Shiori Ito [伊藤 詩織] 'Black Box' book and seminar talk in China

Shiori Itō (伊藤 詩織, Itō Shiori, born 1989) is a Japanese journalist and filmmaker. Her work focuses on gender equality and human rights issues. While interning at Thomson Reuters, Itō was at an izakaya in Ebisu, Shibuya with Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a prominent TV journalist and acquaintance of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She became intoxicated and was told to go back to the hotel where she accuses Yamaguchi of raping her. Yamaguchi denied the allegation, saying they had consensual intercourse. Although they initially said they would arrest Yamaguchi, the case and charges were unexpectedly dropped. Itō then went to the media, but no one would take her story. When she spoke about the experience at a press conference, she made national news and immediately started receiving negative backlash, hate mail, and threats. She has subsequently become the face of the Me Too movement in Japan.

A Tokyo court in December 2019 awarded Ito 3.3 million yen plus additional fees in damages from Yamaguchi, however he stated that he will appeal the decision. Yamaguchi denied the charges and filed a countersuit against Ito, seeking 130 million yen in compensation, claiming the incident was consensual. Her book Black Box, talks about the alleged incident and her experiences that followed. It was awarded the best journalism award by the Free Press Association of Japan in 2018.