crime

Osaka pick-up artist arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting woman he got drunk for lesson

37 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

The base concept behind the pick-up training industry is kind of strange. On the one hand, customers are supposedly paying money to get lessons from experienced instructors in how to meet and seduce a romantic and/or sexual partner. But on the other hand, such extensive experience in picking up new people sort of implies that said instructors’ romantic connections aren’t of the quality that warrants repeat performances, and the techniques they’re teaching may not be so much putting your best foot forward, but relying on outright deception or other underhanded tricks.

For example, back in the fall of 2017, Osaka resident Yosuke Shoji, a now-37-year-old pick-up instructor employed by Tokyo-based Real Nampa Academy, went out for some in-the-field practice with one of his students, Koichi Yokoya (also now aged 37), an Osaka taxi driver. The two headed to an Osaka nightclub called Minami where they struck up a conversation with a pair of women, plying them with tequila and other high-alcohol content drinks.

While one of the women left on her own, Shoji and Yokoya took the other back to the teacher’s condominium, where, according to the Osaka Prefectural Police, the two men then sexually assaulted the woman while she was incapacitated from all the liquor she’d consumed at the men’s recommendation.

On March 4, the police formally arrested the men, who are charged with sexual assault on an incapacitated person. Shoji is believed to have been Real Nampa Academy’s top executive in Osaka, in light of the fact that he gave his pick-up lessons in his condo, which was referred to as Real Nampa Academy’s “Osaka House.”

While neither Shoji nor Yokoya have yet publicly entered a plea, Shoji’s arrest has sparked a larger-scale investigation of Real Nampa Academy’s operations in Osaka, and considering that its president and a number of employees were arrested on similar sexual assault charges in Tokyo last September, it’s likely this marks the end of the organization.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Niconico News via Jin

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Osaka University professor: “The prince from Snow White is a sex offender”

-- Backlash as Japanese police tweet warns women to not ride elevators alone with men

-- Creeps on a train: Japanese netizens share their worst transport-related pick-up experiences

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

37 Comments
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sayonara

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Lock um up, back home they'd also get a good hiding while in the slammer for such a foul crime. Filth!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Lock um up, back home they'd also get a good hiding while in the slammer for such a foul crime. Filth!

Not here in Japan since inmates are under far greater control.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The base concept behind the pick-up training industry is kind of strange On the one hand, customers are supposedly paying money to get lessons from experienced instructors in how to meet and seduce a romantic and/or sexual partner. But on the other hand, such extensive experience in picking up new people sort of implies that said instructors’ romantic connections aren’t of the quality that warrants repeat performances, and the techniques they’re teaching may not be so much putting your best foot forward, but relying on outright deception or other underhanded tricks.

You could call makeup and high heels outright deception or underhanded tricks, or you could call it preening in an attempt to be attractive to the opposite sex. It all depends on your outlook. A man who understands what keeps women (and people in general) interested, is going to do better with women (and people in general). When someone is not a good public speaker, they go to Toastmasters to become better. People practice sports, languages, cultural ceremonies - all to become better. Yet, if someone practices to learn to be better with the opposite sex, if they learn more about the underlying psychology behind it, they are branded deceptive or underhanded.

such extensive experience in picking up new people sort of implies that said instructors’ romantic connections aren’t of the quality that warrants repeat performances

Maybe. But regardless, relationships nearly always go through a process of meeting, dating, intensifying. These guys show how to better get through the process of meeting and dating. They may not be as good at the process of intensifying, but at that time a person would be better off going elsewhere for advice.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

So they think "nanpa" is just getting girls wasted enough to sleep with them? Pretty lame technique. And to think that people pay money to "learn" this...!

9 ( +9 / -0 )

You could call makeup and high heels outright deception or underhanded tricks, or you could call it preening in an attempt to be attractive to the opposite sex

You could call this a relevant point on a thread about rapey PUAs or you could acknowledge that it seems a lame attempt to shift the discussion to "women are also capable of being underhanded."

5 ( +5 / -0 )

You really have to be a LOW LEVEL INDIVIDULE if you need to attend a school to learn how to approach and talk to women. Their is always something to talk about with the opposite sex. Fellows RAPE is a big No No .

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I don't really have any people studying PUA stuff "properly", as it's more like a class on psychology and shouldn't contain any foul play if you go "by the book", but if you have to resort to getting a girl drunk and raping her then clearly they're not learning anything useful except criminal activities! You can't really give them the benefit of the doubt that the girl just got wasted of her own accord and the accusation is baseless, as this organization apparently has a history of such activity and likely encourages it. Even though PUA is a numbers game and you're not supposed to take rejection seriously, I guess some of the guys aren't man enough to be able to take the rejection or know when to quit and have to resort to such methods to get what they want? Disgusting!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is nothing but a criminal enterprise. A classroom for seduction and rape.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

This "student" pays this guy to teach him how to nanpa? And what he teaches is "get the girl drunk, and molest her when she is semi-conscious?"

He needed to pay to get that lesson? He should demand a refund. Might help pay for his lawyer.

 When someone is not a good public speaker, they go to Toastmasters to become better. People practice sports, languages, cultural ceremonies - all to become better.Yet, if someone practices to learn to be better with the opposite sex, if they learn more about the underlying psychology behind it, they are branded deceptive or underhanded.

Point taken. But no matter what you teach these people, it won't turn out well. They are learning to lie better is all. And there is a victim. Speeches, languages, and all the other stuff you mentioned don't involve cynically twisting another person's deepest feelings to so you can exploit them.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Having a social drink is one thing, but plying her with drinks until she passes out is quite unacceptable.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Point taken. But no matter what you teach these people, it won't turn out well. They are learning to lie better is all. And there is a victim. Speeches, languages, and all the other stuff you mentioned don't involve cynically twisting another person's deepest feelings to so you can exploit them.

I still think you are working on incorrect assumptions. If you teach someone how to have more confidence, how to dress better, and how to decide which things are better unsaid, these aren't lies, they are simply showing someone how to make themselves more appealing, to emphasize what they do have. And if they improve themselves to the point that a woman becomes attracted to the new them, then I think you can hardly call her a victim. Rather, she's now presented with someone that she is attracted to.

This isn't exploitation, it's dating.

What this article says these guys did, that's something different. Getting a girl drunk and raping her - that's not dating. That's not making oneself more appealing. It's exploitation.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

And if they improve themselves to the point that a woman becomes attracted to the new them, then I think you can hardly call her a victim.

That depends entirely on his intentions. From what I have seen of these groups, the intentions are mainly to get laid, and the methods can get pretty creepy (see article above).

Yes, there may be a handful of guys who just want to find a nice long-term girlfriend and who simply lack the social skills to get started. Good for them if this settles their problem. But try reading the forums these guys write in. Nothing sweet and loving about it at all. That seems to be the nature of the industry, if you can call it that.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That depends entirely on his intentions.

I agree - the fact that it is dependent means a blank statement cannot be made.

From what I have seen of these groups, the intentions are mainly to get laid, and the methods can get pretty creepy (see article above).

The primary intention of most human beings is to get laid. It's instinctual, beyond logic.

And the article above is not methods on how to pick up women. This article is about two guys who allegedly got a girl too drunk and raped her. That's not at all learning how to pick up girls. That's just rape.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

And the article above is not methods on how to pick up women. This article is about two guys who allegedly got a girl too drunk and raped her. That's not at all learning how to pick up girls. That's just rape.

Well, yes. And the two guys who raped her just happened to be a student and teacher from a pick-up school. I think there's a connection between the attitudes that are common among that group and the likelihood that they might be a bit rapey. You apparently don't. But I would rather my daughter date a guy in engineering school than a guy in pick-up school. Call me judgmental if you must...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Well, yes. And the two guys who raped her just happened to be a student and teacher from a pick-up school. I think there's a connection between the attitudes that are common among that group and the likelihood that they might be a bit rapey.

I wonder. I don't know one way or another whether this is common. Due to the type of guys needing this kind of help are by definition likely to be of a lower social intelligence, I think that they come prepackaged with a 'creepy' stereotype. Are these types of incidents more common in these groups than they are in the general population? Or do they just garner more attention because of the disdain society puts on the idea of guys studying the idea of improving their social intelligence.

I would rather my daughter date a guy in engineering school than a guy in pick-up school.

Are these supposed to be the inverse of each other? I could easily see them intersecting.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

because of the disdain society puts on the idea of guys studying the idea of improving their social intelligence.

There is no disdain for men who want to improve their social intelligence. There is disdain for men who can't see women as human beings but only as sexual objects, and instead of trying to improve their social intelligence, get girls drunk and rape them.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

StrangerlandMar. 11 08:51 pm JST

I still think you are working on incorrect assumptions. If you teach someone how to have more confidence, how to dress better, and how to decide which things are better unsaid, these aren't lies, they are simply showing someone how to make themselves more appealing, to emphasize what they do have. And if they improve themselves to the point that a woman becomes attracted to the new them, then I think you can hardly call her a victim. Rather, she's now presented with someone that she is attracted to.

Hardly! You're talking about relationship coaches, "pick up artists" nearly always promote themselves as hunters, "emphasizing what they have" sounds very sweet, but psychological manipulation and attempts to undermine people's self confidence is usually the name of the game. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, as you say getting laid is the prime directive of any species, but I think even this crowd frowns openly at using alcohol to this extent.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

You're talking about relationship coaches, "pick up artists" nearly always promote themselves as hunters

Do they? Can you support this?

"emphasizing what they have" sounds very sweet, but psychological manipulation and attempts to undermine people's self confidence is usually the name of the game.

Is it? Or are these just more assumptions?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

There is no disdain for men who want to improve their social intelligence.

There most definitely is. People here about guys learning how to pick up women, and the mere mention receives disdain.

There is disdain for men who can't see women as human beings but only as sexual objects, and instead of trying to improve their social intelligence, get girls drunk and rape them.

As there should be.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Well when it's all said and done: The student has good grounds for asking for a REFUND on his tuition fees.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Magnus RoeToday 09:55 am JSTStrangerlandMar. 11 08:51 pm JST

I still think you are working on incorrect assumptions. If you teach someone how to have more confidence, how to dress better, and how to decide which things are better unsaid, these aren't lies, they are simply showing someone how to make themselves more appealing, to emphasize what they do have. And if they improve themselves to the point that a woman becomes attracted to the new them, then I think you can hardly call her a victim. Rather, she's now presented with someone that she is attracted to.

Hardly! You're talking about relationship coaches, "pick up artists" nearly always promote themselves as hunters, "emphasizing what they have" sounds very sweet, but psychological manipulation and attempts to undermine people's self confidence is usually the name of the game. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, as you say getting laid is the prime directive of any species, but I think even this crowd frowns openly at using alcohol to this extent.

You shouldn't try to get a woman (or a man's) guard down with booze on order to start up a relationship. that's seduction - at best. And it also disables her/him so that the "pick up artist" can make the strike -- which is sex. Since the other party is a bit tipsy or even totally sloshed, there's no consenting here. And if you 'do it' to the incapacitated victim, it's rape. Simple as that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

agnus Roe

but psychological manipulation and attempts to undermine people's self confidence is usually the name of the game. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, as you say getting laid is the prime directive of any species, but I think even this crowd frowns openly at using alcohol to this extent.

As a woman, it scares the hell out of me to know there are men whose "prime directive" is to get laid. I know this ain't Star Trek, but rather than "treat people with respect and engage in a consensual mutually beneficial sexual relationship" your prime directive is "to get laid"?

And not just to get laid, but to get laid at any cost, to the point where you think psychological manipulation, attempts to undermine women's self-confidence, and get them drunk to make t hem lose inhibtions so they are even easier to manipulate. If you think is not inherently wrong, then what kind of a person are you? Freaking frightening!!

Strangerland

There most definitely is. People here about guys learning how to pick up women, and the mere mention receives disdain.

That's not disdain - that's fear. How do you think women feel knowing that men are calculatedly working on undermining their self-esteem and purposely encouraging them to drink so that they can get them drunk enough to make then easy to manipulate into having sex they otherwise would say no to?

And you wonder why women don't trust men? Seriously?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

As a woman, it scares the hell out of me to know there are men whose "prime directive" is to get laid. I know this ain't Star Trek, but rather than "treat people with respect and engage in a consensual mutually beneficial sexual relationship" your prime directive is "to get laid"?

I don't see how these conflict. Treating people with respect leads to getting laid. And whether or not it makes you uncomfortable, the drive to get laid is a fundamental one at the genetic level. It's instinct, programmed into us.

And not just to get laid, but to get laid at any cost, to the point where you think psychological manipulation, attempts to undermine women's self-confidence, and get them drunk to make t hem lose inhibtions so they are even easier to manipulate.

Such a negative viewpoint. Is it 'psychological manipulation' when women read stories about how to dress better, and how to attract men, in Vogue or Cosmo? Is learning how to do things that are appealing to men 'making it easier to manipulate' them?

This is exactly what I'm talking about. A guy decides to learn to be a public speaker, or to cook, or to learn a new art, and people praise him. Then he decides to learn how to better meet women, and it's 'wanting to get laid at any cost', 'psychological manipulation' and 'undermining women's self confidence'. You are perpetuating the stereotype while at the same time claiming such a stereotype does not exist.

That's not disdain - that's fear. How do you think women feel knowing that men are calculatedly working on undermining their self-esteem and purposely encouraging them to drink so that they can get them drunk enough to make then easy to manipulate into having sex they otherwise would say no to?

So should women's magazines be shut down? How should men feel knowing that women are calculatedly working on deceiving them, tricking men into giving their sperm and making little babies, trapping them into a life of servitude?

(If you weren't able to see it, this is the negative way of speaking of women's articles that talk about how to get your man and keep him, and such articles)

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Gee, his secret pickup formula consists of getting women plastered out of their minds? Sounds like a real artist.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

girl-in-tokyo:

As a woman, it scares the hell out of me to know there are men whose "prime directive" is to get laid.

LOL, that would include all men. It is called testosterone. That does not mean of course that they behave like animals. The vast majority of us understand some ethical principles.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't see how these conflict. Treating people with respect leads to

getting laid. And whether or not it makes you uncomfortable, the drive

to get laid is a fundamental one at the genetic level. It's instinct,

programmed into us.

Yes. Treating people with respect will likely result in a mutually consensual sexual relationship. And as that is the case, why do some men decide that instead of being respectful, they instead calculated chose to use psychological manipulation and ply women with alcohol in order to get them drunk, and then exert pressure on them.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

WilliBToday 02:22 pm JST

woman, it scares the hell out of me to know there are men whose "prime directive" is to get laid.

LOL, that would include all men. It is called testosterone. That does not mean of course that they behave like animals. The vast majority of us understand some ethical principles.

Well, Strangerland doesn't seem to have a very high opinion of men. Maybe you should talk to him.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Treating people with respect leads to getting laid.

Not really. That's why so many nice guys get desperate and join these courses.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As a woman, it scares the hell out of me to know there are men whose "prime directive" is to get laid. I know this ain't Star Trek, but rather than "treat people with respect and engage in a consensual mutually beneficial sexual relationship" your prime directive is "to get laid"?

I think you are mixing up the lines a little, I was describing the common strategy of "pick up artists" as can be seen in various youtube videos, not my own personal philosophy.

Strangerland, regarding my assumptions, the wikipedia article for pick up artists says; "a movement of men whose goal is seduction and sexual success with and access to women", and "refer to their clubs as "lairs"", I think this is quite specific and suggestive of a short term and somewhat predatory philosophy :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes. Treating people with respect will likely result in a mutually consensual sexual relationship. And as that is the case, why do some men decide that instead of being respectful, they instead calculated chose to use psychological manipulation and ply women with alcohol in order to get them drunk, and then exert pressure on them.

Because ultimately, a lot of sex has happened after people have been drinking. I've heard women themselves say they have a hard time having sex without a few drinks, as they can't relax.

Ideally, all people would be suave enough to not need alcohol to pick people up and have sex. But neither are all incidents of alcohol combined with sex manipulation and/or unwanted.

But regardless of that, this story is about:

1) Two guys who allegedly got a girl drunk, then raped her

2) Those two guys were a pick-up teacher and his student

Society has a negative image of men who don't know how to pick up women by instinct, and require help. Anytime you see a story of these pick-up artists (who aren't helped by this title), you see instant derision. Men ridicule them, women talk about how they are reprehensible. So how is a man supposed to improve his lot if he is not good at picking up women? How is he supposed to learn?

The two points above are only connected because they happened in this story. They are not inherent connections. A good teacher of pickup art will teach his students how to do it by improving their look, attitude, and comments. A poor teacher will teach his students how to do it by getting a woman drunk and raping her. Just because some teachers are poor teachers doesn't mean that the whole industry is bad, it just means this guy should be locked up (if he did it).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well, Strangerland doesn't seem to have a very high opinion of men. Maybe you should talk to him.

That's a silly comment. I am a man. My friends are men. I like men.

And the comment I made which you are referring to was about people, not men:

The primary intention of most human beings is to get laid. It's instinctual, beyond logic.

If you think this is incorrect, you are fooling yourself. Wanting sex is a biological imperative that is part of the overwhelming majority of humans. Sure there are some outliers who have no sexual interest. But they are by far the exception, not the rule.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You seem to think it is normal among men to use psychological manipulation and alcohol to coerce women into having sex. I can't see in any way how that could be seen as a positive view of the male gender.

You also keep changing the subject. No one is denigrating men for wanting to better themselves, and no one is castigating men for wanting to have sex. We aren't talking about normal men learning social skills and asking women on dates. We are talking about the predatory behavior of a subset of men who try to take advantage of women when they are under the influence of alcohol.

But since you seem to think that is normal behavior for men, then I can understand how this conversation must could confuse you so badly.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You seem to think it is normal among men to use psychological manipulation and alcohol to coerce women into having sex. I can't see in any way how that could be seen as a positive view of the male gender.

I do not think that, nor have I made comments that would suggest it. Let's try to at least keep your rhetoric within the realm of reality, ok? When you go that far off on a tangent, it shows you aren't interested in discussion, only in attempting to twist my words to be what you think you want me to have said, rather than what I've said.

You also keep changing the subject. No one is denigrating men for wanting to better themselves

But you are. You have been criticizing the pick up lessons based only on them being pick up lessons.

Women talk about how they want me to change in the #metoo movement. Then other women castigate men who are trying to learn to be less creepy with women.

As long as society denigrates guys for the very idea that learning to be better is somehow wrong, you will have creepy guys who don't know how to treat women.

We aren't talking about normal men learning social skills and asking women on dates. We are talking about the predatory behavior of a subset of men who try to take advantage of women when they are under the influence of alcohol.

Except that you have equated all men who want to learn to pick up women, as "trying to take advantage of women when they are under the influence of alcohol".

You don't even leave open the possibility that these guys could be learning anything else.

And you still haven't addressed this:

So should women's magazines be shut down? How should men feel knowing that women are calculatedly working on deceiving them, tricking men into giving their sperm and making little babies, trapping them into a life of servitude?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I can see how this subject confuses you so much. You can't seem tell the difference between talking to a woman with the intent to get to know her as a person, and talking to a woman and disingenuously pretending you want to know her as a person in order to coerce her into sex. But I can understand how that might be hard for you. f your modus operandi has only ever been to treat women as sex objects who withhold sex from you, then your perspective is definitely going to be skewed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Two real Nampa losers. Let's hope they get some real jail time.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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