NHK announcer Takeshige Morimoto, who anchors the "Ohayo Nippon" program on Saturday and Sunday, was arrested on Wednesday night for allegedly groping a woman on a train in Tokyo.
According to police, Morimoto, 47, allegedly touched the breasts of a 23-year-old woman in a train between Shibuya and Futagotamagawa stations on the Tokyu Denentoshi line at about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sankei Shimbun reported. The woman, a university student, grabbed his hand and other passengers helped restrain Morimoto until the train arrived at the next station.
Morimoto was quoted by police as saying he had been drinking with colleagues from around noon and that he had no memory of the incident.
NHK issued a statement Thursday expressing deep regret and apologizing to the woman and its viewers.
© Japan Today
55 Comments
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megosaa
masaka...
Narco21
I guess this is what happens when you start drinking....from noon.
nath
Ohayo chikan!!!!Great name for a new TV program for pervs..why not have one to educate the pros and cons of such.??????
slumdog
He managed to get through the pay machines and get on the right train at the right platform. Again, I doubt I did not know what he was doing. I was not there. However, I still have my doubts. If he was that bad that he did not know what he was doing, he was have been passed out on a bench or the floor someplace. Drunk is too easy an excuse and too often used.
sfjp330
FadamorNov. 17, 2012 - 12:14AM JST we have no idea as to his state of mind at the time. I could just as easily (and with just as much lack of basis) say "I think he didn't know what planet he was on at the time."
Drunk is never a excuse for your behavior. He has no business being in the public. His response was "No memory of what he did" because his excuse is that he was drunk? Too bad. He knew which train to get on, and where to get off. I guess he got off on the poor 23 years old women. If found guilty, he should be in jail for sexual assault. This women has just as much right as anybody else to be safe in public.
WhatMeWorry
Ever since the false accusation story that happened just a few years ago where a young woman and male counterpart planned and accused a father and working man of chikan, where he spent some time in prison before she confessed, I've followed the advice of how to avoid this:
Keep both hands up on the straps, face away from women if possible. If men would put themselves in women's shoes every now and then and wonder what it must be like to be stalked, gawked, preyed upon, followed, etc. they might get an idea of how unsettling and sometimes scary living like that can be. They might take extra measures to quietly reassure women that they're safe. For example, avoid following to close behind a woman, particularly going up stairs or switch sides of the stairwell or sidewalk, pass or slow down so she doesn't feel she's being followed/stalked. Call it ridiculous, but I've done the above exercise and didn't like how it made me feel.
Braindead
Maybe he just wanted to get on the News.
Fadamor
Without actually being there where he was drinking, or where he commited the crime, we have no idea as to his state of mind at the time. I could just as easily (and with just as much lack of basis) say "I think he didn't know what planet he was on at the time."
Of course none of this matters. Just like the sailor who broke into that house and punched the teenager, being drunk does not excuse the behavior. You are just as responsible for the things you do while intoxicated as you are for the things you do when stone-cold sober.
slumdog
I have a feeling this had absolutely nothing to do with alcohol. If he did what he is accused of, I think he knew full well what he was doing.
hobart_mark
I call alcohol, idiot oil....
Nessie
Ohayo, Chikan!
"....regrettably, I had no memory of the incident."
The good thing is the public seems more up for rousting the gropers than it used to be.
Novenachama
It's sad but this is another case of how you can lose everything to alcohol which causes impaired judgement, aggression, lost memory and who knows what else. How stupid to get drunk. It's risky and can become a dangerous habit and is not worth it. Oh, but I like it and enjoy it and it relieves stress. Such poor excuses but unfortunately some people must learn the hard way,
flygirl1221
If he was innocent he would no doubt deny it strongly, and his friends and other people on the train would probably vouch for him. Seems to me like just another idiot who doesn't respect women.
aisai
FadamorNov. 15, 2012 - 11:44PM JST Here's the problem with the whole "maybe he's innocent" line of reasoning: "I had been drinking with colleagues from around noon and have no memory of the incident."
So it's not just women looking to try and make a quick buck. When opportunity knocks, a lot of people unfortunately are unable to resist the temptation, and end up opening the door.
This NHK's announcer's career is pretty much over, regardless of how things play out from here. Even if he is exonerated by the judicial system, the court of public opinion will always see him as a chikan. I guess to some degree that goes with the territory of being a celebrity. Sure celebraties occasionally fall off trees, but sometimes they are also pushed.
Alex Einz
MyMyT - exactly.. seems to me more like that... famous guy, loads to lose so she decided to get some uni funding to keep things quiet
MyMyT
Hmmmm, dont know who says the true. I know alot of guys to that but I also know that alot of girls wanna grab some money.
Patrick Hagger
How rude, he is a weekend anchor that got a little drunk she should forgive and move on. How could she destroy the life on a man that claim he was drunk at 8pm. The network apologize what else does she what in the name of justice.
gelendestrasse
Cultural ritual? Sounds more like a violation of a person to me. Being drunk is no excuse. But that, along with the apology, will probably be enough to get him off with a reprimand.
Laurenço Iscariot Shells
So this is what happens when nipples grab back. Ah well. Happy hunting chikans. Your number's up.
blendover
He apologised. In all probablility this was not one of those Japanese apologise anyway type aplologies either. It was because he had been caught red handed.
Kudos not only to the woman herself, but also to the passengers for helping to restrain him. It's great to see people showing a bit of civic responsibility in these situations.
Fadamor
Here's the problem with the whole "maybe he's innocent" line of reasoning: "I had been drinking with colleagues from around noon and have no memory of the incident."
So for this woman to be a scammer, she would have to know:
a.) The guy was drunk (I suppose she could smell alcohol on him if he was that close), and
b.) The guy was drunk enough to be blacked-out on his feet (next to impossible to determine externally).
Otherwise, she risks her charge being strongly denied.
mrkobayashi
I would hope so, but one time the train jolted and my hand accidentally touched the rearend of a middle aged women. She gave me a really nasty glare.
tmarie
Ranger, we live in a time where women looking for a quick buck do yell out chikan and there has been at least one case where I guy was falsely accused killed himself. IF the guy is guilty, he should be canned. If he's innocent, release her name, picture and charge her. Simple as that in either case.
Ranger_Miffy2
"grope"...but you get the picture.
Ranger_Miffy2
Well, PatrickSmash, why would a woman yell "chikan" unless someone was groping her??? Surely anyone who spends any time on trains knows the difference between an accidental touch and deliberate group!
Disillusioned
Ben Drinken - that should be 'chipaiyo nippon'
tmarie
If he did it, I hope NHK cans him. Tax yen should not be paying this guy's salary. Good for her for calling him out and good for the others for helping her.
And yes, "I don't remember, I was drunk..." Whatever.
nath
I'm sure he was "stressed". Another excuse for anything.
Patric Spohn
I'm impressed about being drunk at 8pm :)
BurakuminDes
The steps for Morimoto to follow next:
State: "I was drinking, therefore didn't know what I was doing";
"I have no recollection of the incident";
"This incident - even though I don't recall it - is extremely regrettable."
Bow deeply to the media. Have a few months off TV as "Stress Leave."
All is forgiven.Cortes Elijah
Man.! No respect, what a piece of trash!
flygirl1221
Disgusting! What is wrong with the men in this country? They think they can get away with violating women like that? Something has to change.
timtak
I really approve of that.
But then, the Japanese press reports that he put his hand inside the victims underwear (i.e. in sider her bra) and he was held down by other passengers close to the victim. This guy will probably get fired and never get work as an announcer again.
Shumatsu_Samurai
This article doesn't make sense. I repeatedly hear from some posters on this site that the Japanese police don't take sexual harassment seriously. Is this some sort of deliberate ploy to trick people into thinking the police do care, or - shock! - do the authorities actually take such allegations seriously?
techall
Doesn't say much about her attributes if he can forget so easily.
Spidey
No doubt he was thinking, "Oh! A Nippon!" Then he just went for it.
Slap, slap.
S
Alex Einz
Honestly though he is quite a good looker, unless he is a hidden perv I have hard time believing he did it on purpose
Lowly
with his job, will he be fired?
What about apic of him so we know who he is...
nath
Maybe he sometimes goes to one of those cosplay clubs with a space that looks like a train car, and you get to grope while drinking. If he was drunk, he might not have been able to tell the difference. (To the police:) "i thought it was Thursday, not Tuesday.."
Tiger_In_The_Hermitage
He might be scratching his head and was an accidental bump, I did that once on the train, I was so embarased the lady was really understanding when I apologised.
BertieWooster
OMG!
It's becoming an epidemic!
What is it with these people?
nath
not sure i agree that groping a starnge woman on the train while blind drunk is pleasurable.
papigiulio
I hope for him the moment was worth it because it will be the last pleasurable thing he will get in a long time now.
Probie
Shouldn't that be Tokyu Denentoshi line?
Moderator: Yes, it has been corrected.
Lilic
Always the excuse i was drunk and don't remeber anything!
smithinjapan
That drunk and molesting someone at 8pm.... tsk tsk. Hope he gets canned. Good on the woman for not letting it go.
rickyvee
i had been drinking and have no memory of it= i am guilty and want to keep my job.
Blacklabel
Man, that drunk at 8PM!? I think NHK employees need a curfew too.
Ben Drinken
Oppaiyo Nippon
Disillusioned
He was drunk! That is a sufficient excuse for just about everything in Japan. No foul! Move along people! Nothing to see here!
nath
Maybe he was just saying "Ohayo Nipple"
SquidBert
I think the key words are 'had been drinking, and had no memory of the incident'
Sensato
Here is the NHK TV report on the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JCrhUowcgA&list=UUoQBJMzcwmXrRSHBFAlTsIw&index=2&feature=plcp
Alex Einz
Him, really ? She must have had quite a figure...