<figure id="attachment_440065" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1920px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-440065"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1fe3f604"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/09/9cee77a91117894c6ed81c64fbc035cf.jpg" alt=""></a>The defendant, who testified that his relationship with the young girl was serious, faced intense questioning from the prosecution… What was his response? (Image for illustration purposes only.)</figure>
<h3> From Tokyo to Sendai and then to Aomori</h3>
“Now that I’m alone in solitary confinement, I spend every day reflecting and confronting myself. My regret over those four days has grown deeper with time,” said defendant Jun Suminaka (41) during his trial.
Suminaka has been indicted on charges of abducting a minor and engaging in non-consensual sexual intercourseafter allegedly persuading a 15-year-old high school girl—identified as A—who had expressed suicidal thoughts, to die together with him. The two reportedly spent four days together between May 13 and 16, 2025.
In the second hearing held at the Chiba District Court on September 9, Suminaka spoke about how, during his detention, he came to realize that his actions were wrong.
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<a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/440054">[Part 1] “I Was Thinking About Marriage” — The Defendant’s ‘Serious Feelings’ Toward the 15-Year-Old Girl He Didn’t Use Protection With</a>
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On the morning of May 13, 2025, defendant Jun Suminaka (41) listened as a 15-year-old girl, referred to as A, told him over a LINE call that had continued through the night, “I don’t want to go to school.”
Suminaka replied, “I’ll come see you,” and immediately boarded a Shinkansen bound for Tokyo.
After meeting A at Akihabara Station, the two reportedly engaged in sexual intercourse before boarding another Shinkansen for Sendai, where they spent the night together.
On the following day, May 14, while en route to Aomori, Suminaka turned on his phone to search for a hotel—only to find it filled with messages.
During questioning in court, he described that moment as follows:
“Messages from friends said things like, ‘I can’t believe you did this.’ My wife had written, ‘Please, just contact me,’ and my child said, ‘Don’t leave Mom alone.’ That’s when I realized again how terrible what I’d done was. To avoid being tracked, I threw away my phone at Shin-Aomori Station.”
According to Suminaka, A told him, “I wish I could at least contact my grandmother.” However, after seeing that he refused to reach out to anyone, she gave up, saying, “Then I won’t call either.”
On May 14, the two stayed overnight in Aomori City. Around noon on the 15th, Suminaka and A headed to Jogakura Bridge, the location they had chosen to end their lives. Describing the moment when they stood at the railing and looked down, seemingly ready to jump, Suminaka testified: “We stood at the handrail and looked below. It was the moment we were about to go through with it.”
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="I'm scared, I don't want to die."></div>
<h3>I Was Happy She Accepted Me</h3>
Suminaka recalled the moment on the bridge in vivid detail:
“When I looked down, I didn’t feel scared at all. But A said, ‘I’m scared. I don’t want to die.’ So we moved back to the parking area. Then she said, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t die. I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage.’ I told her, ‘Because you felt that way, we’re both still alive right now.’”
As he recounted the memory, Suminaka broke down in tears, at times choking on his words.
“At that point, I thought there was no turning back—that I had no choice but to die. When I told A, ‘I’ll die alone,’ she said, ‘I don’t want that.’ So we went back to Aomori City and stayed at a hotel. In the room, she said, ‘It feels like we’re living together,’ and I felt both happy and terribly sorry for involving her in all of this.”
Around noon the next day, May 16, police officers found the two in Aomori City, and A was taken into protective custody.
During his initial interrogation following his arrest, Suminaka reportedly stated that he did not regret the four days spent with A and that he didn’t want to deny them. However, after spending time alone in a single cell reflecting on his actions, his perspective changed:
“If I had truly cared about A, there were other things I should have done. I did something deeply wrong to her guardians.”
When the prosecutor asked, “What kind of relationship did you believe you had with A?” Suminaka answered:
“I thought we were in a romantic relationship. She was a place where I felt safe enough to show weakness. When we met in person and she accepted me, I was happy — it made me believe, sincerely, that our connection was real.”
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<h3>Prosecutors Press Hard: “You Just Wanted Unprotected Sex, Didn’t You?”</h3>
During the second hearing, prosecutors sharply questioned defendant Jun Suminaka (41), who claimed he was in a romantic relationship with a 15-year-old girl more than 20 years his junior.
Prosecutor: “Ordinarily, that kind of age difference wouldn’t be seen as appropriate for a romantic relationship, would it?”
Suminaka: “No, it wouldn’t.”
Prosecutor: “You have a wife and children. Don’t you think you were seeing things the way you wanted to—believing she had real romantic feelings for you?”
Suminaka: “Before meeting her in person, yes, I was half in doubt.”
Prosecutor: “Didn’t it occur to you that she might have been emotionally dependent on you because she felt lost, lacked self-esteem, and just wanted someone to rely on?”
Suminaka: “Looking back now, yes. But at the time, I didn’t think that deeply about it.”
The prosecutor then brought up a crucial point — that Suminaka had ignored the girl’s request to use protection during intercourse. Suminaka explained:
“At that time, I believed I was going to die, so I thought nothing mattered. I also wanted her to accept my fears and anxiety, and that led me to seek sex. I thought that unprotected sex could only happen when there was absolute trust, and I wanted that sense of connection.”
But the prosecutor immediately countered:
Prosecutor: “Wanting absolute trust and thinking it doesn’t matter because I’m going to die are two very different things. In the end, didn’t you just want to have unprotected sex?”
Suminaka: “Yes.”
Finally, the prosecutor asked, “Are you prepared to spend time in prison?” To this,
Suminaka replied clearly: “Yes, I am.”
Throughout the hearing, Suminaka repeatedly stated that he had reflected deeply during his time alone in solitary confinement. Meanwhile, it was his wife and relatives who dealt with the aftermath.
His wife — who sent him over 20 letters while he was detained, expressing her thoughts before ultimately deciding to divorce him — also handled compensation to the victim’s family. Relatives have reportedly agreed to help him rebuild his life and find work if he is released.
Now, as he remains behind bars, one can only wonder — is the 41-year-old man truly facing himself at last?

 Ryo Nakahira

 The defendant was charged with kidnapping a minor and non-consensual sexual intercourse for taking a high school girl around. The prosecutor asked the defendant a tough question when he regretted the crime but said he was serious about "dating" the girl. What did he say?

In Court Over Teen Girl Case, Defendant Gives Startling Reply When Asked About Having Unprotected Sex

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