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The Case Of Actor Yuta Takahata And The Issue Of Rape In Japan

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patty diaz

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So by now the majority of you would have heard the news about the actor Yuta Takahata getting arrested and later charges dropped against him for the August 23rd rape of a hotel worker in the city of Maebashi, Gunma.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ta-rape-case-dropped-says-sorry/#.V9kP3jnuRaW
Another disgusting case of the rapist getting away with a slap on the hand with society being lead to feel sorry for him. While the victim has to live with it for the rest of her life.
Victim blaming and cases of rape and how they are handled in the west are atrocious (take the case of Brock Turner). But the extreme disregard for rape and victims here in Japan astounds me, this hits very close to home as I myself was raped last year, in Japan and never went to the police for fear of what everyone would think and numerous stories I had heard of the polices disregard for such cases...
Unreported rapes are probably so high because of these types of rulings. This apologizing crap just adds fuel to the fire! Along with victim blaming or shaming..
 
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I'm so sorry to hear it happened to you too. I totally agree with you, and I'm equally disgusted at the way this kind of crime is dealt with here in Japan. I couldn't believe when I saw him bowing and getting away with it, by " settling things with the victim". What a bunch of crap.
 
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patty diaz said:
I myself was raped last year
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It is damning to society that you would admit this here in a public forum and be afraid to go to the police. It is mind boggling how in this day and age women can be treated as mere objects and in a such a perverse way.

I hope you have the strength to get through this trauma!
 
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zecarioca said:
I'm so sorry to hear it happened to you too. I totally agree with you, and I'm equally disgusted at the way this kind of crime is dealt with here in Japan. I couldn't believe when I saw him bowing and getting away with it, by " settling things with the victim". What a bunch of crap.
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Lets wait it'll just be a matter of time before he's back making movies and everyone just happens to forget he's a rapist
 
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toner935 said:
It is damning to society that you would admit this here in a public forum and be afraid to go to the police.
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Because rape is the only crime where the victim is considered partly guilty too by society.
And that's everywhere, not only in Japan. My ex-husband got only 2 years, but did just 1 (i dont know the word in English, but if he commits an other crime he'll do the remaining year). And the guy that was with him? 6 months. They probably would have received more if they had stolen my tv...

As for the Takahata case, what is even more upsetting are the people calling the victime a scammer/wh*** because she "accepted" the settlement.
 
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patty diaz said:
Lets wait it'll just be a matter of time before he's back making movies and everyone just happens to forget he's a rapist
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I didn't follow this case before. Just from this article it seems really weird. He wasn't drunk, but just couldn't control himself? Even if the victim settled the case with him out of court, I wonder if not at a minimum he should have been placed in some therapy? Admittedly there are damn hot 40year old women, but what must even happen if he runs into a 20years old one?

I don't believe in stigmatizing people for the rest of their life, but to let someone who might even be a role model get away so easily, sets a very worrying example.

Not all rape cases are pretty clear, but that doesn't seem to be an issue here. Even more worrying is that there are no circumstances that make it very likely to be a one-time wrong doing.
 
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patty diaz said:
So by now the majority of you would have heard the news about the actor Yuta Takahata getting arrested and later charges dropped against him for the August 23rd rape of a hotel worker in the city of Maebashi, Gunma.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ta-rape-case-dropped-says-sorry/#.V9kP3jnuRaW
Another disgusting case of the rapist getting away with a slap on the hand with society being lead to feel sorry for him. While the victim has to live with it for the rest of her life.
Victim blaming and cases of rape and how they are handled in the west are atrocious (take the case of Brock Turner). But the extreme disregard for rape and victims here in Japan astounds me, this hits very close to home as I myself was raped last year, in Japan and never went to the police for fear of what everyone would think and numerous stories I had heard of the polices disregard for such cases...
Unreported rapes are probably so high because of these types of rulings. This apologizing crap just adds fuel to the fire! Along with victim blaming or shaming..
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your own story. Are you Japanese or foreign? I'm sure others would be interested to know what happened and how it may have been prevented (if at all possible). I dated a girl who said she was also raped while walking back from the station in her younger days. She didn't report it out of the same fear. This happened in Saitama where there are a lot of dark road on the way home.
 
TAG_Member said:
Sorry to hear about your own story. Are you Japanese or foreign? I'm sure others would be interested to know what happened and how it may have been prevented (if at all possible). I dated a girl who said she was also raped while walking back from the station in her younger days. She didn't report it out of the same fear. This happened in Saitama where there are a lot of dark road on the way home.
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Im foriegn. To be honest its a very private thing for me so Im not willing to go into details etc. Ill just let you know that it happened at a hotel which is a major reason as to why i didnt feel going to the police would help.
 
patty diaz said:
So by now the majority of you would have heard the news about the actor Yuta Takahata getting arrested and later charges dropped against him for the August 23rd rape of a hotel worker in the city of Maebashi, Gunma.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...ta-rape-case-dropped-says-sorry/#.V9kP3jnuRaW
Another disgusting case of the rapist getting away with a slap on the hand with society being lead to feel sorry for him. While the victim has to live with it for the rest of her life.
Victim blaming and cases of rape and how they are handled in the west are atrocious (take the case of Brock Turner). But the extreme disregard for rape and victims here in Japan astounds me, this hits very close to home as I myself was raped last year, in Japan and never went to the police for fear of what everyone would think and numerous stories I had heard of the polices disregard for such cases...
Unreported rapes are probably so high because of these types of rulings. This apologizing crap just adds fuel to the fire! Along with victim blaming or shaming..
Click to expand...
the apologizing crap is just for the media, there surely was money given behind the scene for the victim to drop the pursuit.
I think they should change the law and remove this right to drop charges from the victim and have a rape case be a state case with the state pursuing the raper. I mean it's not like theft of money issues where the victim can be equally compensated with money, when there is violence there should be punishment for the culprit.
 
It seems the victim accepted a bunch of money to drop the case. By taking the money it will lead to others being raped.
 
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MossBoss said:
It seems the victim accepted a bunch of money to drop the case. By taking the money it will lead to others being raped.
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Hard the blame her! The press and others would somehow turn the situation around and portray her as being responsible for what happened versus the victim. She had an easy opportunity to end this and stay out of the public view. Not everyone thinks in terms of greater good for the greater number when they are the minority that is impacted.
 
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MossBoss said:
It seems the victim accepted a bunch of money to drop the case. By taking the money it will lead to others being raped.
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That's possible, but it's not really the responsibility of the victim to prevent this. I seriously doubt there would be much support state wise for her, if she pursued the case. This may help her individually a lot more than him being sentenced.
Most victims do not have this opportunity. She will at least probably be able to afford the support she needs now.
 
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MossBoss said:
It seems the victim accepted a bunch of money to drop the case. By taking the money it will lead to others being raped.
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Accepted or was coerced into accepting?
On the one hand you have an hotel staff, and on the other a national star and her son with their high-class lawyers. Plus the victim is Japanese, it was probably quite easy to intimidate/guilt-trip her.
 
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toner935 said:
Hard the blame her! The press and others would somehow turn the situation around and portray her as being responsible for what happened versus the victim. She had an easy opportunity to end this and stay out of the public view. Not everyone thinks in terms of greater good for the greater number when they are the minority that is impacted.
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vck_js said:
Accepted or was coerced into accepting?
On the one hand you have an hotel staff, and on the other a national star and her son with their high-class lawyers. Plus the victim is Japanese, it was probably quite easy to intimidate/guilt-trip her.
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I agree with this.
This case is really heart breaking, and i'm deeply sorry for this poor, injured lady, but Brock Turner's case even makes me more angry because he and his parents have the nerve to blame the situation on "the dangers of binge drinking" (blaming it on what she did, not on what he did) instead of even making an apology.
Victim blaming is the worst.
 
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that's why I think the law should be changed and keep the charges even if the victim drops the accusation. I think it works this way in some countries.
 
patty diaz said:
Lets wait it'll just be a matter of time before he's back making movies and everyone just happens to forget he's a rapist
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Apparently there is still a chance that the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution will override the public prosecutors office's decision to drop the case, although I'm not very familiar with Japanese legal proceedings and there are conflicting opinions about this in the japanese blogosphere regarding the legal requirements for it.
 
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Goshogawara said:
Apparently there is still a chance that the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution will override the public prosecutors office's decision to drop the case, although I'm not very familiar with Japanese legal proceedings and there are conflicting opinions about this in the japanese blogosphere regarding the legal requirements for it.
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I hope they do!
 
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vck_js said:
Accepted or was coerced into accepting?
On the one hand you have an hotel staff, and on the other a national star and her son with their high-class lawyers. Plus the victim is Japanese, it was probably quite easy to intimidate/guilt-trip her.
Click to expand...

Boom - this. The victim is an individual working in the service industry and probably making something just approaching a living wage. The assailant is a celebrity - in the entertainment world (and especially in Japan) celebrities are investments. They're brands. Tons of time and money is poured into them by their management agency and, in most cases, those agencies have money in their coffers and lawyers on retainer. I would imagine the offer presented to the victim was something like "Either take this large lump sum of money to drop the case or we will ruin your life through litigation".

One additional thing to keep in mind - it is not uncommon for large entertainment companies to have ties to organized crime as well. Chances are high the victim was intimidated by lawyers but who knows what other kind of threats she may have received. Anyone attacking her for accepting the settlement is either living in a dream world or just doesn't give a shit about class and justice.

All I know is that I can't stand fucks like this who think that just because they're hot shit at the moment they have free reign to do whatever they want regardless of how it hurts others.
 
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MossBoss said:
It seems the victim accepted a bunch of money to drop the case. By taking the money it will lead to others being raped.
Click to expand...

That's a facet of Japanese law that has always disgusted me.

A criminal case should not be able to be simply settled out for cash.
 
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toner935 said:
Not everyone thinks in terms of greater good for the greater number when they are the minority that is impacted.
Click to expand...

As @vck_js mentions the woman probably had a certain amount of pressure put on her. THowever sometimes doing things for the greater good is necessary.

I don't subscribe to the financial compensation culture. Getting money for a new car or whatever has nothing to do with being violated or attacked.
 
e-smile said:
I mean it's not like theft of money issues where the victim can be equally compensated with money, when there is violence there should be punishment for the culprit
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Sudsy said:
A criminal case should not be able to be simply settled out for cash
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As an aside, the idea of monetary compensation for rape has been around as long as legal codes have existed and is seen as fair in many places today as well. Let us not assume that our western values apply everywhere.
 
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TheScientist said:
As an aside, the idea of monetary compensation for rape has been around as long as legal codes have existed and is seen as fair in many places today as well. Let us not assume that our western values apply everywhere.
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While that's true those legal codes were created in a social environment where women were literally viewed as property. If they were unmarried their rape would affect the ability of their family to collect a dowry or whatever influence/connections could be gained by an advantageous marriage and if they were married they were more or less their husband's chattel.

I think the global trend is towards more a more progressive attitude towards gender issues and cases like this show how far Japan has to go in that area...
 
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Usually, you don't see me posting much except in certain cases :love: like this one!

Japan is a safe country, yes, but it's still easy to get raped by someone you know who has the chance to get you alone in a room. You have to decide to fight :punch: :blackeye: or let it happen :vomit: and get it over with. There is so much shame :( that comes with trying to report it and get something done about what happened, is maddening! :mad:

I've dealt with it all, except full blown rape. The stares, up-skirt attempts, wandering hands on a train, guys rubbing against me, breast groping, touching my hair (!) and flat out requests for a hotel date. :eek: I have become numb to some of it. When reporting it, the feeling I get in return is akin to 'you're just a gaijin'. :eggface:

Women here have to be more defensive and position themselves in places where they cannot so easily be subjected to abusive behavior.

(and PS: I despise taking the women only trains, hate, hate, hate it. :stop:)
 
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BIPSY said:
While that's true those legal codes were created in a social environment where women were literally viewed as property. If they were unmarried their rape would affect the ability of their family to collect a dowry or whatever influence/connections could be gained by an advantageous marriage and if they were married they were more or less their husband's chattel.

I think the global trend is towards more a more progressive attitude towards gender issues and cases like this show how far Japan has to go in that area...
Click to expand...

You've put forward the knee jerk reply but you really ought to dig deeper. In both the Code of Hamurabi and Jewish Torah law, it goes far deeper than that for example.
 
BIPSY said:
Boom - this. The victim is an individual working in the service industry and probably making something just approaching a living wage. The assailant is a celebrity - in the entertainment world (and especially in Japan) celebrities are investments. They're brands. Tons of time and money is poured into them by their management agency and, in most cases, those agencies have money in their coffers and lawyers on retainer. I would imagine the offer presented to the victim was something like "Either take this large lump sum of money to drop the case or we will ruin your life through litigation".

One additional thing to keep in mind - it is not uncommon for large entertainment companies to have ties to organized crime as well. Chances are high the victim was intimidated by lawyers but who knows what other kind of threats she may have received. Anyone attacking her for accepting the settlement is either living in a dream world or just doesn't give a shit about class and justice.

All I know is that I can't stand fucks like this who think that just because they're hot shit at the moment they have free reign to do whatever they want regardless of how it hurts others.
Click to expand...
I don't even think it's only the pressure from his management, but the way Japanese society in general treats a poor woman who stands up against a rich, powerful man. People would be very harsh on her so it's better for her to stay out of the spotlights.
In general the judgement of rape victims is very harsh everywhere in the world but i feel in Japan the issue of rich person with status vs poor person is also very big.
 
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