On Wednesday, November 12, the ASIJ Law Society visited the Tokyo High Court District. Upon arriving, members surveyed the docket sheet—which lists the cases of the day—eventually settling to view the hearing of a murder case involving a woman who fatally stabbed her boyfriend with scissors. The Tokyo District Court had begun full hearings in this case a week earlier, which followed Kotomi Sato (25), who was charged with killing her boyfriend, Yuya Kamaetani (26), during an escalated argument last year.

Inside the courtroom’s solemn atmosphere, members had the opportunity to hear Sato’s testimony, presided over by nine judges of the Tokyo District Courts. Clad in handcuffs and unshackled only when moving from the bench to the witness’s stand, Sato’s unperturbed expression proved to be a facade that cracked under the probing questions of the prosecution.

According to the prosecution, the events unfolded late at night in their apartment following a disagreement that started earlier that day in a bakery. What started as a verbal conflict revolving around buying bread escalated into a physical confrontation between the two once they arrived home, when Sato grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed Kamaetani in the neck.

Evidence that supported the charge of murder and premeditated ill intent included photographs of past abuses Sato had inflicted on Kamaetani and subsequently shared online, attesting to a history of prior physical violence within the relationship; whether or not such abuse was committed by both parties or just Sato was unclear. In attempting to establish a clear motive, the prosecution prompted Sato to explain the nature of their relationship, revealing that Kamaetani had unfaithful tendencies. Sato testified to his frequent “wandering eyes” and use of dating apps while they were still together.

From the defense’s side, Law Society members had the opportunity to listen to Sato’s claims of mental psychosis during the alleged altercation, where she stated that she saw Kamaetani bleeding out from his neck after she woke up from her dissociative episode. Interestingly, investigators in the case found no physical or medical evidence to support this account.

The defense supported this interpretation of events to the court, attempting to establish that Sato had no premeditated ill intention to injure or kill Kamaetani and that her actions could be classified as voluntary manslaughter, rather than murder.

Ultimately, it was ruled that Sato was fully liable for the fatal outcome, despite questions about her mental state during the incident and the couple’s convoluted history; therefore, on November 21, Sato was sentenced to twelve years in prison. With this verdict now finalized, the year-long case at last comes to a close.