Prosecutors demand 13 years in prison and 12 million yen fine for 25-year-old self-proclaimed "girlfriend"

A 25-year-old defendant was charged with defrauding a man of more than 150 million yen by calling herself a ``Itadaki Joshi'' on social media and arousing romantic feelings for him, prosecutors said. "This was a selfish crime to make him number one," the court ordered, demanding a 13-year prison sentence and a 12 million yen fine.

Defendant Mai Watanabe (25), who called herself a ``Itadaki Joshi'' on social media, made three men have romantic feelings for her and then stole approximately 155 million yen by lying that she was in trouble for money. He is charged with defrauding men and helping to commit fraud by selling a ``love manual'' designed to deceive men.

At a trial held at the Nagoya District Court on the 15th, the prosecutor said, ``His motive for making the host he was meeting his number one was short-sighted and selfish.It was also a despicable crime that took advantage of the man's emotional state. The court ordered him to be sentenced to 13 years in prison and fined 12 million yen for committing similar crimes.

Meanwhile, the defendant's lawyer asked for her sentence to be lightened, saying, ``The defendant was simply being taken advantage of by the host.''

The verdict will be handed down on the 22nd of next month.

Defendant agrees to interview with reporters

Defendant Mai Watanabe has granted interviews with NHK reporters three times so far.

How I became a “Tadaki Joshi”

During the interview, she talked about her upbringing and how she became a ``Itadaki Joshi'' using body language and hand gestures.

The defendant dropped out of a fashion school and started working at a sex shop at the invitation of a high school senior.

She once quit working at a sex shop, but when she was worried about her personal relationships, she got hooked on a host club that her friend invited her to join, and she returned to the sex shop to earn money. .

Regarding his feelings at the time, the defendant said, ``When the host told me, ``I need 300,000 yen to become number one,'' I was living a life without feeling like I was helping people, so I was happy to be needed and wanted to be helpful. "I don't know any other way to live other than going to a host school."

“Itadaki girls have the same structure as the host.”

The defendant says he began to trick the customers of the sex shop into romantic feelings and defraud them of their money so that he could use the money to host the host.

She attracted attention on social media as a ``Itadaki-joshi'', and she was flooded with questions from women asking ``How do you make so much money?'' When she created a manual, she started selling.

The amount she is said to have earned from selling manuals is over 19 million yen.

The defendant said, ``I chose easy-to-understand and simple words for the manual.I found the reason for my existence in being needed by my followers.The structure of ``Itadaki Joshi'' is the same as that of the host, and the uncle told me that I was the host in charge. I was happy to hear that, and I said things like, ``It's a dream come true,'' and ``I wish we could live together.''

"I thought my life would be over if I didn't get paid."

When asked by a reporter whether he was aware that these acts constituted fraud, the defendant replied, ``Even though people around me told me it was fraud, I kept saying, ``I won't file a complaint, it's not true because it hasn't been proven that it's fraud.'' Looking back, I think I was aware of it myself.But I have to say, ``It's not a scam,'' or else I won't have the money to donate.''

As for her feelings of guilt, she said, ``I felt guilty, like I was sorry, I felt sorry for him.I was in a situation where I was meeting men while lying about who I was, so I kept taking excessive amounts of tranquilizers to get rid of the guilt. , I met him in a state of ``overdose.'' I thought my life would be over if I didn't get the money. If I hadn't been caught, I think I would have gotten the money and gone back to hosting. I'm glad I got caught before I was 25. ” he said.

Apology to the victim

During the meeting on the 12th of this month, she was in tears and at a loss for words.

The defendant said, ``How can I atone for my crime? Rather than forcing it on me, I'm thinking about how I can get her to forgive me, and how I can heal the victim's wounds.I can only say simple words, but I'm sorry.'' He apologized to the victim and said he would like to use the money he worked to pay for the damage.