Joji Obara
Encyclopedia
is a convicted rapist who was accused of the rape
and subsequent deaths of two women, British
hostess
Lucie Blackman in the summer of 2000 and Australian Carita Ridgway in 1992, and the rapes of six other women.
parlours. At 15, Obara enrolled in prestigious private high schools, a prep school which is owned by Keio University
, which at graduation guarantees entrance to the University. Two years later, upon his father's death, he inherited property in Osaka and Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University with degrees in politics
and law
, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen and legally changed his name to Joji Obara.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Obara invested heavily in real estate speculation. After losing his fortune when the bubble
burst and his firm collapsed, he reportedly used his business as a money laundering
front for the yakuza
syndicate, Sumiyoshi-kai
.
His pornographic video collection, 4,000 to 5,000 of which were recovered by police, led police to believe that Obara may have raped anywhere from 150 to 400 women. A recreational drug user, he was reported to have an obsession with Caucasians and developed a sex fetish for molesting unconscious women. Police found over 200 sex videos involving Obara molesting women in this manner sometimes wearing a facemask and report that his extensive journals made reference to "conquer play", a euphemism describing his sexual assaults on women he wrote were "only good for sex" and on which he sought revenge, "revenge on the world" drugging them with chloroform.
woman who worked as a hostess
in Roppongi
, Tokyo
. Blackman had previously worked as a flight attendant
for British Airways
but had come to Japan to see the world. At the time of her disappearance she had been working as a hostess at Casablanca, a night club in Roppongi
. She was 21 years old at the time of her death.
Blackman's mysterious death and disappearance, as well as Obara's trial, received high press coverage in Japan as well as internationally — especially in the British media. As a result of the publicity surrounding the case, three foreign women came forward to describe waking up, sore and sick, in Obara’s bed, with no memory of the night before. Several of them, it turned out, had reported him to the Roppongi police, but had been ignored.
On July 1, Blackman went on a douhan (a paid date) with a customer from Casablanca. No one heard from her again. The Blackman family, wanting to find her, flew to Tokyo and took the opportunity to start a high-profile direct media campaign, including approaching British Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook
who was in Tokyo at that time. Newspapers started publicizing Blackman's disappearance on July 13, when British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
made mention of the case during an official visit to Japan where he met with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori
. An information hotline was staffed by British ex-pats, a reward of £100,000 made by an anonymous businessman.
On February 9, 2001, Blackman's dismembered body was found, buried in a shallow grave under a bathtub in a seaside cave at Miura, Kanagawa
, about 30 miles south of Tokyo, just a few hundred meters from Obara's apartment. The body had been cut into eight pieces. Her head had been shaved and encased in concrete. The discovery of the body was too late to determine the cause of the death.
A trust promoting personal safety was established in her name.
and death of Lucie Blackman and another hostess, 21-year-old Australia
n model Carita Ridgway, who was drugged by Obara and died of a chloroform overdose in February 1992. He was also charged with raping six other women. According to the indictment, he made Lucie a drink containing a drug before raping her at a condominium in Zushi
, Kanagawa Prefecture
. She subsequently died.
Obara has maintained his innocence, claiming the drugs that caused her to die were self-administered.
Tim Blackman, Lucie Blackman's father, accepted £450,000 in mimaikin—or condolence money—from a friend of Joji Obara. The other members of the family were against the acceptance of the money.
and killing Blackman, as well as raping of six other women and manslaughter of another hostess.
On April 24, 2007, Obara was jailed for life on multiple rape charges and one manslaughter, but he was acquitted of the crime of Blackman's rape and death.
Evidence supporting his guilt in regard to charge of rape included the approximately 400 videos he took in which he engaged in date rape
activities. For the charge of manslaughter of Carita Ridgway, the prosecutor produced an autopsy report showing traces of chloroform in Ridgway's liver and a paper trail showing that the accused accompanied Ridgway to the hospital before she died. In Blackman's case, however, the prosecutor could not produce any forensic evidence linking the accused to her death. Even the cause of her death could not be determined, as discussed below.
The judge stated that in deciding on the sentence he did not attach much importance to Obara’s payment of “consolation money” to a number of his victims.
The Japanese judicial system has received some criticism for its handling of the case. It is believed that the police did not take this missing person case seriously "because Lucie was working illegally in a job from which women often flee without notice". As a result, the discovery of the body came too late to determine the cause of the death. The verdict by a panel of three judges cited the lack of forensic evidence as a reason for acquittal. Some foreign media from common law countries also criticized the police for having leaked information in the case to the press that could cause a mistrial. However, as the Japanese civil law system did not, at that time, use juries, this could not be grounds for a mistrial.
Former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto, now a professor of criminal procedure law at Hakuoh University
Law School, criticised the decision to acquit Obara for the murder of Lucie Blackman by pointing to the conviction of Masumi Hayashi
due to circumstantial evidence.
The public prosecutor appealed the Blackman-related verdicts as crucial forensic evidence had not been heard at the original trial, and on March 25, 2008, an appeal trial commenced in the Tokyo High Court
.
Tokyo High Court found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, dismemberment and disposal of Blackman's body on December 16, 2008.
In early December 2010 the Supreme Court of Japan
rejected Obara's appeal against the verdict and his life sentence was upheld.
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and subsequent deaths of two women, British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
hostess
Hostess bar
Hostess clubs are a common feature in the night-time entertainment industry of Japan, east Asian countries and other areas with a high east Asian population. They employ primarily female staff and cater to males seeking drinks and attentive conversation. The more recent host clubs are similar...
Lucie Blackman in the summer of 2000 and Australian Carita Ridgway in 1992, and the rapes of six other women.
Background
Joji Obara was born Kim Sung Jong in 1952 to Korean parents in Osaka, Japan. During his youth, his father worked his way from scrap collector to taxi driver to immensely wealthy owner of a string of pachinkoPachinko
is a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
parlours. At 15, Obara enrolled in prestigious private high schools, a prep school which is owned by Keio University
Keio University
,abbreviated as Keio or Keidai , is a Japanese university located in Minato, Tokyo. It is known as the oldest institute of higher education in Japan. Founder Fukuzawa Yukichi originally established it as a school for Western studies in 1858 in Edo . It has eleven campuses in Tokyo and Kanagawa...
, which at graduation guarantees entrance to the University. Two years later, upon his father's death, he inherited property in Osaka and Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University with degrees in politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, he became a naturalized Japanese citizen and legally changed his name to Joji Obara.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Obara invested heavily in real estate speculation. After losing his fortune when the bubble
Economic bubble
An economic bubble is "trade in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance with intrinsic values"...
burst and his firm collapsed, he reportedly used his business as a money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
front for the yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
syndicate, Sumiyoshi-kai
Sumiyoshi-kai
The , sometimes referred to as the , is the second-largest yakuza group in Japan with an estimated 20,000 members.The Sumiyoshi-kai is a confederation of smaller gangs. Its current sosai, or president, is Shigeo Nishiguchi. Structurally, the Sumiyoshi-kai differs from its main rival, the...
.
His pornographic video collection, 4,000 to 5,000 of which were recovered by police, led police to believe that Obara may have raped anywhere from 150 to 400 women. A recreational drug user, he was reported to have an obsession with Caucasians and developed a sex fetish for molesting unconscious women. Police found over 200 sex videos involving Obara molesting women in this manner sometimes wearing a facemask and report that his extensive journals made reference to "conquer play", a euphemism describing his sexual assaults on women he wrote were "only good for sex" and on which he sought revenge, "revenge on the world" drugging them with chloroform.
Lucie Blackman
Lucie Blackman (September 1, 1978 – July 1, 2000) was an EnglishEnglish people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
woman who worked as a hostess
Hostess bar
Hostess clubs are a common feature in the night-time entertainment industry of Japan, east Asian countries and other areas with a high east Asian population. They employ primarily female staff and cater to males seeking drinks and attentive conversation. The more recent host clubs are similar...
in Roppongi
Roppongi
is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous as home to the rich Roppongi Hills area and an active night club scene. Many foreign embassies are located in Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Blackman had previously worked as a flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
for British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
but had come to Japan to see the world. At the time of her disappearance she had been working as a hostess at Casablanca, a night club in Roppongi
Roppongi
is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous as home to the rich Roppongi Hills area and an active night club scene. Many foreign embassies are located in Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike...
. She was 21 years old at the time of her death.
Blackman's mysterious death and disappearance, as well as Obara's trial, received high press coverage in Japan as well as internationally — especially in the British media. As a result of the publicity surrounding the case, three foreign women came forward to describe waking up, sore and sick, in Obara’s bed, with no memory of the night before. Several of them, it turned out, had reported him to the Roppongi police, but had been ignored.
On July 1, Blackman went on a douhan (a paid date) with a customer from Casablanca. No one heard from her again. The Blackman family, wanting to find her, flew to Tokyo and took the opportunity to start a high-profile direct media campaign, including approaching British Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Robert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
who was in Tokyo at that time. Newspapers started publicizing Blackman's disappearance on July 13, when British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
made mention of the case during an official visit to Japan where he met with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori
Yoshiro Mori
is a Japanese politician who served as the 85th and 86th Prime Minister of Japan starting at 5 April 2000 ending 26 April 2001. Described as having "the heart of a flea and the brain of a shark," he was an unpopular prime minister mainly remembered today for his many gaffes and situationally...
. An information hotline was staffed by British ex-pats, a reward of £100,000 made by an anonymous businessman.
On February 9, 2001, Blackman's dismembered body was found, buried in a shallow grave under a bathtub in a seaside cave at Miura, Kanagawa
Miura, Kanagawa
is a city located in central Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 44,238 and a population density of 1,490 persons per km²...
, about 30 miles south of Tokyo, just a few hundred meters from Obara's apartment. The body had been cut into eight pieces. Her head had been shaved and encased in concrete. The discovery of the body was too late to determine the cause of the death.
A trust promoting personal safety was established in her name.
Crimes
In October 2000, Obara was arrested and charged with the drugging, rapingRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and death of Lucie Blackman and another hostess, 21-year-old Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n model Carita Ridgway, who was drugged by Obara and died of a chloroform overdose in February 1992. He was also charged with raping six other women. According to the indictment, he made Lucie a drink containing a drug before raping her at a condominium in Zushi
Zushi, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. As of 2010, the city had an estimated population of 58,793 and a population density of 3,390 persons per km². The total area was 17.34 km².-Geography:...
, Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
. She subsequently died.
Obara has maintained his innocence, claiming the drugs that caused her to die were self-administered.
Tim Blackman, Lucie Blackman's father, accepted £450,000 in mimaikin—or condolence money—from a friend of Joji Obara. The other members of the family were against the acceptance of the money.
Trial and verdict
Obara was charged with drugging, rapingRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and killing Blackman, as well as raping of six other women and manslaughter of another hostess.
On April 24, 2007, Obara was jailed for life on multiple rape charges and one manslaughter, but he was acquitted of the crime of Blackman's rape and death.
Evidence supporting his guilt in regard to charge of rape included the approximately 400 videos he took in which he engaged in date rape
Date rape
"Date rape", often referred to as acquaintance rape, is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by a new acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without mutual consent....
activities. For the charge of manslaughter of Carita Ridgway, the prosecutor produced an autopsy report showing traces of chloroform in Ridgway's liver and a paper trail showing that the accused accompanied Ridgway to the hospital before she died. In Blackman's case, however, the prosecutor could not produce any forensic evidence linking the accused to her death. Even the cause of her death could not be determined, as discussed below.
The judge stated that in deciding on the sentence he did not attach much importance to Obara’s payment of “consolation money” to a number of his victims.
The Japanese judicial system has received some criticism for its handling of the case. It is believed that the police did not take this missing person case seriously "because Lucie was working illegally in a job from which women often flee without notice". As a result, the discovery of the body came too late to determine the cause of the death. The verdict by a panel of three judges cited the lack of forensic evidence as a reason for acquittal. Some foreign media from common law countries also criticized the police for having leaked information in the case to the press that could cause a mistrial. However, as the Japanese civil law system did not, at that time, use juries, this could not be grounds for a mistrial.
Former prosecutor Takeshi Tsuchimoto, now a professor of criminal procedure law at Hakuoh University
Hakuoh University
is a private university in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.The name Hakuoh, meaning 'white seagull', and the motto plus ultra, or 'more beyond', are intended to inspire students to soar to their fullest potential...
Law School, criticised the decision to acquit Obara for the murder of Lucie Blackman by pointing to the conviction of Masumi Hayashi
Masumi Hayashi (poisoner)
is a Japanese woman convicted of putting poison in a pot of curry being served at a 1998 summer festival in the Sonobe district of Wakayama, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan.-Summary:...
due to circumstantial evidence.
The public prosecutor appealed the Blackman-related verdicts as crucial forensic evidence had not been heard at the original trial, and on March 25, 2008, an appeal trial commenced in the Tokyo High Court
Tokyo High Court
is a high court in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The Intellectual Property High Court is a special branch of Tokyo High Court....
.
Tokyo High Court found Obara guilty on the counts of abduction, dismemberment and disposal of Blackman's body on December 16, 2008.
In early December 2010 the Supreme Court of Japan
Supreme Court of Japan
The Supreme Court of Japan , located in Chiyoda, Tokyo is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law...
rejected Obara's appeal against the verdict and his life sentence was upheld.
External links
- The beast with a human face - BBC profile of Joji Obara
- http://www.safetytext.co.uk
- http://www.lucieblackmantrust.org/pro/lbt.nsf/pages/home
- People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman by Richard Lloyd Parry
- The man-shaped hole by DONALD EUBANK