TOKYO (TR) – The head of a school that teaches the art of picking up women and a former student have been arrested on suspicion of rape, the fourth such case to emerge since an investigation began earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 19).
On the morning of June 17, Taisuke Watanabe, the 42-year-old head of Real Nampa Academy, and Teruhisa Nishikawa, 21, are alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman, aged in her 20s, after forcing her to consume large quantities of alcohol at a residence in Osaka City.
Because the woman was rendered helpless by the alcohol, police accused the suspects of quasi-coerced intercourse. Watanabe, who is also the president of an IT-related company, denies the allegations. Meanwhile, Nishikawa, a fourth-year student at Osaka University of Health and Sport Sciences, admits to the charges. “The two of us forced her to drink,” the suspect was quoted by the Shinjuku Police Station.
Play darts
Prior to the incident, the suspects called out to the woman on a road and escorted her to the residence to play darts. While playing, she was forced to consume between four and five cups of vodka, police said.
The arrest of Watanabe is his second. Police had previously accused him and another former student of the academy, Masaki Otaki, over the alleged rape of a second woman at a hotel in the Kabukicho red-light district of Tokyo in November of last year.
In an interview conducted with Watanabe prior to his arrest in September, TV Asahi quoted him as saying: “Alcohol is a helpful tool.” However, he denied making such a statement during the investigation by police.
In footage taken around the time of his arrest in September, Watanabe is shown raising the middle finger of his right hand toward a camera for TV Asahi as he attempts to cover his face with a bag.
Two other cases
The arrest of Otaki was his second. He and two other former students at the academy were accused in the sexual assault of two other women in separate incidents that took place in the capital in April and July of last year.
During a search of the school, police found video footage showing dozens of women being sexually assaulted.
