Japanese journalist brings lonely #MeToo battle to Sundance

Of course men are going to threaten her in Japan, they don't want the gender power imbalance to change here. She threatens the status quo of their patriarchy.

She is a hero and a very brave person. I wish her continued success in her quest to right the ledger.

"There are even signs of the #MeToo movement finally reaching Japan's entertainment industry."

And in proving that consequences are extremely severe in Japan, Johnny's had to change its name even!

High officials are UNTOUCHABLE in Japan.

All prominent politicians and the government workers are protected.

What happened on Epstein Island says you do not need "in Japan" in the above statement.

Wish I could direct a movie with absolutely no filmmaking experience whatsoever and have it entered into Sundance!

Warts and all.

Hope all negatively concerned with the case here really squirm - politicians, police, prosecutors, critics and of course Abe's slimy mate, the guilty Yamaguchi.

The media better show some gumption and run with the film.

CONGRATS to her and all the people who have been subjected to any rape or abuse, sometimes all it takes is one determined HERO to stand up and enough is enough and take down these thugs.

This incident clearly shows that Japanese journalism is rotten. I hope the reporter who committed the crime enjoys his long life in prison.

The Metoo movement is a good thing, but there are a certain number of people who are trying to influence even derivative manga and anime. That's something I would like to see stopped.

This story again!

In the next few decades women are going to rule this country. I cant wait.

What a lot of people dont understand is the not only is rape a physicle violation of someone, it causes massive mental trauma, ive known several woman and men that have been raped in carehomes and in private life, each and every single one does suffer from, violent mood swings, not being able to hold down a steady relationship with a partner, trust issues, alcohol problems, and loads more issues, most of them have bottled up these emotions and vented there anger out on the ones that they love the most, so this lady is standing up to the system, this is going to be an uphill battle, but it will be worth it, the police in the uk do treat these allegations very seriously, and its about time japan does to, and why should someone further up the political foodchain be exempt from charges? no, they should not, we need to trust these people, but if we cant, its bad, we all know about mr Epstien and his royal conections, there fore no one should be above the law.

Japan is not so safe for women.

Ito alleged that Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a former TV journalist with close links to then-prime minister Shinzo Abe, raped her

Whenever that guy's name is mentioned, is there ever any GOOD news that follows?

Good for her. Will keep an eye skinned for the film. Getting it premiered at Sundance will definitely subject the film to international awareness and scrutiny so hopefully that will also draw attention to Japan's horribly antiquated responses to sex crimes and its equally antiquated laws in regards to sex crimes. This will hopefully force a much needed change in a country whose views and support of women is honestly somewhat appalling.

I hope she will get justice with the law,but even so her trauma won’t be go away as for many women victimized by these rapists and abusive men.

Abusing and raping women is not just a horrendous crime but also destroys a woman inner heart traumatizing.

Japan as usual is still stick in the past and they really should get rid of this macho paternalistic men centric society.

It’s 2024 not 1954.

@Gaijinjland

Wish I could direct a movie with absolutely no filmmaking experience whatsoever and have it entered into Sundance!

What’s stopping you?

I think she is a hero. Her case reflected someone can be above law even Japan is a so called"Lawful country"!

I still believe in justice with evidence.

I don't want people thrown to the drain as soon as accused of rape or whatsoever.

It works both ways.

Hospitals need to be ready to help any sort of violence, especially domestic, to prove the wrongdoing.

Otherwise, it is just allegation and no crime can be demonstrated.

Wish her success after all those upheavals.

And in proving that consequences are extremely severe in Japan, Johnny's had to change its name even!

And everyone playing along with the pretend that Start Entertainment is totally not Johnny's. Like Hollywood does with E. Page.

I highly recommend her book.

She’s a hero and a role model to all.

I'm most curious to see how long before the film is released in Japan. And how successful it is, as well as how much coverage it gets.

It's good that her story is making waves outside Japan. If it were only news inside Japan, it would be buried and forgotten very quickly.

Whenever that guy's name is mentioned, is there ever any GOOD news that follows?

Nope. Never.

The important thing to note with Itoh is that she was not date raped. She was raped.

She was not on a date with the perp. The perp got her to go to a bar by manipulating her with his status as an inner circle journalist in a line of work where personal connections are vital. Its very similar to Harvey Weinstein exploiting his status to get women to go to hotel rooms. If you don't go, forget about getting the starring role. I mention this because there is widespread (highly misogynistic) blaming of Itoh in Japan.

the only reason why Ito won her case, is because of the implication of the media putting pressure on judges.

Shiori Ito life has been destroyed and proves that rape is part of Japanese culture.

few women have guts like Ito and her endless case will push more women to stay quiet....

Good for her! She's winning.

However, I only believe in FACTS and evidence. What the #MeToo movement wants is instantly believe her favorability. What they want is an advantage in the "He said / She said" argument.

This does not mean, don't listen to the woman. Or instantly dismiss her. What it means is before destroying another human being's life, provide some PROOF!

Unfortunately, for the #MeToo movement, the false accusations impede the progress they are trying to make. Oh, don't get me wrong. You'll change some laws, but you'll fail to change people's minds. Humans are susceptible to thoughts of vengeance and / or regret. When you are hell-bent on winning or destroying someone else, you'll say anything.

There are always two narratives and there are FACTS.

Redtail SwiftToday  10:34 am JST

judgment is irrelevant.

proof is not needed in Japan. the use of stupid logic from the judge can be grounds for judgment.

as logic is not defined by law, judges are free to ignore allegations and fabricate any kind of false theory claiming that their own selfish theories are socially accepted and reasonable.

the fact that a judgment be reversed so easily shows that incompetent judges are not influenced by the truth.

Good for her. I can only begin how empowering it must feel to not only win against someone who so wronged you, but be able to parade the fact so it follows the dude for the rest of his life. The higher-on-the-foodchain Japanese businessmen (male and female alike) have no regard for anything other than what they want and believe is right. This is not so much a classic he-said she-said publicity #metoo case as this actually involves waterproof evidence for the one making the claim. This is also about corruption and anti-compliance and thus should be compared to the Nissan-Ghosn affair if anything.

Wish I could direct a movie with absolutely no filmmaking experience whatsoever and have it entered into Sundance!

She studied journalism and photography in New York and interned for Thompson Reuters and Nippon TV.

She successfully sued Lower House member Mio Sugita for liking defamatory social media posts about her, claiming that the number of Ms. Sugita's followers meant those defamatory comments were more widely spread by her liking them. The courts agreed and ordered Ms. Sugita to pay Ms. Ito Y550,000 with the High Court remarking that " the "like" did express support for defamatory content against Ms. Itō and infringed on her dignity, moreover, the consequential wide dissemination of the negative post constituted defamatory conduct beyond the limit, noting that Ms. Sugita, a National Diet member with over 100,000 followers, has influence beyond any ordinary citizen."

Ms. Ito likewise sued Tashiko Hasumi for defamation over five tweets implying Ms. Ito's claims were false and was awarded Y1.1 million.

ProtestantJan. 21  04:54 pm JST

Uh-oh… international scrutiny! Good for her. Hope her story brings the audiences to gasp in contempt at how she has been treated.

If that's what it takes then do it. Rape is a very serious crime that damages the survivors for life. It's in virtually every institution and it needs to be brought to attention. Only 'recently' has it been brought to focus but it's in all kinds of schools, employment, scouting programs, religion, military, more. And the victim shaming has to end. 99.99% of rape allegations are true and real.

> TamaramaJan. 21  05:45 pm JST

Of course men are going to threaten her in Japan, they don't want the gender power imbalance to change here. She threatens the status quo of their patriarchy.

She is a hero and a very brave person. I wish her continued success in her quest to right the ledger.

We need more people like her to stand up against the rapist pigs. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Epstein, R Kelly, Donald TrumpChump, all of them. Hold them responsible for their crimes!

Japanese patriarchy is sickening and goes to the very core of society, and it all comes down from the top. As a young foreign gay woman, the very last countries I would visit would be Japan, S. Korea, and the USA. I have read and seen on YT video's to many cover up stories about SA in these places, and the perpetrators are protected by the law/justice system. Yes, I know it goes on in most countries, but the patriarchal system in the ones I have mentioned is atrocious. Women are the most important members of any society, without us there is nothing.