A "Thorough" Investigation??
Meanwhile, Mr. Kobori was escorted to Fukagawa Police Station after being questioned briefly at the landlord's office by the officers. After some follow-up questions at the Detective Division, he signed a brief statement confessing to touching the victim's bottom, and released with little more than a warning. He was told they would confirm the victim's interest in filing charges when she returned the following week, and let him know. He was back on the streets before Raelyn was on her plane.

The "thorough investigation" she had been promised never materialized. Officers Ito and Tetsuka left the scene without so much as questioning Raelyn's landlord or son, witnesses to her injuries and the perpetrator's apologies and behavior after the attack. They made no effort to see if any of the neighbors had seen or heard anything, or to look for people who may have witnessed Raelyn capturing the man or bringing him back to her apartment.

The officers apparently never informed the Detective Division that she was waiting for a report, or even that she had a mobile phone with her. Moreover, they ignored what she had recounted at the scene, and falsely reported that "the woman had her bottom touched a bit." They failed to make clear to the detectives that the attack had taken place in front of the apartment itself, not outside in front of the apartment building. They neglected to mention to the detectives how the man had followed her home, snuck into the building, the details of how and where the man had actually touched her, and the fact that she had sustained a sprained wrist, bruised hip, and numerous cuts and scrapes in the course of the attack.

However, the officers' actions that day went beyond idle negligence. They went so far as to lie in the official incident report they submitted. The main two statements on the report contradicted the facts. First, in the summary of the incident, they wrote simply that "the victim's breasts were touched once," in direct contrast to her response of "dozens of times" to their question. Second, the officers stated that "the victim has no interest in pressing charges," when her desire to pursue the case should have been amply clear. Even if there had been a doubt, they made this statement without even once trying to confirm the victim's desire to prosecute. (Incidentally, this incident report later "disappeared.")

Perhaps most damaging, however, the police failed to instruct her that an official doctor's statement would be necessary to claim that she was injured in the attack.

September 11, 1998: No Report Received
On her way to the airport, Raelyn had called her office to advise her colleagues of the incident and alert them that the police may call there in her absence with information. When no report was received by the following day, one of her co-workers visited Fukagawa Police Station to find out what had happened. He was told by Vice-Chief Aoki that, "She had her bottom touched a bit. We need a formal complaint filed for this kind of incident, so we could only question him and let him go. If she wants to press charges upon her return, we are prepared to do so." (Note: While misdemeanor molestation under the Tokyo city ordinance or an indecent assault that does not result in injury requires formal charges to be filed by a victim for indictment, a sexual assault resulting in injury does not require formal charges to be filed. Nor does trespassing, the other crime Mr. Kobori with ultimately charged with by Fukagawa Police Station. (Reference: Penal Code Article 176, 180, & 181.)

September 17, 1998: "Inconveniencing" Fukagawa Police Station
Upon her return, she was informed by her co-worker that the police were waiting for her to proceed, and she set up an appointment for September 17th to give an official statement.

The Detective Division asked her to wait on giving a formal statement until they could "explain" some things. Detective Sato, the ostensible head of the investigation, and his colleague, DetectiveShoji, proceeded to inform Raelyn and her co-worker that, "because her interest in filing charges could not be verified initially, they were forced to process it as they had and it would be very inconvenient for the police department if she were to file charges at that point."

The investigators tried to convince her that the man had already sustained considerable damage -- namely, a phone call to his company and the record at the police department. They asked her to consider this and proceeded to explain how remorseful the perpetrator had been, showing her his written statement.

In it, Mr. Kobori did indeed profess his deep remorse for what he had done. He apparently got a little carried away with conveying his sorrow: his sentences employed a Japanese verb conjugation style that conveys regret -- even when referring to how "she regretfully nabbed me." However, his remorse did not go so far as to compel him to admit to more than "inadvertantly touching her bottom."

There was one other thing that Raelyn noticed in the man's statements that disturbed her: the fact that her name, address, age, and nationality appeared within the text of it. ("I, Katsumi Kobori, touched the bottom and body of the 27-year-old American woman Raelyn Campbell, who lives in Apt #302 of xx building, xx address, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo.")

She questioned why the investigators had volunteered her personal information to a suspect who had confessed to attacking her. Detective Sato initially tried to deny it until she pointed out that it was included in the man's hand-written statements. They then insisted that she needn't worry because they hadn't given him a copy and assured her that it was unlikely that the man would remember as far as the room number. Stunned, Raelyn replied, "He came all the way up to my room!" From Detective Sato's reaction, it was quite obvious that this detail had somehow escaped the head of the investigation. Detective Sato then asserted that the man was so distraught when he wrote the statement that he "surely wouldn't remember" and expressed his opinion that such a "weak-willed person" was unlikely to strike again. (Sato later tried to justify the Detective Division's actions by claiming that this was standard procedure and a requirement of official documents, a statement that was also asserted in interviews by Vice-Chief Aoki. Interestingly, this contradicts what Raelyn was told by the Metro Police Department and the National Police Agency. Raelyn pointed out to the MPD that Aoki was making such claims in the press, but never got a response that they had taken any actions. Indeed, in numerous surveys conducted by women's groups in Japan it has been shown that, while not official policy, it is common practice for the police to provide the victim's name and address to an assailant. Often they are not only given the information, but advised to pay a visit to make a personal apology. (Reference: article in The Washington Times)

Listening to the detectives, Raelyn began to suspect that they had not been made aware of the full extent of the crime. She questioned how they could consider what the man had done to her misdemeanor molestation. Detective Sato responded by asking her where she had been touched. She explained that the man's apparent area of fixation had been her breasts and under her skirt. Sato then asked if the assailant had made direct contact with her skin. She explained that she had fought hard and been successful in ultimately preventing that.

Sato then explained that, "In Japan, an assailant has to get their hand inside your underwear and make direct contact with your skin for an extended period for it to qualify as anything other than misdemeanor molestation. Without that it is not enough to be Indecent Assault or otherwise." (In fact, this is not a condition for indecent assault. Moreover, misdemeanor molestation is covered by a Tokyo Municipal Ordinance, which applies to actions taking place in public areas, not inside of private buildings. After charges were filed and the case was forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office, Raelyn confronted Detective Sato about his initial interpretation of the law. He denied ever having made such claims. However, Raelyn has tape-recorded evidence of the original conversation.)

In disbelief, Raelyn requested some time to research the law and verify what would happen if she pursued the case in court. To this, Detective Sato responded, "For something like this you will only get a fine of about 50,000 yen (less than US$500)," alluding to the futility of filing charges. He then turned to the other detective to quip: "What a stupid man, for the price of the fine he could have gotten a lot more downtown." (Their willingness to say this in front of 2 political secretaries (Raelyn worked as a policy secretary for a locally-based member of the National Diet at the time) seems to indicate that they saw nothing wrong with such a comment at the time. In initial newspaper interviews in February and March, Detective Sato and Vice-Chief Aoki denied that such a comment had been made, and tried to suggest that it was probably a "language problem." Aoki even went so far as to say that, "any person making such a comment would be fired." Nevertheless, when an Asahi Shimbun reporter later verified the comment with Raelyn's Japanese co-worker, Fukagawa Police Station tried to explain their way out of it, with the incomprehensible explanation that, "it was said, but in the context that the man was someone who didn't mesh with society." The article that this comment ran in reportedly produced a mild uproar and a flood of calls to Fukagawa and the central authorities.)

September 18, 1998: Seeking Other Means
The next day, Raelyn started collecting information on the laws from the library. Increasingly suspicious, she bought a mini-tape recorder to ensure that any further misconduct would not go without record.

September 21, 1998: Obtaining Legal Advice
She went back to the Police Station the following Monday, obtained copies of Mr. Kobori's statements, and was once again reminded by Detective Sato that Fukagawa would greatly appreciate it if she would consider how "inconvenient" it would be for them if she pressed charges.

After consulting her boss, she went to a lawyer the following day. The lawyer promptly sent a fax to Fukagawa Police Station requesting an explanation for their actions. The head investigator responded with a blatant lie -- asserting that they had handled it in the way they had because Raelyn had told him twice that she had "no interest in filing charges."

September 30, 1998: Filing Charges
Raelyn had the lawyer draw up charges (for Trespassing and Indecent Assault Resulting in Injury) and took the documents with her when she was finally called in to the police station again for a formal statement 3 weeks after the incident.

She gave her statement to a female detective newly assigned to the case. During questioning, they were interupted numerous times by Detective Sato, who came in to request the doctor's certificate necessary to verify the injuries alluded to in the charges filed.

When Raelyn asked why she had not been informed of this necessity earlier, Sato claimed that he had been "unaware" of any injuries until then. (Note: Even if he had not been advised of them by Officer Ito or Tetsuka, it is hard to believe that he overlooked the references to her injuries in her lawyer's fax of 1-1/2 weeks prior.)

At this, Detective Sato decided that they would make do with pictures of her injuries. After completing photos of the remaining scrapes, Sato asked Raelyn to stand up for a "full-body shot." When she questioned the reason for such a picture, he explained, "I want it to show it to the offender and have him confirm that you were his victim." (Sato apparently later denied having said this, but his explanation that day is recorded on tape.)

After 4 hours of testimony, she was asked to sign the last page of the statement prepared by the female detective. Wanting to insure against alteration of the contents later, as before, she requested a copy of her written statement. Her request was denied.

The investigation moved on to Raelyn's apartment for on-scene photography. Upon arrival, she was informed for the first time that she was expected to reenact the crime herself by posing with the detective while Detective Sato took pictures.

Raelyn tried to explain that she did not feel comfortable doing it, but her explanation was met by Detective Sato's assertions that, "Normally this is how things are done. A Japanese would do it."

She asked if there was any reason she herself had to appear in the pictures. He replied that it was not mandatory but that "This is Japan, and this is the Japanese way of doing things."

She asked him if he could not understand why she might be uncomfortable posing for such photos. He claimed to understand, but reiterated that such was the "Japanese way."

She started to try to explain the reasons for her discomfort but was cut off by him bursting out, "You Americans! You say such things!! I cannot understand you!!"

With as much restraint as she could muster, she replied that she hardly thought nationality had anything to do with her discomfort, and explained that, "Besides the general discomfort I feel in having to keep reexperiencing this, thanks to you the man now knows my name and address. Can you not understand that I don't want him to know my face!?!"

Without letting her finish, Detective Sato retorted, "This is Japan! This is how things are done in Japan! You have to include such information for an official document in Japan! It's required information!" (As mentioned above, both the MPD and NPA deny such claims.)

Raelyn asked him to tell her what rule or law stated that such information was required.

Sato had no response to this, but stated that it wouldn't matter because it was all revealed in court documents, anyway.

Raelyn responded, "Whether to take it to court or not is my decision, whether or not to have that information revealed is my decision -- not YOURS!"

Raelyn responded that she didn't think she would be alone in being troubled by such things.

After some more complaining, Sato relented and it was decided that because there was a "lack of actors," the detectives would reenact the crime while she took the pictures; Raelyn got the pleasure of being the photographer of her own incident's reenactment scene.

They returned to the police station and Raelyn was asked to demonstrate once again what the man did to her on a 6-foot tall bald Caucasian mannequin for photographing. (She later questioned the necessity of this, given that she had already described it several times and reenacted it for pictures at the scene. She was told that it was done to verify whether or not what the victim was alleging was physically possible -- even if nothing the victim was claiming sounded remotely impossible.)

October 11, 1998: Another Round of Questioning
After another 3 weeks had passed, the police called Raelyn in again to respond to the offender's version of the crime. Kobori's story at that point was that he had surprised her from behind and touched her bottom, and then after a short struggle to free himself from her grabbing him by his jacket, he fled after Raelyn fell over backwards.

She pointed out to the detective that she had been fully turned around when the man had reached her, that it would have been all-but impossible for her not to hear footsteps or the opening of the stairwell door, that it would have been extremely difficult for him to even touch her bottom from behind with the pouch that she had slung over her shoulder that day, that she had a bruised hip bone and injured wrist that attested to her being thrown down sideways, and that his account failed to offer any explanation for how she had sustained any of her scrapes.

In the course of questioning, it came out that Officers Ito and Tetsuka were reporting in their statement that Raelyn had said little more on the day of the attack than what the perpetrator was claiming in his statement. In fact, the policemen's account of the incident matched the offender's account so closely that they were all claiming that she was wearing a "floral-print jacket" that day. It went so far beyond coincidence that even the femaile detective questioning her seemed to grow suspicious. (In the report ultimately submitted, the officers changed their description of her jacket to "beige." However, they did not make any changes to the rest of their erroneous claims in their initial report -- despite the fact that Kobori changed his.)

She protested that their account did not accurately reflect how she had explained it on the day of the attack, and that she had seen the officers with her own eyes writing down the details of her account of how Kobori had entered the building, how many times he had touched her and where, how and in what direction she had been pushed over, and how she had been injured, etc. Oddly enough, none of this made it into their report.

It seemed obvious to her where the information for their report had come from. Upon confirming that the report had been written weeks after the incident, she asked for an opportunity to meet with the officers again to see if she could help them remember what she had actually told them.

Fukagawa never answered this request. They even refused to tell her the names of the 2 officers submitting the report in question.

She was sent home after hours of questioning, told only that it would be difficult for them to forward the incident to the Prosecutor's Office as long as there was so much conflict between her statement and the others.

She consulted her lawyer, who advised her to wait and "see what happens."

November 1998: An End to Sleepless Nights
After over a month trying to remain in her apartment with the help of friends and colleagues who escorted her home nightly, Raelyn moved in with some friends.

November 18, 1998: The Case is Finally Forwarded
After a month had passed without any news, she sent a fax requesting a progress report and confirmation on whether the officers had been able to recall anything.

The following week, on November 18, Raelyn was advised that the case had been sent to the Prosecutor's Office. At that, Raelyn went to the police station one more time to try to learn the final contents of the officers' report, but was advised by Detective Sato that she would simply have to wait until the documents were sent to court.

She explained that she was concerned that if the false documents made it that far, they would damage her case against the man. She stressed that she felt she was entitled to know what the officers had ultimately reported "she had said."

Sato replied that it didn't matter, because they had ultimately determined that there was enough evidence to forward the case to the prosecutor and charge the man with Trespassing and Indecent Assault Resulting in Injury. He explained that ultimately, because the case was forwarded to the Prosecutor's, the police had done their job, and advised her to be satisfied with that.

She explained that she was not satisfied that the police had done their job if they were submitting falsified reports that were potentially damaging to her case and reminded him that the only reason the case had made it that far was because she had not believed his claims about there needing to be "direct skin contact" to be a serious crime, had hired a lawyer to file charges on her own, and had not given up for over 2 months.

Detective Sato proceeded to deny having ever suggested that direct skin contact was necessary for a felony charge.

She gave up dealing with Fukagawa Police Station at this point and decided to take her complaint to the supervising Metro Police Department after seeing how things went at the Prosecutor's Office.

December 7, 1998: The Next Stage
Nearly 3 months after the incident, Raelyn was called in to the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office for further questioning. Prosecutor Kubota, the official assigned to the case, focused his questions more on disproving her claims than anything else, e.g., "Are you sure you could feel him touching your breasts?" "Are you sure your skirt wasn't too tight to allow his hand up between your legs?" "Are you sure you didn't just fall over?" It bordered on the absurd.

She was informed then for the first time that the prosecutor in Japan has the right to waive indictment at his own discretion, even if evidence points to the offender's guilt. (Even if a crime is sufficiently established, under Japanese lawthe Prosecutor has discretionary authority to waive prosecution based on the offender's age, personality, the severity of the crime, their judgment of the offender's remorse, etc. In contrast to the U.S. and other systems, leniency comes at the indictment stage, not in court. The tendency is to go easy on first-time offenders, i.e., suspects with no prior official criminal record. Nevertheless, no distinction between the absence of a police record and the likelihood that a suspect has just never been caught before is made.)

After questioning her briefly on her version of the incident, Prosecutor Kubota explained that while the man had admitted to enough to make him guilty of the crime, given that Mr. Kobori had no prior record; showed "above average candidness" in the investigation; "did not seem like the type to repeat the offense;" and helped support his parents, they were considering whether it might not be best to give the man a "second chance."

Prosecutor Kubota explained the heavy stigma associated with being a convicted felon in Japan and expressed his belief that it might be too harsh to brand Kobori with that label for "such a level of crime."

He informed her that the preference of the Prosecutor's Office would be to see if a negotiated settlement, i.e., monetary solution, could be reached. Raelyn replied that she could not even consider such a thing without the man first admitting to what he had actually done. She pointed to examples of Kobori's lack of "candor" -- how he had finally owned up to attacking Raelyn from the front at this point only to claim that any contact beyond fondling her breasts once was only an accident in his quest to free himself from her grip; how he was also still claiming that, despite not having any brochures or products at the time, he had entered the building to make sales calls, asserting that he had used the emergency stairs to enter the building because she had turned and glared at him as she got on the elevator; etc.

Prosecutor Kubota countered that, "Mr. Kobori is more forthcoming than most. Many won't admit to anything." Raelyn responded that denying everything was not an option for him, given that he was caught fleeing from the scene and that there were witnesses to him apologizing to her. She explained what seemed obvious to her: Kobori admitted only to what he thought would get him off easiest. She pointed out that "honest" Mr. Kobori had sunk so low at one point that he tried to tell the police that he had been injured when she caught him and that Raelyn had dragged him back -- "wrenching him from telephone poles he tried to cling to" -- as he screamed in pain. Prosecutor Kubota stated that such claims no longer appeared in the offender's statement. (Apparently the police think nothing of striking statements given on record that might be damaging to an offender's case; Fukagawa struck it from the record after confirming with the responding officers that Kobori neither complained of nor demostrated signs of a sprained ankle on the day of the incident.)

Prosecutor Kubota explained that they would have to speak to Kobori again, and Raelyn left that day stunned that a legal system could be so forgiving of a violent offender.

She was subsequently contacted by her lawyer, who had been asked by Prosecutor Kubota to set up a meeting to discuss a negotiated settlement. Raelyn had little interest in meeting the man again, but her lawyer explained that it was his opinion that the Prosecutor's Office had decided against indictment and they were doing this for her as a "favor," and that if she refused she would come off looking uncooperative.

Faced with this unpleasant alternative, Raelyn was given the pleasure of going face to face with her assailant again.

December 12, 1998: Meeting her Assailant
Raelyn met with Kobori in her lawyer's office. He professed his deep regret for what he had done, and asked her to consider his remorse and that he had parents he helped support. He offered her Y500,000 (less than US$5,000) to help defray the costs of her legal and moving expenses -- if she would drop charges against him.

Raelyn asked him to explain his version of the crime so that she could know what it was exactly he was apologizing for. He proceeded to recount what Prosecutor Kubota said he had said: that he had pushed her up against the door with his hands on her breasts, had briefly struggled with her to get away, and run away after she "fell."

Raelyn explained that it was very difficult for her to forgive him for that because it did not sound like his attack on her, but perhaps another attack he had made on another woman. She explained that she did not feel it was her position to forgive him for some other woman.

He then explained that his mind had gone blank at the time of the attack and that he really did not remember things well.

She asked him if he thought she should be reassured by that.

He denied any recollection of touching her anywhere but her breasts once, and claimed not to remember so much as approaching her when she was on the ground.

Raelyn next grilled him on his most dubious of claims: his stated reason for being in the building.

He admitted to following her home, but claimed that he did this often in order to find apartments where young women lived who might be interested in his products. He maintained that his intention had been to do cold-call sales, and that he had attacked her "on a whim." She questioned the lack of any products, brochures or literature on his person when he entered the building. He claimed that his company "did not have brochures" and that he just showed potential customers a picture of a door mat on his business card while he explained products to them. (She later requested and received a full color brochure from his company to prove he was lying to the prosecutor. Interestingly, the Prosecutor's Office had apparently never attempted to verify this.)

She also questioned why he had used the stairs when there was a perfectly good elevator available. He claimed that he tried to use stairs as much as possible for exercise whenever a building was less than 5 stories. (This directly contradicted his statement to the prosecutor that it had been because the victim glared at him, and seemed unlikely given his chunky physique.)

Kobori was then asked to leave and Raelyn told her lawyer that she was inclined to turn down the offer on the grounds that forgiveness was out of the question if he could not even admit to what he really did, that it was completely unacceptable to her that he would get off without a criminal record for his actions, and because she thought it was completely inappropriate to resolve such a crime with a monetary solution.

Her lawyer reitterated that it was probably her only chance to get anything out of the case and urged her to take the money. She explained that her goal, from the start, was not the money, and that she was not interested in something that was little more than a bribe.

Her lawyer relayed the message to Prosecutor Kubota, who said he would call her in for a final statement after she returned from Christmas holidays in mid-January.

January 1999: More Waiting
Upon returning to Japan, however, Raelyn learned that Prosecutor Kubota had left on a business trip through the end of February and that her case would be on hold until then.

Before leaving for the States in December, however, Raelyn had sent a letter of complaint protesting Fukagawa Police Station's handling of the case to the supervising Metro Police Department. Despite having assured her that they would hold off on investigating her claim until after her return to allow her time to inform her office that she was lodging a complaint, Inspector Takanashi of the MPD made some initial inquiries at Fukagawa Police Station in her absence.

Upon her return, Raelyn called Inspector Takanashi, and learned that Fukagawa responded to Metro's initial inquiry by alleging that they had acted the way they had because "they had been given the impression that the victim was never returning to Japan."

January 27, 1999: Giving "The System" One More Chance
Takanashi apparently had accepted this as a legitimate reason for Fukagawa Police Station having processed the case as it did, but he was forced to listen further when Raelyn disproved Fukagawa's claim as a blatant lie by pointing out that even the attacker had been informed that she was returning in 5 days.

This earned Raelyn an invitation down to the MPD to explain things. She explained that she did not think the police had done their job simply by eventually forwarding the case on to the Prosecutor's Office when the case they forwarded was riddled with inaccuracies and contradictions. Inspector Takanashi's initial response was apologetic: he conceded that it was unlikely that the police officers had failed to confirm her return date or injuries and doubtful that Raelyn had explained a surprise attack from behind when even the offender had since admitted that it had been a frontal assault. He said the police were wrong in not including her injuries in their report along with the other details. He asked how she wanted to proceed, and stated that crimes had possibly been committed, which the MPD took seriously. She said that her main concern was that record be set straight and to make sure that such actions would not be repeated.

Inspector Takanashi also conceded that Detective Sato had been wrong in his explanation of the law (in insisting that prolonged, direct skin contact was required for a felony charge), and amiss in revealing her personal information to her attacker. He suggested that an apology and compensation for her legal expenses might be in order, given that a lawyer would never have been necessary had Fukagawa done its job from the outset.

February 1999: Failed by the System
Despite the scent of progress in the initial meeting, when she called back the following week, she found that the MPD had since decided it was not worth pursuing. While Inspector Takanashi acknowledged that the policemen had failed to perform their duties in neglecting to do such things as: explain legal procedures to the victim at the scene, confirm her interest in prosecution, question on-scene witnesses, and accurately report her version of the crime, they decided that it should not ultimately affect the case -- and thus did not merit action.

While the MPD also admitted the impropriety of a detective revealing her personal information to the perpetrator and misrepresenting the law to her, they informed her that there was "nothing they could do about it" without proof that Detective Sato had lied to her about the law, and advised her that she would have to take the violation of her privacy rights up as a civil matter if she wanted to pursue it. However, when she informed Inspector Takanashi that she did in fact have tape recordings of her conversations with Detective Sato to offer as proof, he balked and said that it too would have to be pursued on her own in civil court. (This, apparently, would require suing the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.)

The MPD's conclusion was that, because the case had ultimately been sent on to the Prosecutor with appropriate charges, there were "no laws broken," and Metro could not do anything for Raelyn.

In the meantime, Raelyn consulted her lawyer one more time for his assessment of the case. He explained that, based on his experience and statements made by Prosecutor Kubota, chances of indictment were "zero." He explained that the Prosecutor's request for a final statement was more of a formality than an indication of a change of heart. (The Prosecutor's Office apparently sees nothing wrong with forcing the victim to relive the experience yet again, even if it has no intention of indictment.) He also explained that she had the option of appealing the Prosecutor's decision to a civilian Review Board, but suggested that this was a long, drawn-out process with little chance that the decision would be overturned without the introduction of new evidence (Reference: article on Review Board success rates).

She inquired about the possibility of launching a public campaign. He said it was a possibility, but that he had no interest in being involved in the like.

At this point, Raelyn met with another lawyer, a specialist in sex crime cases, who had been introduced to her by an American lawyer teaching in Tokyo. She advised her that, based on what she had heard, a public campaign was Raelyn's only option.

Raelyn decided that she had had enough of trying to fight the case on her own, and resolved to launch a campaign.

She explained what she intended to do to people around her. Some were skeptical and tried to dissuade her -- telling her that it was a "cultural difference," that she was "making a mountain out of a molehill," that it "wouldn't make a difference," and that she was only "thinking of herself and doing it for her own self-satisfaction."

But others were more supportive and agreed that someone should speak out about it.

She figured, at the very least, she could send a message to the authorities that not every victim was willing to walk away in silence while they made arbitrary decisions about the application of the law against a person who had violated their rights.

As her first step, she published an account of her experience in the February issue of the Japan Policy Research Institute's journal, JPRI Critique, at the urging of the organization's founders.

February 17, 1999: Launching the Campaign
Using the article as the centerpiece, she launched a homepage in English and Japanese with the help of her friends.

Once this was completed, they commenced an e-mail and fax campaign which called on people to contact relevant authorities to protest. Sending it to friends, colleagues, and the DFS and other Japan-related e-mail groups, the campaign produced significant results within a matter of days.

While some of the responses were negative, e.g., one person labeled her a "self-righteous American bitch," others jumped to her defense and answered her call to fax and call the authorities.

Within days, the authorities were on the defensive. She was told by one person who called the MPD that, "they seemed very concerned that this was going to make it into the press."

Through the campaign, Raelyn learned just how widespread the problem was. She was contacted by various people with similar concerns about how Japanese authorities were responding to sex crimes: by women who fell prey to train molesters and were brave enough to speak out only to have it be suggested that they were at fault because of the length of their skirt, or be scolded for bothering the police with such "trivial matters,"or have the police investigator request a nude frontal shot for "evidence" of where a train groper had touched her; by women who tried to get the police to act against physically abusive ex-boyfriends and estranged husbands only to be told that domestic violence is "not a police matter"; by women who were sexually assaulted or raped only to have it suggested to them by the police that they had somehow brought it on themselves with their negligence or that they were just being stubborn in suggesting that it was not acceptable for the man who raped them to get off with only a monetary settlement.

Her experience was not anecdotal; the problem was systemic.

The Power of the Press
The authorities' concern for media attention soon proved to be justified. On February 25, 1999, the first article on her campaign appeared in the Mainichi Daily News. In it, Fukagawa Police Station denied any wrongdoing and turned the blame on her.

At the same time, however, police officers were dispatched to interview her landlord -- for the first time since the attack 6 months prior.

Raelyn issued a rebuttal against Fukagawa's false statements in the article, e.g., Vice-Chief Aoki's claim that Fukagawa had acted as soon as they knew there were injuries involved, his claim that she had not cooperated with the investigation and failed to answer their questions, etc. She called on the MPD to note that Fukagawa was now lying on public record and that it might be prudent for them to caution Fukagawa against that, given that she was confident that she could prove the statements she was making. She received no response.

The authorities had decided to stonewall her. In the meantime, Raelyn started making her rounds.

She met with journalists and Japanese female activist groups. She was invited to speak at the Foreign Women Lawyer's Association on March 2nd. She met with members and spoke at the ACCJ's "Living in Japan Committee" on March 9th. She spoke with members of a special session on sexual violence at the Diet convened on March 10th. These activities culmanated in a press conference at the Foreign Correspondence Club of Japan on March 17th with members of the FWLA, which produced several articles and numerous inquiries to the authorities.

March 15, 1999: Back to the Prosecutor's
In the meantime, Raelyn's new lawyer called Prosecutor Kubota to advise him that she had taken over the case and reminded him that Raelyn had yet to receive any contact from him since he returned from his business trip a month prior.

Raelyn was joined by her lawyer on March 15th at the Prosecutor's Office to discuss the case. Her lawyer explained that Raelyn's interest was in having the man prosecuted for his crime and that she had no interest in accepting a settlement that required her to drop all charges, as Kobori was requesting. Raelyn reitterated that she did not think such a deal demonstrated his remorse and that she felt Kobori's statements did not come anywhere close to candor, citing how he was still telling blatant lies about his purpose for being in the building in order to mask his intent.

Prosecutor Kubota expressed concern that, if they decided on indictment, it would be perceived that they did so because of the campaign. Raelyn stressed that she agreed that they should not indict because of public pressure, but because there was sufficient evidence that a violent crime had been committed against her and that the man had demonstrated no true remorse for what he had done to her.

March 18, 1999: Giving a Final Statement
As arranged in the March 15th meeting, Raelyn visited the Prosecutor's Office on March 18th to give her final statement. Again, Prosecutor Kubota seemed more interested in disproving what she had claimed -- it took almost 10 minutes of back and forth to convince him that it was possible for a woman to feel a man grabbing her breast through a light blazer. After a full day of questioning, the statement was completed. While she disagreed with some of the phrasing, she was forced to sign the document as "her statement" when Prosecutor Kubota would concede no more than "giving thought to changing" the sections she wanted altered. She followed up with a fax the following week detailing her points of contention so that it would go on record that she did not in fact state certain things how they were presented in the record.

March 25, 1999: Indictment, At Last
Raelyn received a call from the female detective at Fukagawa Police Station, advising her that the Prosecutor's Office had decided to indict Mr. Kobori.

March 28, 1999: Back to America
With one week left on her visa, no job, reluctant to impose on her friends any longer, and anxious to be with her husband, family, and friends in the U.S. again, Raelyn returned home to wait until she was called back to Japan by the Prosecutor's Office for trial.

April 7, 1999: From One Voice, A Chorus
A Japanese article about her campaign ran in the April 7th evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun, and appeared on the 1st page of the morning issue of the Nagoya edition the following day. The article sparked a flood of calls to the authorities, and the commotion made it on the news.

May 14, 1999: The Day of Reckoning
Mr. Kobori's trial was held on May 14th. Prior to this, he was assigned a state-appointed attorney, who apparently persuaded him to throw himself on the mercy of the court. Mr. Kobori pleaded guilty to all charges, doubled his original offer of compensation, and requested leniency from the courts. Due to the change of events, it became unnecessary for Raelyn to appear in court. (In Japan, the victim does not actually have the right to appear in court, unless specifically requested by the Prosecutor (Reference: 12/10/98 article in Yomiuri Shimbun). She was instead asked to submit a written statement on what she wished to have said at the hearing.

Mr. Kobori was sentenced in June. He was found guilty of the crime of Indecent Assault and given a 18-month sentence, suspended for 3 years. While he served not a single day of jail time, Mr. Katsumi Kobori is now a convicted sex offender in Japan, unfortunately one of only a handful of his peers who ever earns that distinction.

Today
Raelyn Campbell is living a "normal" life with her husband in Los Angeles, while still trying to draw attention to the cause. She continues to receive e-mails from women in similar situations seeking advice, and journalists pursuing the issue.

She hopes others will take an interest in the matter and continue to put pressure on those responsible for preventing the abuse of victims' rights.

For further information, please feel free to contact Raelyn in English or Japanese at raelyncampbell@mail.goo.ne.jp.