For Ichiro Sakimura, 31, he had been betting that purveyors of the practice could not accept the disgrace of being accused of such a crime — and, on July 6, he finally lost, reports Shukan Jitsuwa (Oct. 2).
At around 3:00 p.m. inside the Yodobashi Camera outlet in Osaka’s Umeda district, his wife, Fubuki, a 21-year-old attired in a revealing outfit, posed provocatively in front of a 29-year-old male office worker.
“Fubuki has a long, slender body,” a local news reporter tells the magazine. “On that day, she was wearing a white one-piece number. “To extend her body, she reached for an item placed on a high shelf and then bent over, inviting a photo of her underwear.”
After he snapped a photo, the couple demanded that he pay 10,000 yen on the spot. They then attempted to obtain an additional 490,000 yen thereafter.
But the target filed a criminal complaint, and the couple and a third man, Daiki Tanaka, 30, who served as a watchman in the ruse, were arrested on charges of extortion. Sakamura said he had used his wife as bait for similar photographs with about 20 other victims since around September of last year.
“I didn’t think anyone would go to police,” Sakimura is quoted.
In examining the case, police ruled that the man did not commit a crime since he had been enticed to snap a photo.
“Sakimura and Tanaka are old friends dating back to when Tanaka was 14 years old and attached to the Kansai branch of Johnny’s Jr.,” continues the reporter, referring to a subsidiary of Johnny & Associates. “He used to appear on local programs. But he had a bad attitude and wasn’t too bright. He retired in 2003 or so.”
Tanaka, who denied the allegations, had worked in a restaurant in the past because he has a nice appearance.
“He was also working as an errand boy for a friend,” says the reporter. “Now he helps out with his family’s real estate business.” (K.N.)
Source: “Moto kan jani Jr. taiho. Minisuka bijin tsutsumotase tosatsu no akireta teguchi,” Shukan Jitsuwa (Oct. 2, pages 207-208)