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Nara: Civic employee also on staff at onsen accused of illicit filming of women

in the village of Tenkawa
Nara police have arrested the manager of an onsen hot springs resort in the village of Tenkawa over the illicit filming of two women on May 12 (Rakuten)

NARA (TR) – Nara Prefectural Police have arrested a civic employee also on staff at an onsen hot springs resort over the illicit filming of two women over the weekend, reports reports the Asahi Shimbun (May 14).

Over a 30-minuted period beginning at 11:30 p.m. on May 12, Toshio Kometani, 31, allegedly used a smartphone to take tosatsu, or voyeur, footage of the women as they soaked in the facility’s large public bath.

Kometani, who has been accused of violating a public nuisance ordinance, admits to the allegations, according to the Yoshino Police Station.

In committing the act, Kometani opened a window in the boiler room next to the bathhouse and shot the footage. The matter emerged when one of the women spotted the suspect behaving suspiciously.

Kometani’s main occupation is as a staff member in the human rights section of the office for the town of Oyodo. He began working on weekends at the hot springs resort at least four years ago. “We call upon him when we are busy,” a supervisor at the resort is quoted.

Under the Local Public Service Act, such side employment is generally considered a violation. “We did not know about the dual work,” a representative from the general affairs section of the town of Oyodo is quoted. “Dependent upon the facts, we would like to deal with the matter in a strict manner.”