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MSDF sailor stages predawn assault on Kobe soapland

Shukan Asahi Geino July 9
Shukan Asahi Geino July 9

“The ships engage in training exercises at sea for a month at a time, with no breaks during the weekend, and he took an extended leave,” says a spokesman for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force headquarters for the Maizuru District, who added, “he had been commended in reports for taking a serious attitude toward his job.”

Despite his sterling military record, at approximately 5:15 a.m. on the morning of June 21, MSDF leading seaman Takashi Kaneguchi, age 26, allegedly broke into a deluxe erotic bathhouse in the Fukuhara district of Kobe and raped two female employees.

As reported in Shukan Asahi Geino (July 9), Kaneguchi is suspected of having smashed the lock on the door to the establishment and, during a 25-minute rampage, stripped himself to the buff and raped a 33-year-old masseuse, at which time he also left behind bites on her breasts requiring three days of treatment. He then raped a second employee, age 31.

The victims were assigned to the soapland’s morning shift, which begins from 9:00 AM, and were apparently sleeping in from the night before.

The soapland charges 51,000 yen for a 110-minute session.

Kaneguchi is said to have then donned a one-piece woman’s shift with floral pattern worn by the masseuse and fled into a love hotel in neighboring Chuo Ward, which, suspecting something was amiss, summoned the police. He was subdued and formally arrested the next day.

Kaneguchi, on leave from the 4,650-ton guided missile destroyer Suzunami, was formally arrested the following day and charged with unauthorized entry, rape, rape-connected battery and theft.

“When I saw him, he was riding a bicycle down the road away from Fukuhara Sakura-suji, wearing nothing but his undershorts,” a neighborhood eyewitness tells the magazine.

What, wonders Shukan Asahi Geino, brought on such bizarre behavior?

A local reporter says police suspect Kaneguchi may have been using drugs at the time of his crime. Perhaps work-related stress may also have been a factor.

“On ships, the all-male crews have been living together in close quarters since joining up while in their teens,” says a former member of the MSDF. “And regulations on board are strict. In the evenings, you can hear creaks emanating from bunk beds mixed with heavy breathing and moans as they masturbate.”

But when the “explosion” came, remarks Shukan Asahi Geino, it was in an altogether unexpected manner.

“The part of myself that was dead did it,” Kaneguchi allegedly told his interrogators. (K.S.)

Source: “Kaijo jieikan ga soopu jo futari wo ‘renzoku gokan’ ‘chikubi ni kajiritsuki,’ 25-funkan ryojokushita,” Shukan Asahi Geino (July 9, page 42)