Reports have surfaced that a Japanese Street Fighter III 3rd Strike player, Kenji Kuroda, has been arrested for allegedly committing indecent acts with a high school female. According to the report from ANN News, back in February 32-year-old Kuroda invited the high school student to his place. There he not only started hugging her but committed what is referred to in Japanese media as waisetsuna koui. This means “obscene acts” or “sexual molestation”–pretty serious charges in the age of the #metoo movement.
The two met on Twitter, and this was their first time meeting. Kuroda lives with his mother, and she was not home when the incident allegedly took place. In the news, he is listed as being unemployed and there is no mention of his status as a pro Street Fighter player. Also left out of the report was that he wrote a weekly column for Weekly Playboy, which is not to be confused with–nor is it connected to–the American adult magazine Playboy. Weekly Playboy is one of Japan’s most famous magazines for men, and since this disturbing news broke, they have taken down all of his articles from their website.
According to Kotaku’s own resident fighting game expert Ian Walker, “Kuroda was one of his generation’s best 3rd Strike players. His abilities were more impressive because he played with Q, one of the game’s worst characters.”
Suffice it to say, online reaction has many shocked and in disbelief that the suspect named was the Street Fighter pro. Some took to Twitter and did some digging, and once his home was actually shown, they put two and two together. According to local authorities, Kuroda has confessed to the charges laid against him, and the investigation is ongoing to see if there are more victims out there.
