Former Japanese Table Tennis Player Commits Inappropriate Acts with Student’s Mother at Popular Coaching Class

“I learned about the incident from a newspaper article. Mr. Konishi used to come occasionally with his wife and daughter. It seems that when his daughter’s school was on break, they would come in the morning for practice and, in between, they would come to have lunch as a family.

I don’t really understand table tennis, but a customer who likes table tennis told me, ‘He is an amazing person.’ Recently, I also saw the three of them returning home by bicycle and thought, ‘What a close-knit family, and what a kind-looking father.’”

Suspect Kaii Konishi (43), who coaches at the table tennis school “WEILAI.” Employees of nearby restaurants were unable to hide their astonishment upon learning of the incident.

On August 20, the Saitama Prefectural Police Warabi Station arrested former Japanese representative and professional table tennis player Konishi on charges of non-consensual indecent behavior. He is suspected of touching the body of a woman in her 40s who is the mother of a student at the table tennis school.

“On August 7, suspect Konishi invited the victim to the table tennis school, asking, ‘Will you come for a visit?’ Then, while the child was running outside, he committed the offense when they were alone together. The incident came to light when, on the 9th, the woman reported to the police that she had been touched at the table tennis school where her child goes” (Reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs department).

A man living near the table tennis school said, while making a preface that “I only exchanged greetings with Konishi”:

“He had a refreshing smile and truly had the atmosphere of an athlete. In the evening, there were many bicycles parked in front of the school, and there were also many cars with license plates from other prefectures picking up students. I thought he must be a famous player, but I was surprised to learn from the recent news that he was such an amazing player to be selected as a member of the Japanese national team.”

According to local residents, the table tennis school always had its curtains closed, and it was not possible to see what kind of practice was happening inside from the outside.

A woman living nearby said, “When it first opened in 2014, the curtains were open.”

“When the curtains were open, the practice scenes were completely visible, and there were people who would stop in front of the school to watch. It must have been unsettling to be stared at, so before long the curtains were kept closed.”

The aforementioned social affairs reporter adds:

“Suspect Konishi claims that he touched the body ‘for massage purposes,’ and he partially denies the intent of indecency.”

If the closed curtains, meant to help focus on practice, ended up creating a “sealed room” that facilitated the crime, it is indeed quite ironic.