TOKYO (TR) – The Tokyo District Court earlier this month sentenced a 26-year-old man to 12 years in prison for breaking into a woman’s apartment and sexually assaulting her in a chilling “rape-for-hire” plot directed by the victim’s ex-boyfriend, reports News Post Seven (July 28).
Presiding over a lay judge trial on July 23, the court handed down the ruling to Reiya Yamamoto, who was convicted of home invasion, non-consensual sexual intercourse, and robbery. Prosecutors had sought a 13-year term.
The court heard that the incident mirrored the growing trend of “dark part-time jobs” (yami-baito) recruited via social media.
Anonymous bulletin board
In May 2025, Yamamoto, who was unemployed at the time, searched the internet using keywords like “rape” and “dark job.” He stumbled upon a post on an anonymous bulletin board that read: “I will pay tens of thousands of yen if you rape my ex-girlfriend.”
Yamamoto contacted the poster — identified as 28-year-old Retsu Matsuda — via the messaging app KakaoTalk. According to chat logs presented by prosecutors, Matsuda promised a 30,000 yen reward and assured Yamamoto, “If you follow my conditions, I will cover for you so the police won’t get involved.”
Matsuda specifically instructed Yamamoto to target his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend and demanded that the entire assault be captured on video.
Anonymous bulletin board
In June 2025, Yamamoto purchased zip-ties and traveled to the victim’s Tokyo apartment. Arriving at around 12:30 a.m., he rang the intercom and posed as an emergency sewer inspector. When the unsuspecting woman opened the door, the nearly 100-kilogram Yamamoto forced his way inside, brandishing a knife and threatening, “I’ll kill you if you scream.”
Yamamoto bound the woman’s arms, sexually assaulted her while recording the act on his smartphone, and robbed her of 10,000 yen in cash. He left the apartment at approximately 2:45 a.m. and took a taxi to a local sauna.
Despite the initial promise of a 30,000 yen reward, Matsuda compensated his hired attacker with a paltry sum. Immediately following the assault, Matsuda transferred just 738 yen to Yamamoto via the mobile payment app PayPay, followed by another 5,000 yen the next evening—bringing the total payout to just 5,738 yen.
The traumatized victim messaged a friend at 4:00 a.m., who then dialed police.
“I am terrified”
During witness questioning on July 10, the victim testified from a separate room. She detailed how she was left utterly helpless against the massive attacker and stated she now suffers from severe PTSD, rendering her unable to even use her own bathtub.
“I am terrified just thinking about the defendant returning to society,” she told the court, pleading for a severe punishment.
Yamamoto admitted to the majority of the charges but denied vaginal intercourse. His defense team argued for leniency, claiming he lacked independence in the crime and was merely a “hitman” following Matsuda’s orders despite never having met Matsuda or the victim prior to the attack.
Matsuda is currently undergoing a separate trial for his role as the mastermind behind the assault.
