Former Sumo Wrestler’s Mother Blames His Kind Nature—But His Extensive Alleged Crimes Undercut the Defense

His mother refused to act as his guarantor

A lay judge trial was held at the Tokyo District Court on July 27 for defendant Shotaro Sakaida (31 at the time of his arrest), defendant Shunki Endo (22 at the time of his arrest), and defendant Eishi Okazaki (27 at the time of his arrest), who are charged with robbery resulting in injury after allegedly responding to an illegal “dark part-time job” recruitment ad, breaking into a private residence, and injuring its occupants.

On this day, Sakaida was questioned by the court, revealing a motive for the crime that was far removed from the remorse expressed in his apologies.

Sakaida entered the courtroom wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt, with a tattoo bearing the character “殺” (“kill”) visible near his neck. A former sumo wrestler weighing 108 kilograms, his imposing build and sharp glances toward those around him made for a rather intimidating presence.

“According to the indictment and other documents, in September 2024, Sakaida conspired with his accomplices to break into a home in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. They threatened two male residents—a father and son—saying, ‘Hand over the money,’ and inflicted minor injuries to their heads and arms. The three have also been involved in multiple incidents in Chiba and Yokohama and have been indicted on additional charges, including theft and attempted robbery,” said a judicial affairs reporter for a national newspaper.

Sakaida’s mother appeared as a witness. She testified that when he was a child, their family of seven—his grandparents, parents, younger sister, younger brother, and Sakaida—were close-knit.

Describing Sakaida’s personality, she said:

“He is easily deceived and too trusting. He isn’t very good at cooperating with others, but he is serious and kind. I have seen him carrying elderly people’s belongings and showing people the way.”

As a specific example, she explained:

“His classmates would tell him, ‘Say that you did it,’ even when he hadn’t, and he would do whatever they told him. There were incidents where money was taken and someone was pushed down the stairs, but later, a classmate told me, ‘Shotaro didn’t do it.’”

While Sakaida was in detention, his mother reportedly received four or five letters from him each month, containing messages such as: “I’m sorry for causing trouble for those around me.”

At the same time, however, his mother refused to act as his guarantor. Explaining her decision, she said:

“After committing such a serious crime, to think about bail. I refused because I wanted him to reflect on what he had done.”

Prosecutors pointed out that Sakaida had previously been arrested in 2017 for attempting to obtain a cash card from an elderly woman and had received a suspended sentence. In response, his mother said:

“Even though it was only an attempted offense, I was still sorry. He is too trusting and easily deceived, so I believe he was taken advantage of.”

She bowed her head apologetically, but she did not forget to defend her son.

As she testified apologetically before a packed courtroom, Sakaida watched his mother without changing his expression. What, one wonders, was going through his mind?

“I kept doing it out of curiosity”

Next, defendant Shotaro Sakaida himself took the witness stand, and questioning of the defendant began. At the time of the crimes, Sakaida was working as a full-time delivery employee for a transportation company.

“Financially, I wasn’t struggling because I was doing gig work on the side. I did sorting jobs and moving work.”

There should have been no reason for him to get involved in an illegal “dark job.” Yet why did he end up taking part in such work?

One day, Sakaida came across a social media post offering “¥100,000 paid daily for moving work.” He reportedly contacted the poster, thinking, “I’m curious, so I’ll hear what it’s about.” He had been earning ¥30,000 to ¥40,000 a day from part-time work, but ¥100,000 was an exceptionally large amount.

“I thought maybe that kind of money was possible in Tokyo. I never imagined I would get caught up in something like this. Looking back now, ¥100,000 was obviously unrealistic in the first place.”

That is how he recalled it. The person who posted the offer replied asking him to send a résumé, and Sakaida said he provided his driver’s license, his family home address, and his parents’ names. When his lawyer asked, “Didn’t you find that suspicious?”, he replied:

“I thought maybe this was just another way of sending the information. After I sent it, I regretted giving them my parents’ address. They told me, ‘We have a job transporting methamphetamine,’ but I refused.”

Although he said he regretted handing over his personal information, Sakaida had actually asked the people behind the illegal job himself, “What other kinds of work are there?” He also said that he was never harmed or threatened while doing the jobs. When his defense lawyer asked, “If that was the case, couldn’t you have stopped?”, he gave the facile explanation: “I kept doing it out of curiosity.”

During the series of crimes, Sakaida also played an important role, including driving his accomplices to the crime scenes in his own car.

“If I had refused, this wouldn’t have happened. I don’t think my accomplices would have gone to the crime scenes, either.”

Sakaida has also sent his lawyer as many as 50 letters.

“At my age, I caused trouble for others and brought shame upon my family.”

The letters reportedly expressed his remorse. Yet considering the casual nature of his stated motive—“I did it out of curiosity”—and the multiple incidents in which he is believed to have been involved, it is difficult to shake the sense of a troubling disconnect. We will have to watch how the trial unfolds.