Mark comments

daikakaToday  09:56 am JST

The chances of them getting indicted or having to pay any penalties is next to zero. The hurdles is too high to get that charge through the courts so I doubt the prosecutors will try.

Will see some 1 paragraph article about charges being dropped in a few months and they'll be back doing it again.

Yes, most people understand how having a 99.9% conviction rate means that based on (often forced) confessions there is a very high rate of innocent people being convicted, but what a lot of people don't realise is that since prosecutors only take cases where they 'believe' they can get a conviction, it means a lot of guilty people go free in Japan (also contributing to the low crime rates).

Quo PrimumToday  08:54 am JST

the online news site Daily Shincho reported that Ito is suspected of getting the two women drunk

Getting them drunk?

Did he physically force the alcohol down their throats or something?

It's ridiculous when anyone ever says, "Somebody got me drunk."

Nobody gets you drunk except you. You are responsible for how much alcohol you choose to consume.

I thought women were strong and independent -- isn't that what we're constantly told these days?

Well, ladies, if you're so strong and independent ... don't blame someone else for YOUR choice to drink too much!!!

Rape is rape whether the victim is drunk or not.

LegrandeToday  09:17 am JST

If you don't want the possibility of something bad happening don't go to a hotel room with someone you don't really know and start drinking alcohol.

Ouch, victim blaming raises its ugly but persistent head.

Or better yet, do not sexually assault women; then they will have nothing to worry about aye. ;)

DaninthepanToday  08:59 am JST

Just the tip of an enormous iceberg, I fear.

Yes, for years now people visiting Japan or staying have been warned about the widespread problem of drink spiking.

Many embassies have a warning about this in Japan especially Tokyo.

U.S. Embassy warns of spiked drinks in Tokyo bars | Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE52I2BI/

Beware of Drink Spiking in Japan Bars: True Stories and Tips for Staying Safe (japaninsides.com)

https://japaninsides.com/beware-of-drink-spiking-in-japan-bars-true-stories-and-tips-for-staying-safe-37662

> maxjapankToday  07:48 am JST

Good for Ito.

If these claims are bogus - and were collaborated between the two women to try and gain money from Ito - hopefully this lawsuit will force them to drop their accusations, and therefore the police investigation will be dropped.

This is a terribly damaging thing to be hanging over Ito's excellent reputation.

But what if the accusations against Ito are true? What if he and the other guy did take advantage of the two women while they were drunk? I feel bad for anyone falsely accused. But twice as bad for anyone that was raped.

Good point.

Being falsely accused of rape is an extremely rare event (compared to the actual number of rapes) and can lead to a loss of career and reputation, but that pales in comparison to the lifelong emotional, physical and psychological torture that rape has on women.

Instead of giving birth to severely disabled children then abandoning them... Terminating the pregnancy?

That is one of the biggest moral questions ever asked. Unfortunately it dips its toes in N@zi ideology. If it weren't so darn morbid and dangerous it would make a fantastic study Drawing on religions would make a good start

Well, that's the normal practice today, though, Mr Presley.

But you knew that tough, right?

timeonToday  04:47 pm JST

Rather than prosecutors, this lady needs some good psychiatrists.

Indeed. What on Earth is this women doing at the prosecutor instead of at the doctor's clinic?

DanteKHToday  05:05 pm JST

Too many lunatics and people with mental issues walking free in Japan...

In case you hadn't noticed, Japan is a highly stressed-out and unhappy nation. People need help but they are;t getting it.

> JayToday  01:13 pm JST

I think rather than Christianity or any other religion, it's humanity itself that is kind by nature.

Firstly Mark, very sorry for your loss.

Secondly, and respectfully, I think it's quite easy to be raised in a country like New Zealand, a nation founded on Christian values, and hold the belief that kindness is an intrinsic human virtue.

Kind acts undoubtedly existed before the establishment of many of the world religions, but wasn't espoused as a virtue to the extent as it has been in Christianity in particular.

I mean, praying for your enemies? LOL, who does that?!

Christians do. Even those without a spiritual bone in their body would have to admit, that's pretty dang cool.

Thanks Jay.

Let's agree to disagree on this one.

All religions, including Buddhism, which was around 3,000 years before Christianity, espoused kindness as a virtue for one's enemies. Kindness as a virtue is a unique human trait though and no religion can state it invented it or espoused it any ore than nay other religion.

Humans are pretty dang cool, yes.

StrangerlandToday  09:53 am JST*

So, our baby who was born with a hole in her heart and Trisomy 18 in NZ was taken off life support to die naturally in our arms. This does not happen in Japan, as far as I can tell.

I know two families in Japan, who got pregnant with children who tested positive for severe disabilities. They were given the option of abortion.

Our child had been alive for 7 weeks before she passed.

I think it's after birth that disabled babies must be preserved at all costs, not before birth.

> StrangerlandToday  09:53 am JST

So, our baby who was born with a hole in her heart and Trisomy 18 in NZ was taken off life support to die naturally in our arms. This does not happen in Japan, as far as I can tell.

I know two families in Japan, who got pregnant with children who tested positive for severe disabilities. They were given the option of abortion.

Thanks for that big guy.

Mr KiplingToday  09:43 am JST

Iceland has eradicated Downs syndrome through testing. Surely this is the way to go?

Here's the thing in Japan. According to a Neonatologist I knew from Europe working in Japan all life must be preserved no matter what. Even if the child is severely disabled before or after birth, it must be preserved at all costs. This is the law in Japan. So you end up with an unusually high number of severely disabled children in Japan.

So, our baby who was born with a hole in her heart and Trisomy 18 in NZ was taken off life support to die naturally in our arms. This does not happen in Japan, as far as I can tell.

What happens to these poor women who are so desperate and unsure what to do?

Please don't tell me they go to prison.

Coulda beenToday  08:38 am JST

There are hidden pockets of genuine kindness in this tumultous world.

Really? I'm not currently in Japan but I see only kindness and very rarely unkindness where I live. Is it a case of half class full vs half glass empty?

> JayToday  07:20 am JST

While working as a church pastor, Migiwa founder Hiroki Matsubara, 55, set up a consultation center for women dealing with unwanted pregnancies. The first case involved a woman whose prenatal diagnosis revealed a fetal defect.

Discovering her child would be disabled, she said she would "kill the baby" if she gave birth to it. Her shocking words revealed to Matsubara the depths of her anguish, compelling him to start counseling sessions for women pregnant with disabled babies

When Christians are mercilessly mocked as "bible bashers" and Christianity derided as "regressive" and constantly under attack, remember people like Matsubara and remind yourself that you will not find a higher level of kindness or ethics than in a true practicing Christian.

Whether a believer or not, I hope we can all appreciate the values that true Christianity - not the organizations tarred by the despicable sexual crimes of a small percentage of the papal elite or the disingenuous money-grabbing activities of the Mega Churches - true Christianity, has provided humanity: the blueprint for ascension.

Thank you Matsubara for the amazing work that you do in saving these special lives.

I think rather than Christianity or any other religion, it's humanity itself that is kind by nature.

So I say, thank you, Matsubara, for representing the better side of humanity.

> JROFeb. 19  06:37 pm JST

Well it says he admitted to the charges, so I guess he admitted they had done something more than watching a movie. It does feel like there is more to the story though, that in the span of 3 hours the family would call the cops, and the cops would find and arrest the man. It's not weird for a 13 year old to go out for 3 hours, even weirder for the parents to worry so much that they would call the cops within that time. Even weirder for the cops to track him down and find him within those 3 hours, they would probably still be explaining stuff on the phone at that stage.

You might want to look up how policing works in Japan. You will rarely get someone denying charges once they have been arrested.

Nibek32Today  05:53 pm JST

While the situation looks nefarious, is it technically illegal for an adult to watch a movie with a teenager?

It's kidnapping at best since she is a minor so an adult can not be with a child without the knowledge of the guardians.

timeonToday  05:20 pm JST

I somehow think there is something more to the story, on Sunday morning the girls just left house without saying anything? And immediately parents filled a missing person report, and the guy was arrested within 1-2 hours or so.

Indeed. News on crime is mostly a guessing game because most of the information reported by the police is either not entirely true, made up or changed in some way or, as in this case, a lot of key information has been withheld.

ProtestantToday  05:16 pm JST

Perhaps the parents should have a very serious conversation with their young daughter… Perhaps they should have had it some considerable time ago.

I think you are overestimating the ability of some predators to convince children to do what they say and overestimating the ability of a child to ve aware that such people exist and how one can be tricked.

Asiaman7Today  04:52 pm JST

What were they doing for 14 hours in a hotel room?

12:25 p.m. is 25 minutes after noon. So they were in the room for about 2 1/2 hours.

Thanks. I always mix up 12am and 12pm.

robert maesFeb. 17  08:16 am JST

on several times I was confronted with discrimination by police ( stealing of my 2 dogs was ignored and I was hardest by police instead of them acting to apprehend the known thieves. The same by the court.

my business visa was not extended correctly and timely nearly every year.

I was asked once a deposit of 178 months on a 2 year rental

at no point did I ever get any useful help from these organisations except to send me from phone to phone.

Living in Japan for more than 15 years, I found Japanese government agencies to be time-sucking, cold and ineffective, so I avoided them as much as possible except to renew my visa, which I no longer need since I married a local. Yay.

What were they doing for 14 hours in a hotel room?

$36,000 would put you close to the poverty line in most developed nations today.

More Japanese will want to work overseas.

Fewer non-Japanese will want to work in Japan.

Does this spell doom for Japan's future?