Time and time again we see cases of criminal breaking the cardinal rule of getting too greedy and blowing the lid off their various schemes.
This brings us to Takashi Miyagawa, a 39-year-old part time worker of no fixed address who was arrested in Osaka for defrauding 35 women with whom he pretended to be in serious relationships. In the most recent case he told a 47-year-old woman that his birthday was on Feb 22, when in fact it was on Nov 13.
Other victims have also come forward, such as a 40-year-old woman whom he told his birthday was in a July, and 35-year-old who though his birthday was in April. The current count of victims stands at 35, with a possibility of more, who are accusing Miyagawa of cheating them out of a total 100,000 yen made up of smaller “birthday” gifts of money and clothing.
Miyagawa reportedly met his victims while he was selling hydrogen water shower heads and other equipment though a multi-level marketing company, and started up romantic relationships with each one under the assumption that marriage was in the cards. However, as his web of lies began to dissolve like the hydrogen molecules in his therapeutic water, the women all formed a “Victims Association” and reported him to police last February.
▼ MBS reporters ambushed Miyagawa on the street in Osaka last January, prior to the criminal charges.
Those who read the news online were filled with a conflicting mix of disgust and awe at the scope of Miyagawa’s crimes and infidelity.
“Can you imagine all that scheduling and planning to date 35 people at the same time?”
“I guess that’s what they call an ‘alpha-male.'”
“Even if he sees one everyday, there’s still five more after a month!”
“Isn’t it easier to get a job at that point?”
“It seems like he should be a better MLM salesman if he’s such a smooth talker.”
“It’s hard enough keeping a relationship with one person.”
“It horrible yet impressive.”
“Don’t women do this all the time?”
“I wonder what he does when Christmas rolls around.”
“The presents are one thing, but isn’t this pyramid scheme the guy is in fraud too?”
“He’s an awful person, but I envy his time-management skills.”
Source: MBS, Hachima Kiko
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2021/04/22/kansai-man-arrested-for-defrauding-his-35-girlfriends/
62 Comments
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JeffLee
Is that against the law?
El Rata
What a stud!
Jonathan Prin
Money or whatever given is not stolen.
Or did they pay to get an expected physical service ?
If I were one of the woman, I would be ashsamed.
noriahojanen
It is not impossible for a guy to deal with 30 plus women simultaneously. At work it is not surprising that many people are assigned such a number of clients. Quite businesslike, though.
tooheysnew
then they should arrest every gold-digging woman who has dated or married a wealthy man by telling them ‘I love you for who you are, not your money’
Yasuragi
Well, he's a garbage person but was what he did illegal? Birthday gifts are given freely. And at 100,000 yen between 35 women it's not like he was emptying their retirement accounts.
Honestly curious, does Japan have laws about fraud in anticipation of marriage? Or is this in the scope of rape by deception?
ulysses
Looks like he targets lonely older women , but doesn’t seem to be too successful in getting them to part with their money.
100,000 yen worth of gifts from 35 women?????
That’s like 7 cups of coffee each, so wasting 7 hours of their time seems like a bigger crime.
JJ Jetplane
@Ulysses
Clearly he's not very successful in terms of scam artists. But promising marriage and people acting on that marriage is a crime in Japan.
kohakuebisu
It mentions "birthday presents", so 100,000 yen from 35 women is like getting them to pay for a cheap birthday date. A couple of chuhais and some cheap things off the menu at a chain izakaya like Watami. No fancy steak or sashimi or a birthday cake.
Given the time taken and literally hundreds of LINE messages involved in stringing these women along, the hourly wage equivalent of this must be below minimum wage.
factchecker
Normally it's the gent who has his heart and wallet swindled.
Private Internet Access
Why was he being arrested for being a "Ladies Man"?
Toasted Heretic
Interesting. Some of the males here in awe of his con job and preying on women. You actually think this creep is a legend.
More misogyny.
didou
He must have been healthy to satisfy all of them
Toasted Heretic
Seems to be a lot of men in Japan who have had bad experiences with women. This clearly affects their outlook on life.
The worry is that this skewed take on women and relationships can lead down darker rabbit holes. Incels, stalking, violence etc.
The damaged and fragile male psyche can be very dangerous, if not treated.
rdemers
Just how many cell phones do you need to juggle this kind of insanity?...
Rick Hepner
Talk about not setting your sights very high
Toasted Heretic
Blaming women seems to be the default setting for the fragile male psyche. Still, while reprehensible, it's not quite as bad as the comments directed towards women on some of the crime threads.
Sora stories really plumb the depths, and some are only too willing to take the plunge.
Mark
I see nothing wrong if these women were fool enough to give him what he asked for, Yes he lied, yes he cheated, yes he tricked them, but guys and girls like him do it in bars and night clubs all the time, this is how they earn a living. They are adults and they should have seen it, He is Handsome, well talkative, well dressed, and they were fooled thinking that they could be with him possibly married!!!!!!!. Going to the police is an option, but is what he did criminal? NOT really sure on this one.
8T
That's what 90 percent of men AND women do when using online dating sites.
Toasted Heretic
Fascinating. Never knew this... are there any stats, just out of curiosity? Why would people lie online or pretend to be something they're not? Never really got this.
CS
90 percent seems a little high, but I imagine it's a safe and playful way to embellish everything you don't have in the "real" world.
Hiro
Well, he didn't actually cheated that much out of them except maybe ask for some b-day gifts. At least he didn't try to scam them like taking all their life savings. Maybe some feelings were hurt but that depends on just how well their dates went. I mean if the women were that draw to him to even think of marriage, at least the memories he gave them weren't that bad right? Considered the money lost then as them just treating a guy to diner. But he did overdo it by dating 35 of them. Considering that what he did wasn't exactly illegal, i think he would probably settle it with a proper apology.
dan
I know of worse cases where women stole millions from naive rich Japanese men ..After the marriage (a few months after she said I do) they up and left with ¥15,000,000 and his Benz citing a marriage mismatch.
Seems that men are singled out as predators and fraudsters but women can be much worse.
Toasted Heretic
Seems that some males get upset when a male fraudster is revealed. And always, always, it has to be women who are much, much worse.
The guy is a legend, a genius, a stud, someone to be admired and the women... well, it's their fault and anyway, look how they act and con men.
Thoughts and prayers to the oppressed, easily conned males, this morning.
William77
The man’s moral are highly questionable and for sure not an example of virtue,saying that is this even a crime to date with multiple people at the same time?
Is this even a news when Japan is famous for it’s hostess clubs where married men,respected politicians and leaders lie and cheat their wives or partners often with other women?
This clearly shows how little of a modern democracy is Japan.
And probably their institutions and society fails to comprehend the meaning of a free democracy based on human rights.
They still stuck in a puritan mid-50es mentality.
justasking
I don't see the crime to involve the police here. Waste of police power and taxpayers money. He got 100,000 yen worth of gifts, but it costed us 10,000,000 yen for his arrest.
wtfjapan
35! how would you even remember what you did with each women, what each likes dislikes!? let alone not mixing up their names in conversation or confusing one for another!?
Jind
I had difficulty handling 3 women at the same time. lol
Those days are long gone and it was fun....
starpunk
Remember when Tiger Woods' wife found out he was cheating with eleven other women? It was divorce time and she took the kids back to Sweden with her. And everybody on their high horses wanted to crucify him.
Still, 35? Man, there's something wrong with this fellow if he has to cheat that much.
WA4TKG
Another “Only in Japan” Moment
Jonathan Prin
I disrespect totally this behaviour but it remains totally legal to lure people in believing what they want. There is no contract, end of business.
I stand my ground : If I was one the women, I would be ashamed to call police about your own foolishness.
I complete with If I were that man, I would feel a moron and a total looser (because real men respect women even more than the opposite).
Ladies, don't believe a man before his actions correspond to his assertions.
Zaphod
According to the article he lied about his birthday, and the victims gave him birthday presents.
Yes, not a desirable character, but where exactly is the crime??
shogun36
Red flags there already. Who sells shower heads door to door in pandemic 2021? Who is even dumb enough to listen to their dribble?
Who buys any 39-40 year old man a birthday present? No one.
Sounds more just like this guy just found 35 gullible women to trick them into giving him things.
Women do this crap all the time. He just took advantage of ignorance.
Zaphod
shogun36
Unmarried females in the 40-50 age group, obviously. He took advantage of the 11th hour panic that often exists in that population segment. And this is not a new phenomenon either.... there is whole cottage industry in some African countries doing this. And that often ends up much much worse than buying some birthday present.
Zaphod
WA4TKG
Definitely not "only in Japan".
Google for "romance scammer".
CaptDingleheimer
Thank you, Toasted Heretic, for taking the time out of your busy day to willingly come into the comments section of a fun story syndicated from an entertainment blog, to police the comments for political correctness.
We can never have anyone feeling too safe when they read the comments!
Kyakusenbi_Arimasu
When you change your birthday, you change your zodiac sign. Did he change his blood type too? They could have double booked him for such a heinous crime.
Mocheake
Suckers come in all shapes, sizes and genders.
ushosh123
Would be more impressive if he gave the same birthday, fake birthday was easy mode.
James
My guess is after dating for a few weeks or months spending money on restaurants etc felt they weren't the one for him so he thought to recover some of the money he had already spent on them by getting an early birthday gift before dumping them.
Kenny
If it was the other way round then it wouldn’t have been on this news . Why are guys only being targeted .
CDNinJapan
Not sure why so many posters are fixated on how he could 'date 35 women at the same time'. The article says nothing about that. He probably carried out his scam over several or many years.
William Bjornson
How many desperate 'older' women ARE THERE in Japan that he could find so many people willing to hook up with him and buy him birthday gifts? I suspect there might be a feature length article or at least a Guardian style 'long read' in this guy's story which might contain some pointers for incells to meet at least ONE person. And how did all of these women become known to the others? Here is another potential story. Regarding any criminality here, all he was selling was (faux) HOPE and if that is a crime, we must lock up EVERY politician who has ever opened their mouth...
LearJet
This guy is a creep and jack-ass!
Wolfpack
Clearly Miyagawa was intending to defraud the women by manipulating them emotionally. If it were one or two people I doubt you could make a criminal case out of it. However the fact that so many women were subject to his birthday present scheme I can understand the women’s motivation to go after him.
Hiroshi13
What exactly is the crime here other than boorish behavior (the dude) and gullible stupidity (the women)?
sir_bentley28
Look at all these people hating on his game! Dude pimp game is at Golden Pimp levels!
marco ferri
Which website did he use? :)
kshane1
30th bday hashtags