Masae Sakurai, 50, admitted at the first hearing of her trial at the Mito District Court's Shimotsuma branch on November 11 to forcing a woman she lived with to stitch her own lips with a needle and thread, a case that tests how far Japan's coercion law reaches into psychological control rather than physical force.
Sakurai is charged with coercion over the lip-stitching and with assault causing injuries that took about two weeks to heal. She and a co-defendant, Yukio Shiga, 55, are accused of beating the woman, then 42, on the thighs with a back scratcher, the court heard.
She admitted the charges as read. In the prosecution's opening statement, prosecutors said Sakurai had declared she would "sew up the mouth that tells lies."
Audio of the orders played in court
Prosecutors submitted footage from two security cameras hidden among cushions on the ground floor where the woman lived, according to the prosecution. The cameras appeared to be linked to Sakurai's mobile phone.
They then played two audio recordings of Sakurai's voice. In the first, a loud noise is followed by her shouting at the woman to hurry and stop begging.
“Don't say 'please stop' — I'm the one who wants to say please stop.”Masae Sakurai, defendant, in audio played in court
The second recording captured a phone call Sakurai made while out. Her volume stayed level and her tone was flat, but the words were explicit.
“Sew it back up. Sew it back and forth. Hurry up and sew it, don't worry about it. When I get home you'll be pulled tight and sewn up.”Masae Sakurai, defendant, in audio played in court
She went on to say that doing it herself would hurt more, and that if she did it, the pain would double. The courtroom fell silent as the recording played, and her words were audible syllable by syllable. Sakurai sat in the defendant's seat with her head down and her eyes apparently closed.
Bankbook taken, one meal's worth of cash a month
Prosecutors also read out part of the woman's statement, which described how she came to be unable to leave. Sakurai was kind at first, the woman said, but after a few months accused her of mismanaging money and took her bankbook.
Sakurai gave her 10,000 yen a month to live on. The woman had lost her cash card, so with the bankbook gone she could not withdraw money of her own.
When she ate food from the refrigerator without permission, the woman said, Sakurai made her go outside in a short-sleeved shirt and shorts and would not let her back in, even in the rain. She said she wanted to run but could not, because Sakurai controlled the bankbook.
On the day of the stitching, the woman said, Sakurai made her kneel on the floor for a lecture and showed her a needle already threaded. She decided she would rather sew her own mouth than be beaten.
“When I could not bear the pain and said I couldn't do it, the defendant slapped my face.”the woman, then 42, in her statement read in court
Another day, Sakurai told her the stitches had come loose and ordered her to redo them. The woman said the work took a long time because she was frightened of the pain, and that she cried out that it hurt.
The woman says Sakurai subjected her to further violence beyond what the charges cover.