[Exclusive] Miyuu Kihara’s Father Receives Two-Year Prison Term for Indecency — Past Behavior Raised Concerns

The first trial verdict was not overturned

“The assessment that it was a malicious crime exploiting his position remains unchanged, and the sentence cannot be considered excessive.”

The two-year prison sentence handed down in the first trial was not overturned.

On September 19, in the appeal trial of Hiroo Kihara (55) — indicted for non-consensual indecent acts for molesting an elementary school girl who was his student at the table tennis club where he coached — the Osaka High Court upheld the Kobe District Court Akashi Branch’s ruling and dismissed the defendant’s appeal.

“The incident occurred between late July and around August 2, 2024. Kihara is said to have committed several indecent acts — such as touching the girl under her underwear — while alone with her at the table tennis club. The girl’s mother consulted the police, saying her daughter had been subjected to indecent acts at the club she attended. Kihara was arrested on August 29, 2024, on suspicion of non-consensual indecency and was later indicted.

During police questioning, Kihara denied the allegations, saying, ‘I absolutely did not do such a thing,’ but in court he reversed his stance and admitted to the charges,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs section.

The prosecution sought a three-year prison sentence. In fact, in the district court ruling delivered on March 11 this year, Kihara was sentenced to two years in prison without suspension.

The judge stated: “He repeatedly committed the acts to satisfy his own sexual desires — a selfish and self-centered motive. He exploited his position as a coach, applying psychological pressure by ignoring the victim whenever she did not comply with his wishes.” Kihara’s defense appealed the ruling, claiming that the sentence was excessively harsh, but the appeal was rejected.

He continued to repeat the same behavior even after trouble had occurred

Around 2010, defendant Hiroo Kihara left his company job and opened a table tennis club in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture. He came from a table tennis family — his two sons and two daughters were all involved in the sport as players or coaches. Among them, his second daughter Miyu (21) became a rising star, reaching the final of the All-Japan Championships in 2019 as the youngest ever and later serving as a reserve player for the Paris Olympics.

Kihara himself was highly regarded as a coach — many said, “Children trained by Kihara improve quickly.” However, concerns had also been raised about his inappropriate behavior.

“At tournaments, he was often seen with young girls sitting on his lap or standing uncomfortably close to him, and people in the table tennis community talked about it. It’s said that he told his favorite girls to always stay near him.

In court, it also came up that when a girl didn’t want to sit on his lap, he would make her practice with lower-level players or ignore her, effectively cornering her psychologically,” said a table tennis insider.

There had reportedly been similar incidents in the past. Yet even after those troubles, Kihara did not change his behavior. A parent who had once sent their child to his club recounted:

“I heard that in the past, he had also caused trouble over sexual misconduct toward a young girl. The victim’s parents confronted him and urged his family—who were also involved in running the club—to strictly monitor his behavior and prevent it from happening again. But the family couldn’t say anything to him, and he continued to keep his favorite girls close by. The girl victimized in this case was one of those favorites.

Even during this recent trial, Kihara showed no sign of remorse. I believe that if he had received a suspended sentence and reopened his club, he would have repeated the same behavior.”

Having been handed down another strict prison sentence, Kihara now faces a harsh reality. The question remains — will he finally confront his crimes and vow never to repeat the same wrongdoing again?