Asaki Akiyo's "Suicide": A Death Foretold?
C
By Alex Chani
From the Tokyo Observers official homepage
http://www.twics.com/~anzu/11-Asaki.html
From Tokyo Observer 11
Asaki Akiyo was discovered collapsed on the ground at the foot of a six-story building at 10:05 p.m. on September 1, 1995.
She was alive, but mortally wounded. The manager of a local restaurant, who came out to see what had happened, reportedly
asked her if she was okay, to which she feebly responded, "Yes." He asked her whether she fell from the building, and she said
(enigmatically, as it would turn out), "No." These are the only clues about what happened that came directly from Asaki. She
died a few hours later at a nearby hospital. Since she was found in a small space between a fence and the building, police
investigators concluded that she had fallen six floors to her death, straight down.
Asaki was not a regular citizen. She was an assemblymember from Higashi-Murayama, one of Tokyo's suburban cities, and as
a core member of the grassroots citizen's faction in the assembly had been very controversial for her strong anti-corruption
stands. She had gained much support for her refusal to accept a salary increase passed by the assembly, and in the most recent
election had received the highest number of votes among all the candidates.
A Suicide?
The police initially ruled the death to be suicide. This judgement was partly based on experience, since people found at the foot
of buildings are most often suicides. She was not wearing shoes, which is typical behavior in Japan, where many people remove
them before jumping. They found claw marks on the outside of the fifth story stairwell, which to them suggested that she had
suspended herself off the railway and let let go. Furthermore, investigators noted a possible motivation: she might have been
distraught at being accused of shop-lifting by a local business. The police concluded there was little evidence to suggest it was
murder.
Suspicious Circumstances
Many people doubt this judgement, however, and believe that Asaki Akiyo's death may have been a political murder.
First of all, there were suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. Crucially, her shoes were never found. If she really had
taken off her shoes and then jumped, then the shoes should have been found, most likely somewhere near the stairway from
where she allegedly jumped.
There were contradictions in the police version of events as well. Investigators reported finding the clawmarks near the stairwell
(though Asaki's fingerprints were not identified), and theorized that she had hung on to the wall before letting go and falling, but
she had three large wounds on her back, which would not have occurred had she been holding on, and thus facing the building.
Her keys were also missing, but they were found two days after the incident (there was a massive search of the building,
complete with dogs, but this failed to turn up the keys) on the second floor. Incidentally, the dogs failed to pick up her scent in
the building, which is odd if she indeed climbed up to the fifth floor without her shoes on. In addition, her behavior just before
the incident makes it hard to believe that it was really a suicide. At 9:19, she phoned another member of her political group to
say that she was not feeling well, and was going outside to get some air. She left the lights and air conditioner on, and even left
her word processor on, with the file she'd been working on still on the screen. There was no suicide note. She obviously didn't
leave the office planning to jump off a building.
Outside involvement?
It is clear, therefore, that the circumstances leading to her death leave room for doubt. The question then becomes, why would
she have been murdered?
For a slew of reasons, the suspicions of her family and friends, as well as many independent journalists, have focused on Soka
Gakkai, the giant Buddhist sect. The main reason for these suspicions is that her political activities had put her in frequent
conflict with the group, whose members (in Komeito, now in the process of joining the New Frontier Party) were sometimes
targets of Asaki's anti-corruption drives. She gradually became known, in fact, as an anti-Soka Gakkai activist. In fact, the
night of her death, the file she was working on (which was left on the machine) was her notes for a conference she was
scheduled to attend two days later in Kochi Prefecture. The conference, on the subject of the "separation of religion and
politics,"was essentially an anti-Soka Gakkai meeting.
Extremely disturbing, in light of what happened later, was that the organizers of the meeting said that they received harrassing
phone calls from somebody connected with the group, threatening that "You will be dead if Asaki comes."P> This was not,
moreover, the first time that she had troubles with the group. In an early indication that the national headquarters of Soka
Gakkai had an interest in her activities, journalist Otsukotsu Masao reported in the monthly journal Bungei Shunju that Den
Hideo, a progressive member of the Upper House, had gone to a rally to support Asaki, and before leaving had received a visit
from former Komeito secretary general Kubota. Den said that Kubota told him, essentially, "I wonder if you understand what
kind of a group that is."
Why would a huge national organization like Soka Gakkai take an interest in the activities of a local assemblywoman? Basically,
the religious group is registered in Tokyo, where they have a very strong organization, and any radical opposition to them might
have been seen as a threat.
Asaki's real troubles, however, began after the April elections. In July, one of her colleagues was riding his bicycle home, and
saw a man collapsed in the street. He stopped his bike, and then, believing the man was simply drunk, prepared to move on.
The man suddenly jumped up and assaulted him, breaking some of his teeth. This same assemblymember was later nearly run
over by a truck, also while riding his bicycle, and it later turns out (by his assertion) that the truck was owned by a Soka
Gakkai member.
Finally, just before the reported time of her death, at about 9:30, a suspicious vehicle was reportedly spotted in the parking lot
of the building from where she supposedly fell.
These incidents do not present any form of final proof, but they certainly give cause to wonder about the circumstances
surrounding her death.
Future Developments?
The family's assertion, that she was murdered by the giant religious group, was not reported in the mainstream media, perhaps
because of fear of lawsuits and perhaps out of consideration for the image of the group, but was carried in some of the more
sensationalistic weekly magazines.
One of themain difficulties, as far as her family and friends are concerned, is that the police have been very lukewarm to their
pleas. One reason for this might be that Asaki herself was perhaps not a popular figure among the police, but there have been
charges, at least, that the police really do not want to get to the bottom of it.
Although there certainly appear to be suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, it seems difficult to believe that a major
religious organization with as many enemies as Soka Gakkai would go as far as murdering a local assemblymember who
doesn't seem very important in the great scheme of things. If it was murder, it seems more likely that some small group of
individuals took matters into their own hands, most likely without orders from anybody else. The other alternative is that
something much more important was at stake, but nothing has yet emerged to suggest anything more. So far there has been no
evidence of any kind of cover-up, but the police are not investigating the case, so the family's friends and lawyers are carrying
on the investigation by themselves.
http://www.twics.com/~anzu/11-Asaki.html
Jstevens2002
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On June 26, the Tokyo District Court rejected a libel suit filed by the late
Higashi Murayashi City Councilwoman Akiyo Asaki's husband, Daito, their
daughter Naoko, and their political partner Hozumi Yano, against the top
leaders of Soka Gakkai, the Tokyo Metropolitan government, and others.
The Asakis claimed that their reputation had been damaged as a result of a
September 21, 1995 article appearing in the Soka Gakkai's newspaper, the Seikyo
Shimbun, which rebutted nefarious articles based on groundless claims by the
Asakis and published in magazines, which alluded to Soka Gakkai's involvement
in a conspiracy against the Higashi-Murayama City Councilwoman, including her
death from a fall in 1995. The Asakis and Mr. Yano demanded 30 million yen in
damages and that a public apology from the defendants be published in the
newspapers. According to Kyodo News, Judge Fukuda stated that: "The [Seikyo
Shimbun] article rebutted the statements by the Asaki family members who
indicated the Soka Gakkai's involvement in the fatal fall of Mrs. Asaki. As a
fair rebuttal, there is nothing to indicate a violation of the law."
Councilwoman Asaki, a vocal critic of Soka Gakkai, was charged with shoplifting
in July 1995, and in September of the same year, just prior to a court hearing
on the case, had fallen to her death from an apartment building. Soon
thereafter, magazines began publishing articles based on the Asakis' testimony
to the effect that Soka Gakkai had framed the councilwoman for shoplifting, as
well as orchestrated her murder.
Two official investigations, one by the Higashi Murayama Police Department and
the other by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, concluded that there
was no evidence of foul play in Mrs. Asaki's death, and that there was strong
evidence pointing to suicide induced by distress over her approaching court
appearance for shoplifting.
In the same month, Soka Gakkai published articles in the Seikyo Shimbun
strictly refuting the groundless tabloid stories and admonishing the Asakis for
their false claims.
The Asakis filed a defamation suit against Soka Gakkai and Tokyo Metropolitan,
which has jurisdiction over the police department, as well as police officials,
and the clothing store owner who accused Mrs. Asaki of shoplifting.
In its judgment, the Tokyo District Court further stated that "there is no
material evidence to substantiate [the accusations by the Asakis] that
Defendant Soka Gakkai had any involvement in the incidents cited," and that
such accusations "acted to defame Defendant Soka Gakkai."
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Jstevens2002
May 19, 2001
Tokyo High Court Rules in Favor of Soka Gakkai in Higashi Murayama Libel Case
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On May 15, Tokyo High Court Chief Justice Hideichi Yazaki ruled in favor of
Soka Gakkai in an appeal filed against Masahiko Motoki, former chief editor of
Shukan Gendai, a Japanese weekly published by Kodansha, and Daito and Naoko
Asaki, husband and daughter of the late Higashi-Murayama City Councilwoman
Akiyo Asaki. Soka Gakkai had originally filed a defamation suit against Mr.
Motoki and the Asakis, respectively, for publishing a groundless article in the
Shukan Gendai accusing Soka Gakkai of being involved in the death of the late
councilwoman. Although Kodansha, publisher of Shukan Gendai was held liable,
the suits against Mr. Motoki and the Asaki's had been dismissed.
The court fully accepted the Soka Gakkai's claims, acknowledging joint tort
liability of Mr. Motoki and the Asakis, and ordered them to pay Soka Gakkai 2
million yen for damages and publish an apology in the Shukan Gendai.
As background, the late Councilwoman Asaki, a vocal critic of Soka Gakkai, was
charged with shoplifting in July 1995, and in September of the same year, just
prior to a court hearing on the case, fell to her death from an apartment
building. An article appearing in the September 23, 1995 issue of the Shukan
Gendai, based on groundless claims by Mrs. Asaki's husband and daughter,
strongly insinuated that Soka Gakkai had framed the councilwoman for
shoplifting and orchestrated her murder.
Soka Gakkai continued to strictly refute the groundless allegations and
admonished the Asaki family for their false claims. Two official
investigations, one conducted by the Higashi Murayama Police Department and the
other by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office, had concluded that
there was no evidence of foul play in Mrs. Asaki's death, and that there was
strong evidence pointing to suicide induced by distress over her approaching
court appearance for shoplifting.
In October 1995, Soka Gakkai filed a libel suit against Shukan Gendai. In the
first trial in July 1999, the court held Kodansha liable, stating that the
contentious article was analogous to mud-slinging and was not deserving of
being considered respectable news coverage in a democratic society. However,
the defamation suits against Motoki and the Asakis were dismissed. Both Soka
Gakkai and Kodansha appealed to the Tokyo High Court.
The Tokyo High Court rejected Kodansha's appeal and ordered the Asakis and
Kodansha to jointly publish an apology and retraction and pay damages to Soka
Gakkai, condemning them of committing tort and damaging the reputation of the
plaintiff of the original action (Soka Gakkai) by publishing a grossly
editorialized story in the magazine (Shukan Gendai) owned by Kodansha.
On February 27 of this year, Soka Gakkai won a related libel suit against
Hozumi Yano, publisher, and Naoko Asaki, editor and assistant editor,
respectively, of the Higashi Murayama Shimin Shimbun, which published similar
articles accusing Soka Gakkai of involvement in Mrs. Asaki's death. The Tokyo
District Court ordered Mr. Yano and Ms. Asaki to publish a retraction and an
apology in the newsletter and pay Soka Gakkai 2 million yen in damages. In a
lawsuit filed by the Asakis against Soka Gakkai, the court also ruled in favor
of the Soka Gakkai.
Karyn
--
Karyn
"Jstevens2002" <jsteve...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020221131124...@mb-fj.aol.com...