2-5-2024 (TOKYO) A counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Japan has been requested to appear before a Japanese court following allegations of voyeurism at a public bathhouse in Tokyo. According to reports from Japanese media outlets on May 2, the 55-year-old man, whose identity remains undisclosed, admitted to secretly filming a teenage boy in the men’s changing room of the bathhouse, among other acts of illicit recording.
The incident in question occurred on February 27, when an employee of the bathhouse, located in Tokyo’s Minato ward – the same district that houses the Singapore Embassy – reported to the police that the man was caught using a smartphone to film an undressed male teenager in the changing area. Subsequent investigations by authorities revealed disturbing details, including footage of the boy in the nude, as well as multiple male customers who appeared to have been surreptitiously recorded in the communal changing room.
Confronted with the evidence, the man, who has since left the foreign service, confessed to investigators that his voyeuristic activities extended beyond this single incident. He admitted to having covertly taken photographs at other public baths over a six-month period, amassing a staggering collection of at least 700 images.
The gravity of the situation escalated when the man initially claimed diplomatic immunity, introducing himself to the responding police officers as a diplomat and refusing to accompany them to the station for questioning. Instead, he insisted on answering inquiries at the bathhouse, where he acknowledged filming on five previous occasions. Further complicating matters, he refused to surrender his smartphone to the authorities, though he ultimately acquiesced to the request of the student’s parents by deleting the explicit photos he had taken that night.
According to reports from Japanese national broadcaster NHK, the victim was a 13-year-old male junior high school student, underscoring the severity of the alleged offenses.
In response to the mounting allegations, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department has formally requested the man’s appearance in a Japanese court, considering potential charges against him for violating child pornography laws. The police have stated that they possess evidence that will be presented to prosecutors, as reported by Japanese media outlets.
The diplomatic dimensions of the case have added an additional layer of complexity, as the man’s status as a diplomat initially afforded him immunity from arrest in Japan until his departure from the country. Consequently, the police made the court request through Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following established protocols for addressing such sensitive matters involving foreign officials.
Both Japanese media and the Singapore Embassy have been contacted for further comment and clarification on this unfolding diplomatic scandal. As the investigation progresses, concerns over the potential implications for bilateral relations between Singapore and Japan loom large, casting a shadow over what was once a routine diplomatic posting.
