Crime & Courts

Japanese Film Director Arrested for Alleged Quasi Rape

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Metropolitan Police Department is seen in October 2023 in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.

Jiji Press

16:38 JST, February 21, 2024

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—Japanese film director Hideo Sakaki was arrested Tuesday for suspected sexual assault committed under the pretext of giving advice about acting against a woman who could not offer resistance.

Sakaki, 53, is denying the allegation, saying that he is falsely accused.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department is set to thoroughly investigate any links between the case involving the woman in her 20s who aspired to become an actress and similar reports that the MPD received from multiple other would-be actresses.

On May 23, 2016, Sakaki is suspected of committing an obscene act against the woman in a room of a condominium located in Tokyo’s Minato Ward. Capitalizing on his status as a director, he allegedly urged the woman to let him check her naked body in order to make sure that she has no tattoos. Sakaki had asked her out to a restaurant and they dined together before moving to the condominium.

The two became acquainted at a workshop where Sakaki teaches acting to would-be actresses around autumn 2015 and met several times after that. The police received a report of damage from the woman in June 2023.

Sakaki’s film works include “Accidental Kidnapper” and “Disregarded People.” In March 2022, the release of a Sakaki film titled “Confession,” in which the director depicted victimization by sex crime, was abruptly canceled following media reports about his involvement in suspected sexual assaults.