lying, accused of being a prostitute, and most unbelievably, accused of being a South Korean and North Korean double agent (at the same time, no less) who is hell bent on destroying Japan.

Do you think any woman would be willing to go though all of that for 11 million yen, most of which would be paid out to her lawyer anyway? And that is if she even wins, which is very, very unlikely. She has stated, over and over again, that her purpose is to bring attention to the difficulty women have in reporting sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape in Japan.

The police doubt women from the very beginning, so much so that of the measly 4% of rapes that are reported in Japan each year, only a very few even go to trial. And of those that do go to trial, hardly any result in a conviction. Of those that are convicted, most of the time all the guy gets is a suspended sentence. In the rare case a jail term is given, the most he would get would be ten years! Can you believe that?! Women don't want to report rape because what is the point in going through all of that, only to see your rapist be given a suspended sentence, slapped on the wrist, and go free?

From the very beginning women know that accusing any man, much less a famous one who is a friend of Prime Minister Abe, is a long shot. We know we will not be believed, and that we will have to fight every step of the way, being vilified and humiliated in the process. There is zero logic in accusing Ms. Ito of lying or of being out to gain something. She has gained nothing from this, and has lost a lot.

Men like Yamaguchi count on women being too afraid of the massive shame heaped on them in order to get away with raping women with impunity. Bill Cosby got away with it for more than 50 years. Bill Clinton also got away with it, as did Jeffery Epstein, who, in a rare turn of events, is finally is being brought to justice. I only hope the same thing will happen to Yamaguchi, but since this is Japan that is very, very unlikely.

 I have no doubt this goon is guilty,

and how about the good old USA? Aaaa? please explain the following story:

Donald Trump Has Been Accused Of Raping An Advice Columnist In A Department Store Dressing Room

If you know he is guilty then where are your facts? Where are the court documents you reviewed? But I was waiting for a comment like this. What the heck does President Trump have to do with this young lady and man? If the commenters are so anti-Trump move out of the U.S.A for gosh sakes. Your comments about Trump have no relevance with this case. Give it a freaking rest. And your username is totally wrong.

If the details provided by some commentators here are true, then yes this looks very much like a case of the big powerful boy protecting each other. Very much like Bill Clinton in the US....

girl in tokyo

Why should we show neutrality?

Because being neutral is being FAIR and that's just how justice should be! I support women and your rights, but I am more into EQUAL Rights! FAIR and SIMPLE! Fair treatment for everyone, Female, Male etc. I wouldn't criticize her like what these people in social media did, but that's the nature of social media and this is the downside of sensationalizing this. I think let the trial be over first before bringing it to media. She can appeal to the higher court, if Japan has one.  Because there are cases of women wrongfully accusing men of rape and sexual harrasment too! Like the salaryman in the bus who was accused by a highschool girl of groping and turned out to be false, but the salaryman was already fired from his company and the trial took one year. Please admit it that not all women are innocent and I am not accusing Ito san of lying too, all I am saying is be fair , if the prosecutors found lack of evidence instead of assuming that this is already a certainty of injustice against Ito san, why don't you find out what was their basis and if the decision really makes sense or not? The lack of details in the report maybe is another problem. Becuase let's admit it, before the trial even started many already are expecting that the man is guilty.

I am not taking the side of Yamaguchi if proven guilty he should be punished and so as all rapists and sex predators. All I am saying is there is a justice system, people like us who are not in the scene of the crime have no rights to judge unless we have clearly holding evidences.

Young people don't ask questions but are attracted by Abe because he is cute!!!

I realise that this is a serious discussion, and not the place for flippant jokes, but I'm not sure that an assertion that Abe is 'cute' should escape some kind of scrutiny....

This is one of the cases which you shouldn’t judge from the outside (like almost all cases). Both sides have plausible versions supported by circumstantial evidence (taxi driver, e-Mails, etc.) There is no proof. The verification of one or the other version is the key, which will be difficult. Best for both sides would be to reach a settlement outside of the court, no matter who’s the culprit here. At least that’s my experience from when I was a public prosecutor in Germany based on the informations I could get on this case.

Strangerland

Because everyone deserves due process, and the right to be thought of as innocent until proven guilty.

We always clash ideas here in JT , but for the first time I totally agree with you on this. Well said!

Rape is a terrible crime. Unfortunately, it can be hard to prove. She should have gone to a hospital emergency room and asked to have them use a rape kit. That can preserve and document evidence. Then, even after the passage of time, the evidence can be examined for DNA. Also, many of the date-rape drugs metabolize quickly so it is important to have blood tests immediately. I hope this case is resolved in favor of the victim. (I don't know if rape-kits are available in Japan. But they should be.)

I do not know if the accused is guilty or innocent, I like everyone else on this site do not have access to all the facts, only media articles which can not be deemed unbiased as they have to comply with the outlets policies and have to sell copy.

What I will say is that the accused is entitled to be considered and treated as innocent until proven guilty. It is just as reprehensible to damn the accused on the basis of inadequate facts as to ignore or denigrate the accuser (I avoid the description of victim as being emotionally loaded and assuming guilt without evidence) on equally little information or to blindly accept their claim (which may or may not be well founded).

If a man who was accused of child molestation lived across from you, would you remain neutral and not mention to your children to be extra careful and to stay away from this man, specifically, more so than you would warn them against strangers in a general sense?

And imagine if you were this man, and innocent.

Please tell me how he should deal with that situation. Should he just be cool with the situation?

And if the answer to that question is yes, then do you feel black people should also be cool with things like black lives matter, because other black people have done bad things and therefore fear of black petiole is justified just to make sure your kids are safe?

Just as the latter is some serious latent racism, the former is some serious latent sexism.

I condone neither. Nor can I take any of your comments on sexism seriously as a result. They are all tainted with sexism.

In the interests of a fair trial, private libel cases should be outlawed if the accused not proven guilty. Otherwise chaos ensues.

But let's also recognise that this country has a disgraceful record of successful prosecutions for rape. But it does not mean that the accused is not entitled to being presumed innocent. We are only listening to one persons story.

I'm surprised this has been permitted to go so openly in the media. As bad as the Japanese system is for rape prosecutions, this guy could also be innocent.

She was raped. He probably thought by agreeing to meet to be helped by him, she was consenting.

Where is the evidence of Abe covering for this journalist friend? If true, how can anyone vote for Abe?

I am doubtful of this because Abe is not that dumb to throw away his career or think he has that much weight to throw around without this being revealed.

You’re confusing a person having an opinion with a judge impartially ruling on a case. People aren’t judges and therefore aren’t obligated to not have an opinion in an ongoing case. Onlookers aren’t held to the same standard as a court

Speak for yourself. I hold onlookers to the same standard. I don't accept a world where the suspicion of sexual assault is enough for 'onlookers' to jump on a person as guilty.

People have the right to presumption of innocence. The presumption of guilt is toxic humanity.

People are talking as if the man is vulnerable. This one certainly is not. He has the prime minister preventing progress of the case, denying Ms Ito her rights to a fair investigation.

Such prevention would itself be worthy of criticism. But that doesn't make the person being protected guilty.

Following the incident, she filed a complaint with police, but prosecutors dropped the case in July 2016 citing insufficient evidence.

Ito later filed a complaint with the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, but it also judged in September 2017 that the prosecutors' decision was "appropriate," saying there was no reason to overturn it.

With two previous investigations being ditched due to lack of evidence, I doubt she has any chance in winning this case.

The trial also includes a counter-lawsuit filed by Yamaguchi, who is seeking 130 million yen in compensation from Ito, claiming his social reputation has been damaged by her remarks.

She had better hope the Judge in the counter suit throws the case out or she could be paying out for years.

Hachikou:

The sad fact for her is, 3days after the incident which later she called a "rape", she sent an email to him as follows.

「山口さん、お疲れ様です。無事ワシントンへ戻られましたでしょうか？VISAの事でどのような対応をしていただけるのか案を教えていただけると幸いです」

Wow, if that is true, that puts a completely different light on things. That is why I am reluctant to have a strong opinion about this case. I just don´t know enough. That is definitely not a mail an rape victim would send to the rapist.

Which seems to me she was drugged.

Well, yeah. That's her story. She was drugged, taken to a hotel and raped.

His story is she wasn't drugged, they went to a hotel and had consensual sex.

It's not just about who you or I believe. It's about what the facts support. To be sure, she appears credible, and that counts for a lot.

But not guilty conviction.

I am against rape and sexual harrasment. But I hope the media and the people would show neautrality on both parties. Proper investigation is obviously necessary. This is I think the power of women, when they cry rape 80% of the sympathy is already on their side even if we still don't really know yet if they are telling the truth or not. I think these stories should not go out to media until the trial is over as obviously she already gets sympathy before the verdict is out. There were already cases in the past were men were wrongfully accused and you can't bring the reputation back. If the guy found guilty then he deserves all the proper punishment for the crime he committed and I hope there is also a law that will prosecute women if they wrongfully accused a man.

Lalo above wrote some very good points. Good work. In Japan, many things are pre-meditated and very carefully planned. Nothing is what it seems.

@AscissorToday 

My thought is she didn't expect a sex to get VISA from a man at all but also she was desperate sending a mix message to him like "I would do anything for VISA whatever it takes", where Yamaguchi was waiting for the right moment.

Later she did send him an e-mail which can be interpreted like "How did I do? Did I pass the test? Did you get what I asked for?", which ruined everything for her.

The thing is the court has to draw a line between the case a woman using a sex for career and a rape victim case.

Inconclusive... I would say.

Yamaguchi has already got a punishment with a social sanction, which he deserves. I would tell girls to stay away from him if I see him.

@WilliB

This is a famous quote and the digital evidence. You can search by your own from web. 

@browny1

No one knows a reality.

What makes you think you know the reality?

I merely translate what has been said among Japanese webs and twitters.

@Osaka_DougToday 08:18 pm JST

Call me a traditionalist, Osaka, but I like definitions that actually involve violence, coercion, or exploiting a provable helpless state (such as being drugged).

I know women claim they can be raped without violence, coercion or provable helpless states; but for criminal law to work in a respectable fashion, it needs to work with offences whose elements can be objectively proven.

Further, even from a theoretical, idealist perspective, pushing the requirements so low means you are not so much criminalizing rape (even in the ever loosening definitions that seem all the rage today), but de facto criminalizing sex. Consent structurally becomes a justification (as in justifiable homicide). So we have to think, whether we want to criminalize sex.

Finally, what seems to be controversial here is not the definition of rape. The police and prosecutors were willing to go after the guy right up until what looks suspiciously like top level intervention happened, but no one could prove (or disprove) foul play because of the complete prosecutorial discretion given to the Japanese procuracy. Maybe what is needed are not changes to the Criminal Law, but the Criminal Procedure Law, to rigidly limit the discretion to not prosecute. If they must at least process the investigation and trial to the last, at least it may make the victims a bit more content.

girl in tokyo:

Rape is both psychologically and physically violent.

Nobody here has doubted that, so I don´t know why you keep explaining that.

The issue that it is not sure that rape actually happened.

If you had been raped, would you write "xxさん、お疲れ様です。無事ワシントンへ戻られましたでしょうか？VISAの事でどのような対応をしていただけるのか案を教えていただけると幸いです" to your rapist the day after?

Victims deserve the benefit of the doubt

The victim is not on trial.

Let's see her evidence holds up in court. Unfortunately, she will most likely get a payout then will never mention it again

@girl_in_tokyoToday 06:34 pm JST

What you wrote was proof that rape is damaging, not necessarily that it was violent. Further, your formulation makes consent part of the criteria for violence, when most would probably weigh things like the degree and speed of the applied forces to be more critical criteria.

This is guy states that he can’t tell the difference between a woman screaming for pleasure and screaming because she’s being raped. 

I think what is really needed here is a bit more assumption of good faith. Can you write your reply assuming this is an honest, good-faith view? I mean, it is not very glorious to admit one's lack of discriminative ability.

A criminal law legislator must, despite his personal experiences (if any), give at least as great weight on testimonies like Norman's as testimonies that claim discrimination is possible. If anything, he must give greater testimony, because he must side on avoiding false positives leading to false convictions.

@Osaka_DougToday 06:05 pm JST

I suppose such ideas were put in at the behest of feminists and victim rights groups. Consider how hard it'll be to really objectively prove such factors. You will be left with He-said, She-said. So either you do Benefit of the Doubt like you are supposed to and we are back where we started, or we de facto give a heavy presumption towards just taking the victim's testimony at face value, thus violating equality of arms.

I think I value our protections more than this.

If it was any other country but Japan, majority of people here would automatically side with the guy (he said/she said)

Contrary to what some of you want to belief, it is actually very easy for a lying woman to accuse a man of sexual harassment or rape and get away with it. Just look at what is happening in the West (US, UK, etc).

Society automatically wants to believe the woman is a victim and that the "old boy network" is somehow trying to cover for each other. Actually the reverse is true, especially in Western countries. The law, the media and society in general, will go all out to believe her and demonize the man....even if there is solid evidence that she is a LIAR.

Japan doesn't want to fall into the same spiral.

And if you go to Ito's instagram page and look at some of her photos of herself, you might have a hard time thinking of her as a victim.

Despite what is being reported in the Western media or articles written by Westerners in Japan, there is a very real reason why many Japanese, even the women, have a hard time believing her.

Rape is always violent. Even if the woman is not awake or aware of the violence being perpetrated against her, she becomes aware of it later

I cannot figure out if you are talking about psychological violence there or what? Unless you specifically say "psychological violence" men are not going to get it. If you are not talking about punching, slapping and tossing people around its just not the standard definition of violence. Some stupid guys have put videos up on the net of them raping passed out girls. They were physically gentle. They were not beating them like a rage doll. Why does this confuse you?

Do you know what this means? This means the man is so unaware, so uncaring, of how his partner feels from moment to moment,

No it doesn't. There is even a song called "Pleasure and pain" sung by a woman no less that insists there is a fine line between the two. Its hard to tell the difference sometimes. Even a woman's scream can be confusing. I have run out of the house upon hearing a woman scream, thinking she was being attacked. Then I heard her laughing...it was screams of joy. Its very hard to tell the difference sometimes.

if you don't believe it is easy to ascertain consent

If you are not a lesbian you will probably never know the difficulties of ascertaining consent with a large percentage of women. With some its obvious, with others its not. None of this excuses Ito's rape in the slightest, because she was not even conscious, but I have had awake, sober women say "No, no, no!" and then ask my why I stopped. I have had women say stop simply so they could adjust their body position....I could not immediately know if it was that or they just wanted to completely stop. You have no idea what its like to shoulder male responsibility so would you please stop acting like you do?

There are too many reasons why Japanese people didn't trust her. The rape victims support group warns that she is trying to politically use the dignity of victim for her private grudge.

Her prosecution content is random.

Journalist Yamaguchi found the document about the Korea forces' comfort woman during Vietnam War in 2015 of his TBS Washington office chief era. When he was going to report it in TBS, his Korean boss threatened him. So he reported it on Bungeishunju magazine. This woman accessed him just after that.

Despite having drunk a large amount, she entered the hotel room with her quick light steps in the monitoring camera of the hotel. It's different from her testimony that she drank herself unconscious. Two years ago, all her perjury was turned out, and this indictment was withdrawn.

A year ago last spring, Yamaguchi talked about his resignation from TBS and the threat from his ex Korean boss in Webcast. Aaaaand, Shiori reappeared to the front of camera just after that!

Her testimony changed at every interview, and new claim included rape drag. However, it's difficult to get rape drug in Japan. She insist that she has the testimony of taxi driver, but nobody met the driver.

She insisted get a phone call from detective and it is said, "your case was subjected to non-prosecution by the corruption of Japanese police and the pressure from our boss". WTF? The police officials will not absolutely make such a ridiculous comment to the suspect in order to adhere strictly to the fairness of the investigation. People expect she is a big fan of LAW & ORDER SUV.

Curiously this woman spoke, " I hope revision of the law about sexual abuse than Antiterrorism Law" in her interview. A matter of course, further tougher penalty for sexual abuse is included in new Antiterrorism Law. Who seduced her and made her to say this remark? Only China and North/South Korea object to this law now. Many people noticed the true purpose of her legal counsels are to prevent the establishment of Antiterrorism Law. The legal counsels of this woman named 'Shiori' are family of Democratic Progressive Party (民進党 : opposition party) members. 

Yesterday, one DPP lawmaker testified on Twitter that she was working in a 'Piano bar' and not attended journalism school in NY. She got the number of Yamaguchi's Washington office from a newspaper reporter who was her 'client'.

Strangely, all of her works and CV on her website were another person's. 

She is self-nominating a journalist, but she actually worked only once for portrait of a beauty contest second prize winner. And the shooting location was the corridor of the hotel claiming that she was raped. It was her favorite place until she started a new victim business.

Many Japanese people doubt about her identity.

Flute wrote: Rape is not sex. Rape is violence.

This is how people destroy progress in discussions about rape whether they intend to or not. They often think that by trying to redefine the most basic of concepts into the most obviously biased and warped ideas, they are somehow helping. Often these people think this is somehow a simple topic when it is in fact, its extremely complicated, with each individual case having its own set of variables telling us what went on and rarely any hard evidence.

To just deadpan declare that "rape is violence" excuses anyone who ever thought of using date rape drugs because it does not usually include physical violence. Ito never claimed any physical violence was used. Flute does go on however:

Sex is something shared in between consenting people from the beginning to the end.

You are speaking of "consensual sex". Animals also have sex. Its not just people and consent between animals is pretty dubious. In fact, consent is difficult to ascertain moment to moment even between the people having sex, but its near impossible for third parties to determine. Sex is a neutral word and a neutral act and that is never going to change. Rape is a negative form of sex and consensual sex is the positive. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Its not helping. The concepts of what is rape and what is sex cannot be distilled down any further.

@girl_in_tokyo Today 08:38 am JST

Rape is always violent.

For that to happen, you will have to expand the definition of violent beyond its usual meaning. This is not only a cheap tactic to "borrow" the power of a more damning word, it actually weakens that word by diluting its meaning.

Can you even imagine waking up and finding a man on top of you, holding you down so that you cannot move, raping you? I don't guess you can, if you can describe this as not being violent.

I say it is consensual. Prove it isn't, with objective evidence, even though there is not a single injury on you, no detectable drugs in your body ... etc.

I'm terrified that there men out there in this world who say things like, "consent is difficult to ascertain moment to moment even between the people having sex".

He didn't say (yet) that Consent is difficult to ascertain between the people having sex. He said it is difficult for third parties, like courts to determine with any objectivity. I will defer to others on comment as to how hard it is for the players actually involved to ascertain consent, since I have exactly zero real sex experience.

@girl_in_tokyo Today 10:27 am JST

Think about it for just one second - when Ms. Ito came forward, what happened?

Well, sure, but you have to consider. Rape is one of the most defamatory accusations you can make against another person. To someone of Yamaguchi's stature, it can be career ending with associated economic effect. In effect, before we are even sure Yamaguchi deserves any damage, he is already tangibly damaged.

Further, she is invoking the power of the State to imprison him for a number of years. When you are demanding this much, you better be ready to back it up and take some flak.

@MariaToday 02:52 pm JST

You support the PM using his vast influence to interfere with legal proceedings because the man accused is his buddy? Yeah, that sounds legal.

In reality, people rarely exert themselves unless they at least know the guy. So the fact he knew the guy cannot, by itself, neutralize the possibility the move is meritorious.

If it is a weak case or a strong case is not for him to decide. The way you have described it above is despicable, and if that is how justice is served in Japan, then Japan is clearly a deeply corrupt society.

All right then. Suppose you are in a position of power. You know someone who is being prosecuted. Maybe he is your friend or maybe he isn't, but he caught your eye. You quietly enquire as to the specifics of the case. You sincerely believe even taken as per the casefile it is bullcrap and the only reason it hasn't been terminated already is due to politics. You also know that if you don't terminate it, regardless of the outcome of the case the defendant would never recover.

Please justify your decision to "let justice run its course" despite serious consequences regardless of his actual guilt.

I was very surprised to know that , even now, among people here simple fact check was not done.

This case is over and both man and woman should be blamed.

The sad fact for her is, 3days after the incident which later she called a "rape", she sent an email to him as follows.

「山口さん、お疲れ様です。無事ワシントンへ戻られましたでしょうか？VISAの事でどのような対応をしていただけるのか案を教えていただけると幸いです」

"Mr. Yamaguchi, How are you doing? Were you back to DC safely? I would appreciate if you could tell me what you would do to see to it that I would get VISA (so that I can work in the US.)"

She also said she will return his T-shirt after laundry (after sexual encounter , she wore his T-shirt going home).

「Tシャツ洗ってお返ししますね」

Later, she found out that Yamaguchi is no longer in the position to give VISA to people, and she started to describe about what happened as a rape with physical abuse and all the horrible story.

Question is, if Yamaguchi had a power to give her VISA and he had given to her, would she have made the same accusation that she is making now? No one knows...

Also she told BBC that she has been a victim of sexual crime since she was a kid, which makes me wonder, then why she wasn't careful when she went to a second restaurant with Yamaguchi.

She was careless, naive, and sending a mixed message to him because she wanted VISA so badly. And vicious Yamaguchi took an advantage of that. Both are bad.

If she really was a victim, then he should be jailed. But if HE was a victim of false accusation, then she should be jailed.

I wonder if the security footage in the hotel & the lift helped the prosecutors in their decision to drop the case.

.why all the down votes for all the supportive comments towards someone who alleges she was raped?

Because, if the comments are to be believed, the article is paper thin on details. On the basis of the article, I would have to strongly condemn those jumping to her side. But if the details added by commenters are true, I support her side strongly. But the fact is, until I do some research, I don't know who to believe which means I go for innocent until proven guilty and down vote those who do not. Is this really a mystery?

It is better to investigate conclusively and the one who is guilty be punished, that is if the lady is lying.

Sad case, men should also learn how to seduce a woman.

Oh yeah, you are answering me, OK.

I'll criticize the WHO's definition with two examples that occur during "normal" sex:

1) Consensual Sex of the Virgin: Physical Force (yes), intentional (yes), Actual (yes), results in injury (yes, the hymen's penetrated).

2) Consensual Sex of the Non-virgin, which nevertheless caused "psychological harm". In other words, whether you committed violence has nothing to do with your actions, but solely on the consequences on your partner. This is objective imputation and should be avoided.

We need to rethink this one, methinks.

MariaToday 01:14 pm JST

He has the prime minister preventing progress of the case, denying Ms Ito her rights to a fair investigation.

In all fairness, this is alleged and not proven. And even if it was, whether it is the wrong call to make will depend on the facts of the case, and the facts already in the case file.

The pressure is on to prosecute allegations of rape, whether the facts or law really support the case. It could be that all the PM said was "Look, you know this is a weak case that won't get a conviction in court anyway. All you are doing is harassing my buddy to please the feminist media and killing him societally before the case is settled. Maybe this time we can not do that."

Somehow she conveniently forgets the time between drinking heavily, a choice she made, and waking up in a hotel room, another choice she made.