University professor arrested for running brothel and extorting woman

University teachers are generally seen as figures of respect in Japan, like elsewhere, but they sometimes do things that seriously endanger that status.

Who can forget the Taisho University educator who was found wandering the campus in the buff, having been ordered to strip off by his student lover?

But the case of a 49-year-old associate professor at the University of Toyama’s Information Technology Center trumps that.

Toyama police re-arrested Hiroshi Takitani, a natural disaster and computational scientist, on June 2 on suspicion of fraud and extortion, having already been charged with running a brothel in an area where one is prohibited. (The law regulating sex services stipulates that brothels and love hotels cannot be opened in certain locations, such as near schools.)

According to police, between June 2022 and January 2023, the man is also suspected of threatening a female acquaintance in her forties in Toyama and elsewhere, telling her to “pay back ¥5 million” and that “his lawyer has said that if you can’t pay, he will sue her.” He defrauded her of a total of ¥1 million in cash on multiple occasions.

The woman owes no such debts, and the man is believed to have prepared fake IOUs. He has reportedly admitted to the charges during questioning.

Takitani’s arrest for running a brothel was revealed in May. He was arrested along with three others for running a sex service out of apartments in Toyama City. Takitani was involved in scouting sex workers, managing the website, and publicizing the service, though he was not the main person behind the brothel.

The brother operated out of around 10 apartments in a building of 18 units, including an office and massage rooms. It earned monthly sales of ¥10 million. Takitani is also suspected of involved with another brothel in Toyama City.

Following the professor’s re-arrest, University of Toyama President Shigeru Saito released a statement: “It is truly regrettable. As soon as the facts are confirmed, we will take strict disciplinary action.”

It’s a bit late for disciplinary action. The university probably should have suspected their faculty member was a bad apple, though. After all, Takitani went by another alias, Hiroshi Okumura, who was previously involved in a marketing scam, but it seems that the university didn’t realize or turned a blind eye.