IBARAKI (TR) – The former director of a medical corporation has admitted to secretly filming women in hospital restrooms, telling a court that his taking of tosatsu (voyeur) footage eventually became a “mechanical routine,” reports Gendai Business (Oct. 22).
Mitsuhiro Kubota, the former head of the Keiwa-kai medical group in Mito City, pleaded guilty to violating the Law Banning the Taking of Sexually Explicit Photographs during his first hearing at the Mito District Court on October 16.
Kubota is accused of placing hidden cameras in the ceiling ventilation fans of female restrooms at two of his hospitals, as well as a unisex restroom at a cafe in Omotesando, Tokyo, near where he worked part-time. Prosecutors state that over 100 people were recorded across the three charged incidents, including at least 89 women at the hospitals alone.
Ventilation fan
The scheme initially unraveled on December 25 when a cleaner at the Higashi Kanto Clinic in Mito discovered a camera hidden inside a restroom ventilation fan. A subsequent search of affiliated clinics uncovered a total of four hidden cameras, prompting the medical corporation to file a police report.
It took investigators a year and a half to arrest the prominent doctor. To avoid being captured on film while installing the devices, Kubota utilized remote-controlled cameras, allowing him to start recording only after he had left the room.
Kubota initially denied the charges upon his arrest. However, police made a breakthrough by recovering deleted data from seized SD cards, which revealed earlier footage clearly showing the doctor’s face.
Dispose of his computer
During the court proceediongs, the extent of Kubota’s cover-up was laid bare. Upon receiving a call in Tokyo that the cameras had been found on Christmas, Kubota rushed back to his Mito home to dispose of his computer, external hard drives, and four other hidden cameras.
“I had a strong desire not to leave any evidence behind,” Kubota told the court. Because of this destruction, authorities admit the true number of victims will likely never be known.
Appearing in court wearing a navy suit and sporting unkempt hair, Kubota described his current occupation as “unemployed.”
“Never forgive”
Prosecutors read harrowing statements from nine identified victims, who expressed profound feelings of betrayal over being targeted in a medical facility.
“I can absolutely never forgive the culprit who committed this despicable act in a trusted place like a hospital,” one woman’s statement read. Victims also endured the secondary trauma of being called to the police station to view the footage and identify themselves.
Kubota testified that he began hiding cameras around 2022 to satisfy a desire to see women in private spaces. He claimed he did not sell the videos and only kept them for personal viewing, though he admitted he eventually stopped watching them altogether.
“I had a sense of guilt and lived with regret after filming,” Kubota testified. “But as time passed, the urge to film won out. Toward the end, I didn’t really understand it myself, but I was doing it mechanically, like a routine.”
Pride and status
When asked why he didn’t seek psychiatric help for his urges, Kubota admitted that his pride and status as a doctor made him hesitate to expose his “abnormal” behavior to another medical professional.
The once-respected thyroid specialist has since been dismissed from his role as director and stripped of his contracts as a school doctor. Though married with children, Kubota’s sister testified that he will be moving back into his parents’ home, suggesting the scandal has cost him his family as well.