FEATURE: Osaka prosecutor who accused boss of rape faces backlash

Kyodo News

13 hours ago

By Aya Tamura, KYODO NEWS - 9 minutes ago - 09:05 | All, Japan, Feature
In Japan, prosecutors are powerful public officials who are meant to protect the public from rapists and other criminals. But what if the chief prosecutor is an accused rapist himself?
That's the explosive charge leveled by Hikari, a female prosecutor with the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office who says she was raped by her boss in 2018.
Her pain did not end after the alleged attack. She says it got worse due to a campaign by former chief prosecutor Kentaro Kitagawa and others to silence her, and a colleague who slandered her by spreading rumors claiming she had romantic feelings for Kitagawa.
Hikari's quest for justice is the latest MeToo case in Japan involving women who refused to be silenced after being assaulted by establishment figures. They include filmmaker Shiori Ito and former Ground Self-Defense Force member Rina Gonoi.
Kitagawa, 65, has been indicted and initially admitted the rape charge, but later recanted, saying the sexual encounter was consensual.
On May 21, Hikari -- not her real name -- held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo in which she disclosed a handwritten letter she had received from Kitagawa, asking her to keep quiet about what happened.
According to the indictment, in September 2018, Hikari drank at a social gathering for work and became intoxicated before trying to catch a taxi. Kitagawa half-forced his way into the vehicle and took Hikari to his official residence where he raped her.
A groggy Hikari regained consciousness and pleaded for Kitagawa to stop, but he continued the sexual assault, telling her, "You are my woman now."
In an interview with Kyodo News in early May, Hikari said she believes she was "bullied by the prosecutors' organization" into initially not speaking publicly about the incident. She wishes to remain anonymous as she intends to continue her work.
Hikari developed post-traumatic stress disorder and was unable to continue work as a prosecutor, a job she loved.
In Kitagawa's six-page letter written to Hikari, dated Oct. 28, 2019, he apologizes for the "irreparable damage" his actions caused and for the fact that his apology following the incident was insufficient.
But after begging Hikari's forgiveness several times, Kitagawa asks her to keep the rape secret.
"If this incident becomes public, I will not be able to live on, and I have decided that I will have no choice but to commit suicide," the letter reads. The scandal would harm Kitagawa and the Public Prosecutors Office, leading to resignations by other high-ranking officials, it adds.
At the press conference, Hikari recalled that she was too scared to speak out about what happened. She finally decided she could not live without holding Kitagawa responsible and filed a formal report in February 2024 demanding strict punishment. She said she returned 10 million yen ($70,000) in compensation that Kitagawa had paid her and her husband.
"My dignity as a human being and as a prosecutor was trampled on, my body and soul broken...my harmonious life with my family, my precious job, the time I had spent working tainted and my future was stolen from me," she said.
Kitagawa was arrested in June 2024 on a charge of quasi-forcible sexual intercourse and indicted on the same charge in July.
At the first hearing of his trial in October, Kitagawa admitted to the indictment, saying he had "no intention of fighting the case," and apologized for "causing serious and severe harm to the victim."
However, the situation took a dramatic turn in December when his new defense council made it clear that Kitagawa would be denying the charge. He suddenly claimed there was consent and no intention to commit a crime. The trial has not been held since he changed his plea to not guilty.
Hikari's trauma continues to this day. After returning to work briefly in September 2024, a female deputy prosecutor in the same department, on the same floor, began circulating rumors about the incident and her involvement with Kitagawa. Hikari refers to this as a "secondary rape."
According to Hikari, the deputy prosecutor leaked her personal information and details of the sexual assault, and said her victim's report and PTSD claims were fraudulent. Hikari was again forced to take sick leave.
Hikari filed claims of defamation and harassment among other charges against the deputy prosecutor, but the woman was not charged and only received a warning.
Hikari and her lawyer are preparing to file a review with the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, claiming the decision not to prosecute the deputy prosecutor is unjust.
She is also calling for the establishment of an independent committee to review the responses to her case.
"Harassment is rampant in the Public Prosecutors Office," she said. "I believe that both the Kitagawa case and the further accusations by the deputy public prosecutor are the result of this kind of prosecutorial terrain."
In an email to Hikari's lawyer, a high-ranking official of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office said the office stands by its decision not to pursue a case against the deputy prosecutor based on the law and evidence.
The official also argues further that publicly speaking about the incident "undermines the credibility of the office."
"This is not an attempt to keep her quiet or a threat, but an obvious request, so we ask that she refrain from saying she has been told to shut up or threatened," the official said.
Related coverage:
Ex-chief Osaka public prosecutor pleads guilty to rape of colleague
Ex-chief public prosecutor arrested for raping colleague in Osaka