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Man with "harem" of 10 in Tokyo

Posted by news snoop on January 26, 2006 at 18:16:00

Man with 'harem' of 10 arrested for alleged intimidation
Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 15:02 EST

TOKYO — A 57-year-old man living in Tokyo with 11 women and a baby was arrested Thursday on suspicion of threatening a young woman in an attempt to force her to join the group, police said.

Hirohito Shibuya of Tokyo's Higashiyamato allegedly told the woman, aged 20, on Oct 20 last year that she might be injured or killed if she refused to live with them, the police said.

He denied threatening the woman, saying, "I just told her what appeared in a dream," according to the police.

The police said as they have received several reports that Shibuya had also tried to have other women join, they are investigating whether any of them were threatened by Shibuya or are being effectively confined by him.

Shibuya also allegedly told the 20-year-old woman, "I am a former senior officer of the Self-Defense Forces, and there are some secret agents around me," but his former wife, 59, told the police that he was never a member of the SDF.

Shibuya started living with several women in the western Tokyo city after divorcing his wife in October 1999, and has had several marriages and divorces with nine women, aged 20-49 when the marriages or divorces occurred, according to sources close to him.

Most of the divorced women, however, still live with him under his family name.

Shibuya told reporters Wednesday, "I realize that I can attract women by reciting a charm. Since starting fortune-telling at home, female clients have gathered around me, and now we lead a communal life, just like polygamy."

He also said, "I cannot work because I suffer from gout and panic disorder. The women are earning our living," and added they are planning to go to Hawaii on the weekend.

The arrest came after the police raided his house on Wednesday. Several books on hypnosis were confiscated from his home in the investigation process along with about 10 boxes of other materials.


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