The trial of a self-professed spirit medium who practiced "Dynamic Wave Divine Technique," and was arrested for engaging in sexual acts with women he brainwashed, has ended with a guilty verdict. Katsuhiko Ohno was 65 at the time, while his victim (unnamed in media reports) was just 28. Her work in the entertainment industry had dried up due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was feeling anxious about her future, when she met Ohno at a cryptocurrency study group. A friend's husband introduced her, saying, "There's an amazing teacher who practices divine rituals. His power has turned my life ...

Last year, we reported on the strange case of the Japanese guy with four "wives." The situation seemed straight out of a harem manga and yet it was true. In that case, the man and his harem were all relatively young. But age didn't stop another man. The 76-year-old Hirohito Shibuya lived with nine wives in Higashiyamato, a suburb of Tokyo. Technically speaking, since polygamy is illegal in Japan, eight of the women were his ex-wives and he was only married to one of them. Three of his children with the women also lived at the residence. Shibuya was found dead on Sunday of an apparent ...

A few years ago, we reported on the career of gravure idol Yuka Kosaka, who abruptly quit the industry in 2009, gained a lot of weight, made a brief comeback (with a semi-nude shoot), and then settled into a quieter life as a nursery school teacher from the age of 24. She did that for around a decade now, though the 39-year-old has also restarted some activities in the entertainment industry since last year. It seems she no longer works as a teacher due to health issues and instead focuses on entrepreneurial projects launching new schools, consulting for schools, and doing counseling. She ...

Everyone has a past and though it's common for people to use different names when they switch agency or industry, netizens still have ways of identifying you. And so it is with a performer in a new AV release from Rocket, who has been identified as a former winner of second prize at Miss Tokyo Sports, a prestigious gravure contest whose winners include many big names in the industry. The AV in question (code 1RCTD00591) is the tenth entry in the popular, increasingly outlandish Shameful Brainwashing! I Was Turned into a High-Cut Person, which features women in leotards and similar ...

A Japanese married couple has pleaded guilty to forcing a 25-year-old single mom into prostitution. The single mother was staying with them. As payment for laundry and other costs, they made her work as a prostitute, according to media reports of the trial at Tokyo District Court, which began in May. There were 334 acts of alleged prostitution in six months. The mother was apparently brainwashed by the couple and sent out into the local area to pick up clients. Prosecutors are seeking a custodial sentence of 2.5 years for the couple. The single mother was working as a hostess and giving ...

Tomoko Nakajima was once a regular fixture on Japanese television screens. The former comedian and TV personality suffered a scandal in 2011, when she suddenly disappeared from the spotlight and, it then turned out, was several months in arrears for her expensive condo and locked in a legal dispute. Her troubles were rooted in the advice of a fortune teller, who had been living with her since 2005 and seemed to have a strange influence over Nakajima. Many said she had been brainwashed. Her agency effectively sacked her in 2013 and her comedy duo, Othello, split up. She has been making a ...