On Christmas night…Keio University graduate, METI career bureaucrat, “Sleeping pills to a woman acquaintance in a private room of a cafe,” a despicable and indecent act.

I’m going to the bathroom.”

It seems that this happened just after the woman left the private room. The man put the drug into her glass. When the woman returned, she sipped her drink and suddenly began to feel faint. The man began to play with the woman’s body, which was unable to resist.

On January 19, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Investigation Division 1 arrested Dai Sato, 32, of Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, on suspicion of indecent assault. Sato is an elite bureaucrat in the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. The incident occurred on Christmas night, December 25 last year.

The suspect and a female acquaintance in her 20s, Ms. A, had been drinking together at a tavern in Adachi Ward since around 5:00 p.m. When it was past 7:00 p.m., they walked to the tavern and had a drink. After 7:00 pm, they moved to a private room at an Internet cafe about a 3-minute walk away. While watching a movie, Ms. A was hit by a strong sleeping spell and lost her memory.

When she regained consciousness inside the café, Sato paid the bill as if nothing had happened and they parted ways around 11 p.m. Ms. A. and Sato had had dinner several times in the past, but they were mere acquaintances and were not in a relationship.

“They touched each other with consent.”

Mr. A had not been drinking alcohol at the Internet cafe. The next day, she called the police to report that a man she was with may have committed an indecent act on her.

The suspect denied committing the crime, stating, “I lightly scratched his head with my consent, but he didn’t touch me. He denied committing the crime, saying, “I lightly patted her on the head with her consent. I don’t remember which part, but I touched her body over her clothes. I don’t remember giving him sleeping pills at all.

Sato is a career bureaucrat. After joining the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2005, he steadily rose through the ranks, becoming a section chief of the Global Industry Office, Minister’s Secretariat in 2006 and an assistant director of the Technology and Human Resources Cooperation Division, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau in 2010.

The fact that he was selected as an assistant section chief in his fifth year at the ministry suggests that high expectations were placed on the suspect Sato. However, his spectacular career took a turn for the worse after his arrest, and as of January 19, he was assigned to the Secretarial Division of the Minister’s Secretariat.

The possibility that Sato is guilty of other crimes is also increasing.

In addition to Ms. A, several other women who shared meals with Sato have complained of sexual assault. The police are investigating the route of obtaining sleeping pills and other evidence. The police are also investigating the route of obtaining sleeping pills,” he said.

In response to the incident, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) issued the following comment.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has issued the following comment in response to the incident: “It is truly regrettable that an official of the Ministry has been arrested. METI will cooperate with the investigation to the fullest extent possible and will deal with the matter strictly based on a full investigation.