She Broke Japan’s Silence on Rape
The police later located a taxi driver who recalled picking up Ms. Ito
and Mr. Yamaguchi and taking them to the nearby Sheraton Miyako Hotel, where Mr. Yamaguchi was staying.
Ms. Ito, 28, who has filed a civil suit against Mr. Yamaguchi, agreed to discuss her case
in detail to highlight the challenges faced by women who suffer sexual violence in Japan.
He also said Mr. Yamaguchi might have said something like, "I won’t do anything." When they pulled up to the hotel, the driver said, Ms. Ito had "gone silent" for about five minutes
and he discovered that she had vomited in the back seat.
The detective said Mr. Yamaguchi would be apprehended at the airport on June 8, 2015, after arriving in Tokyo on a flight from Washington,
and he asked her to return to Japan to help with questioning, Ms. Ito said.
As the United States reckons with an outpouring of sexual misconduct cases
that have shaken Capitol Hill, Hollywood, Silicon Valley and the news media, Ms. Ito’s story is a stark example of how sexual assault remains a subject to be avoided in Japan, where few women report rape to the police and their complaints rarely result in arrests or prosecution when they do.
When she woke, Ms. Ito said, she was underneath Mr. Yamaguchi in his hotel bed, naked and in pain.
Mr. Yamaguchi acknowledged that "it was inappropriate" to take Ms. Ito to his room
but said, "It would have been inappropriate to leave her at the station or in the hotel lobby." He declined to describe what happened next, citing the advice of his lawyers.
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