Inside the Trial: Former Judo School Director’s Disturbing Confession and the Court’s Judgment

A despicable crime committed solely to satisfy his own sexual desires

“He committed the crimes because he has a sexual proclivity in which he becomes sexually aroused by engaging in sexual acts without being detected, looking at sexual body parts, and secretly filming.”

On October 22, a verdict was handed down to Yuta Ishino (33), the former head of a judo school who had been charged with non-consensual sexual acts and other offenses for sexually assaulting multiple young girls.

At the sentencing hearing held at the Chiba District Court, Presiding Judge Satoshi Miyamoto stated, “It was a despicable crime in which the victims, who were asleep, defenseless, and unable to retain memories of the events, were exploited solely to satisfy his own sexual desires.” He added, “Given the number of victims and the frequency of the crimes, the circumstances are extremely serious even compared to similar cases, and a lengthy prison term is unavoidable.” The court then sentenced Ishino to 22 years in prison (the prosecution had sought 25 years).

Ishino’s crimes first came to light not because of sexual offenses against girls, but because of an assault incident involving a male student, A (then 10 years old).

“On November 7, 2024, the Ichihara Police Station of the Chiba Prefectural Police arrested Ishino on suspicion of assault for forcibly pouring soy sauce into the mouth of A during a training camp in May 2023. Later, on December 26, police arrested him again on suspicion of assault for placing A face down and choking him with his right arm,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs department.

During the investigation into A’s assault case, police discovered a large volume of child pornography on Ishino’s smartphone, believed to have been filmed by Ishino himself. Investigators analyzed the material and identified each young girl depicted, leading to further arrests.

“On January 7, 2025, the Ichihara Police arrested Ishino again on suspicion of non-consensual sexual acts for assaulting B, who was under 13 at the time of the incident. Each time a new victim—C through H—was identified, additional arrests followed. On June 10, he was arrested for the seventh time, this time on suspicion of violating the Child Welfare Act for an offense against I, who was under 18 at the time (I testified that she submitted to intercourse unwillingly). The All Japan Judo Federation expelled Ishino on March 27, imposing its most severe disciplinary measure,” the same reporter explained.

Ishino was charged with a total of ten offenses: assaulting A, violating the Child Welfare Act in I’s case, and, in the order they were indicted, non-consensual sexual acts, filming sexual images, and child pornography violations involving seven girls under the age of 13, from B through H.

What is important to you?

The sexual assaults on girls B through H took place mainly during training camps between 2019 and 2024, while the girls were asleep. As a result, some of the victims were not even aware that they had been assaulted. To prevent the girls from waking up during the assaults, Ishino sometimes mixed sleeping pills into their drinks, and a memo was found on his smartphone reading: “Sleeping pill camp – mix sleeping pills when they go to sleep.”

He also filmed part of the assaults—such as sexually assaulting the girls or ejaculating on their bodies—using his smartphone. More than 100 video files and over 400 still images were seized. Regarding I, he used his position as a judo instructor to sexually assault her eight times in 2021, when she was under 18.

Although Ishino indulged his desires and subjected his students to extreme abuse, during the trial he answered the question “What is important to you?” as follows:

“For me, the children of the Ishino Juku, their parents, alumni, and fellow instructors. They were all extremely important to me. I desperately worked until the day I was arrested, driven by the desire to teach children the joy and greatness of judo. I believe each of the children, their parents, the graduates, and the instructors were irreplaceable people.”

After his arrest, Ishino initially partially denied the allegations and then remained silent during questioning, but in court he admitted to all charges and offered apologies. At the same time, he also made many self-centered remarks that only deepened the pain of the victims’ families, such as: “After serving my sentence, I want to return to my parents’ home,” and “I’m afraid of joining the sex offender treatment program in prison because sex offenders get bullied if others find out.”

At the end of the trial, Presiding Judge Miyamoto addressed him:

“What you have done has left the victims and their families with wounds that will never heal. It is irreversible. I believe you still lack sufficient understanding, so please reflect deeply on the reasons you committed each crime.”

When Judge Miyamoto finished speaking, Ishino stood up and bowed deeply. However, despite the fact that the victims’ parents—those who were supposed to be his irreplaceable people—were beyond the partition on his right, he did not look in their direction at all and simply returned to the defendant’s seat.

Ishino will now begin what is likely to be a long period of life in prison. During that time, will he confront his sexual proclivities and be able to reform?

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