Black Box

Shiori Ito, Allison Markin Powell

From Shelf: From a distant land

A memoir by journalist Ito Shiori, recounting her rape by one of Japan's best-known TV journalists; making the experience public in a country where few do; and her struggle for justice for victims of sexual assault and rape in Japan.

Black Box details the harrowing experience of sexual assault Shiori Ito faced as a young journalist in Japan, as well as the national reckoning that followed.

In 2015, Ito charged Noriyuki Yamaguchi, one of Japan's best-known TV journalists, with rape. But when Ito went to the police after the assault, she was told that her case was a "black box": it had happened behind closed doors and was therefore unprosecutable.

Ito became aware of the alarming amount of black boxes built into legal and investigative systems in Japan, and the inaccessible economy around legal advice for victims of sexual assault and gender-based violence. From the attitude of investigators to the difficulties retrieving time-limited security camera footage, Ito's experience navigates the labyrinthine expectations placed upon victims.

Upon publication in 2017, Ito's account was integral to the #MeToo movement in Japan and became a necessary catalyst for cultural and legal change. As international outlets covered every step of her story - documented in the BBC film Japan's Secret Shame - this book launched a societal reckoning. At the end of 2019, Ito won a civil case against Yamaguchi.

Ito's personal story is the kernel of a searing journalistic expose, exposing how Japan's relatively low official rates of sexual assault mask a culture of victim-shaming and institutional failure on the part of the police, law and media to bring perpetrators to justice.

Winner of an English PEN Award

"Shiori Ito radiates with passion and conviction for seeking the truth." -Ryuichi Sakamoto, musician and activist

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