Earlier this month, Tokyo police got their “man,” reports Friday (Aug. 1). On July 7, officers arrested 30-year-old Ikki Jin, who introduced herself to her victims as “voice actress Aiko.”
Officers accused the 30-year-old resident of Suginami Ward of slipping a sleeping powder into an alcoholic drink consumed by a 23-year-old male and robbing him of a total of 350,000 yen in cash and valuables after meeting him near JR Okubo Station early on February 27.
Using similar methods, Jin is believed to have swindled a 32-year-old man employed in the real estate industry on December 14. Four months later, police released footage from a security camera of the woman as she shopped with the victim inside a convenience store.
Other male victims residing in a number of different parts of the city subsequently came forward, with each claiming to have been conned by a woman who said she was a voice actress named “Aiko.”
According to Friday, Jin suffers from a gender identity disorder: She has lived the life of a man since she came to Tokyo in 2007. She eventually had an operation to reduce the size of her breasts.
In the article, the magazine includes a screen grab from the opening scene of the independently produced movie “Daibiki” (Cash On Delivery), in which the suspect can be seen topless and sprawled face-up over a heavy-set man lying atop a bed inside a room filled garbage.
“When I saw the (convenience store) footage of ‘voice actress Aiko,’ I knew it was Jin,” says Gii Fujita, the 63-year-old director of “Daibiki.”
In the footage released by police, the suspect can been seen wearing brown boots and a leopard print hat.
“The last time we met was a year ago,” says Fujita. “She said she was receiving welfare. Of course, at that time she was dressed like a man, which was totally different from that of Aiko.”
The first time the director met the suspect was at a sauna in Tokyo’s Roppongi entertainment district in 2008.
“When I entered the bath, there was a naked customer arguing with a staff member near the entrance,” says the director. “That customer was Jin. At that time, she hadn’t changed her body to that of a male. That’s why they were arguing; the staff member wanted her to go into the women’s sauna. ‘I’m a man!’ she screamed. I thought she was interesting so we started talking.”
“One day, I told Jin that I had no place to live,” says Fujita. “She said, ‘Well, why don’t you come to my place?’ I am 30 years older than her, but she took care of me very well. For me, she is like an elder brother.”
In April 2009, Fujita came to Jin’s apartment, a small space in Koenji with a monthly 40,000 yen. Jin paid the bills by working as a man at a host club in the Kabukicho entertainment district and selling items on Internet auction sites.
“I lived with her for six months,” says Fujita. “She usually wore t-shirts and referred to herself as ‘ore'” — a term used by men — “but her body was that of a woman. Her face was beautiful. She wanted to be an actor, and longed to enter the entertainment biz, but her wish was to debut as a man.”
According to Friday, Jin had her breasts reduced at a hospital in Ikebukuro. In 2012, she began working at a Tokyo business which rents rooms by the hour through a reference provided by Fujita.
It was here that “Daibiki” was shot. In the 15-minute film, Jin stars with an ex-pro wrestler, the portly man seen in the opening, and frantically attempts to collect enough money to pay a delivery man. It was submitted for consideration to a film contest, but was rejected.
Police believe Jin, who was taken into custody after being identified while collecting a payment at a Suginami Ward welfare office, had carried out multiple robberies on over 10 male victims since June of 2012.
A search of the her residence revealed no items believed to have been used in the crimes. Police have also been unable to find sleeping powder in her possession. However, a DNA analysis of material left behind at the scene of the crime in February proved to be a consistent with that of Jin.
“Jin can read others minds,” says Fujita. “I am very sad that she used her ability for criminal means.” (A.T.)
Source: “Eizo wo nyushu kokai seiyu no Aiko,” Friday (Aug. 1, pages 24-25)
