『恥ずべきレイプ事件隠蔽に 』 米誌「デイリー・ビースト」

Is Japan’s Top Politician Behind a Shameful Rape Cover-Up?
‘Japanese women shouldn’t suffer rape or injustice in silence anymore.’ Asimpledeclaration by a victimhasprovoked acomplexpoliticalcrisis.
Jake Adelstein
Jake Adelstein
06.20.17 1:00 AM ET

TOKYO—Japan’s ruling coalition,headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,has been mired inscandal for several weeks amid allegations Abepersonallybent the law orbroke itto benefithispoliticalcronies andfriends. Even a senior member of Abe’s own Liberal Democratic Party says, “There isnothing this administration wouldn’t do to crushits enemies and rewarditspals.”

But new allegationshave raised thepossibility that the administration mayhave gone so far as to quash a rape investigation on behalf of aclosefriend of Abe: thedapper, hipster-beardedbroadcast journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi,whoalsopennedtwo laudatorybooks on theprimeminister.

The storybecamenational news on May 29when a 28-year-old journalistnamed Shiori held apress conference at the Tokyo District Court asshe sought to reopen theclosed investigation into hercase. Inaccordance with thewishes of her relatives,shehas kept her familyname out of thepapers.

In a countrywhere fewer than 10percent of rape victimsever file a report, it is rare for victims tospeak out andeven rarer for them to show theirfaces.

Shiori claims that on April 4, 2015, Yamaguchi, the journalistclosest to Prime Minister Abe, and a former Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the Japanesetelevisionnetwork TBS, raped herwhileshe was unconscious at the Sheraton Miyako Hotel. She had dinner and drinks withhim before losing consciousness.

She filedcharges with the Tokyo Metropolitan Takanawa Policewho investigated thecase diligently andeven obtained an arrestwarrant for Yamaguchi, onlyto be stopped by anorderfrom a high-ranking bureaucrat right as they wereset to arresthim at Narita Airport.

Like ascene out of a movie, the detectivewho had atfirst reluctantlytaken hercase but hadbecome heradvocatetold her over the phone, “He’s walkingpast us. I can’t doanything. I’ve gotordersfrom way above. I’ve just beentold I’mbeingtakenoff thecase, aswell. I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t ascenefrom a movie. That was exactlywhat happened.

And that iswhere the storytakes amajorpolitical twist. It is not surprising that the oppositionparty and Japan’s media are reporting thepossibility of acover-up or, at aminimum,grossinterference in the rape investigation.

It’s quite a cast ofcharacters that show up in thishumandrama, and it may help tohave aprogram to keep themstraight.

The Alleged Victim—Shiori,whosecalm anger anddirectaccount ofevents thepresshas foundmore thancompelling, andwhosecase maywellhave helped force the Japaneseparliament torevise the country’s horriblyantiquated laws onsexual assault.

The Alleged Rapist—The wiry Yamaguchi, taking the Bill Cosby approach,insists that he isinnocent andanything that happened was consensual,even though there is ampleproof that Shiori was onlysemi-conscious if, indeed,she was conscious at all. He is beloved not only by Prime Minister Abe, butalso by Japan’s rightwing for an infamous article hepennedwhich appeared to dismiss the sufferings of “the comfort women”who were enslaved tosexually service Japanesesoldiers during WWII.
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