High-Profile Rape Trial Of Ex-Prosecutor Resumes In Japan

The trial of a Japanese former senior prosecutor accused of rape in one of the country’s most high-profile cases of alleged sexual assault restarted on Tuesday after a two-year pause.

Few women in Japan speak out about sexual assault, but a former prosecutor, who uses the pseudonym Hikari, came forward in 2024 to accuse her boss of raping her six years earlier.

The trial first began in October 2024 but was halted after Kentaro Kitagawa — who served as head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutor’s Office at the time of the alleged rape — withdrew his initial admission of guilt and said the sex was consensual.

On Tuesday Kitagawa told the court that sex took place but repeated his not guilty plea and “denied that she was unable to resist”, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Following his plea change, the court, prosecution and defence spent two years in closed-door proceedings clarifying the points at issue.

Hikari, who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has previously said she was not used to drinking strong alcohol and lost her memory halfway through an office gathering in 2018.

The next thing she knew, she said, she was in Kitagawa’s home and was being raped.

“It was like I was having a terrible nightmare,” Hikari said in a 2025 interview with AFP.

“I couldn’t resist because I was terrified that I could be killed.”

Hikari kept quiet after it happened as Kitagawa had pleaded with her not to go public, saying it would be a damaging scandal for the organisation and threatening to harm himself, she said.

Hikari said her condition worsened after she learned in 2024 that people close to Kitagawa, especially an assistant prosecutor — who Hikari says is his lover — had spread malicious rumours about her.

Hikari has repeatedly requested an independent probe into harassment within prosecutor’s offices across the country.

Officials have rejected that request and instead announced the launch in June of their own internal investigation.

Her request for measures to ensure a safe working environment was also rejected, prompting her to officially resign in August.