The most accessed domestic news article on Yahoo! Japan today was the revelation that Japan’s youngest ever City Councillor, Yoshitake Akihiro, has been arrested for lewd acts with a teenaged girl.
Yoshitake claims that he doesn’t remember doing anything sexual with the girl when he took her into his room, but netizens say that this is the same as an admission of guilt — if he hadn’t done it, why couldn’t he say so?
From Yahoo! Japan:
Even If He Is The Youngest Ever Elected…City Councillor Arrested For Lewd Acts With High School Girl Claims “I Don’t Remember Doing It”
On May 29, the Juvenile Division of Nara Prefectural Police arrested Yoshitake Akihiro (27) from Hikita, Katsuragi City, where he is a Councillor, on the suspicion that he violated the prefecutural law for the wellbeing and cultivation of youths. Yoshitake denied the charge, saying “She did come into my room, but I don’t remember whether I committed a lewd act”.
In mid April, the suspect allegedly took a schoolgirl (17) who was in the third year of a public high school in the prefecture into the apartment he rents in Yamatotakada City, and committed lewd acts with the girl knowing that she was under eighteen.
According to police, around autumn of Heisei 24 (2012), Yoshitake came on to the girl and gave her a fake name while she was with a friend at a large shopping mall in the prefecture. They started communicating via text message.
Then, in October last year, Yoshitake was elected for the first time as the youngest ever Councillor of Katsuragi City in the City Council elections, in which he stood as an independent candidate. He also runs a cram school in the city.
Learning of Yoshitake’s arrest, Yamashita Kazuya, Mayor of Katsuragi stated that “I can’t really believe it, but if it is true, then it’s just a terrible pity”. Deputy Mayor of the City Council Asaoka Saichiro commented that “If it is true, then the council must deal with this firmly. He’s very young, and people had high hopes of him, we all had high hopes of him, so this is a terrible shame”.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
kur *****:
Saying he “doesn’t remember” means he did it.
If he hadn’t done it, wouldn’t he just say “I didn’t do it”?
Sav *****:
Wonder if he might even think that if he says he doesn’t remember then the punishment will be lighter?
he …:
Usually, if you let a high school girl into your room, I reckon that somehow you’d remember WHAT you were doing….
yfa *****:
Well, you get arrested because some money has exchanged hands, don’t you.
Of course, the guy should be punished, but the girl should also get a severe punishment.
What a magnificent whore.
しばらくお待ちください:
The point is, that a City Councillor had been out picking up girls and doing obscene things w
iZ +:
Saying he doesn’t remember means that he’s doing this with various women on a regular basis.
fre *****:
Thing is,
I’m concerned about the process by which this was discovered.
お前がナンバーワンだ:
He let her in, but he didn’t put it in. ← Gutter humor.
“This is your Councillor, Yoshitake!”
It’s like something you’d hear on that comedy show, Shoten
Sorry. Got a bit carried away.
bo:
Is it even possible to have done it and not remember it?
ykk *****:
Nowadays all the high school kids are doing it.
Saying this is a bit out of place these days,
but if it had just been two high school kids doing it I don’t suppose anyone would have said anything.
imo *****:
Is he also going for the record of being the youngest person to be dismissed through a scandal?
お前がナンバーワンだ:
At the point he let her into his room, people would be suspicious and not trust him anymore. So now even though his life as a Councillor is finished, he’s still making excuses.
OVER.
bos *****:
Coming onto people with a fake name ← OUT!
ログアウト:
To think that human scum is a Councillor…asshole.
syr *****:
Punish the pair of ’em!
kuu *****:
You might not remember mate, but the fact is that your life is over.
隠居:
He has influence with children. Someone like this must face sanctions from society.
kaz *****:
How was this discovered, I wonder?
box *****:
He’s only saying he can’t remember because he did something! If he hadn’t done anything, he would have said he didn’t do anything, and then if he could have proven it the whole thing would be over with!!
