Satoya club sex claims are false, says Canadian friend

Ryann Connell
March 16, 2005

Stories of Tae Satoya engaging in wanton sex and violence in a Tokyo nightclub are "totally incorrect," the man at the center of the allegations being flung at the dual Olympic medallist told the Mainichi Daily News on Wednesday.

Speaking strictly on condition of anonymity, the Canadian man strongly denied media reports saying he and the 28-year-old 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games moguls gold medallist had been having sex in the VIP room at Club 911 in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district on Feb. 8.

"No, it is not true," the man said during a 24-minute phone interview he gave from overseas. "Totally incorrect."

The Canadian said he and Satoya had been in the club dancing for "about an hour and half, two hours" before they headed to a quieter place than the dance floor.

"Tae and I went into the back room. I didn't realize it was a VIP room. I just thought it was a quiet room at the back of the club. We sat down and started talking for a couple of minutes," the Canadian said.

The Canadian said a man he later found out to be the owner of the club came into the VIP room and admonished them for being there without permission. The Canadian said he was hit from behind, falling onto a table, breaking it and being momentarily knocked unconscious.

He said an "obviously upset" bouncer entered and the situation became heated. He said Satoya started yelling back at the two men in Japanese, which he did not understand. He said the bouncer started slapping the gold medallist and she responded by trying to kick him.

"I went over to help Tae and was hit twice in the face, so I backed off. The owner went over to grab Tae, too. I raced out to grab Steve," he said.

"Steve" is Stephen Fearing, one of the world's most respected coaches of elite skiers. Satoya is among his charges.

Satoya and the Canadian have filed a criminal complaint against the club's bouncer, accusing him of assault. The bouncer, a foreigner, has since left Japan. The Canadian said Satoya had been hit hard enough to draw blood and she had cuts on her lips and inside her mouth.

Hideki Yashiro, Satoya's lawyer, said his client was thinking about taking legal steps.

"We're considering taking legal actions available especially against those who released defamatory reports," Yashiro said in an e-mail. "However, we're of opinion that the most important thing for Satoya at this moment is not to obtain continuous public attention by this matter, but to qualify for the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games as an athlete. This is the reason why we're carefully considering how we handle the situation."

Club 911 employees will not talk about the case.

"We have no comment," Irina Panashuku, Club 911 manager, said.

Also remaining tight-lipped are law enforcers, with Hiroaki Takikawa, deputy chief of the Azabu Police Station that dealt with the Feb. 8 fracas, refusing to even accept phone calls from the media.

A Metropolitan Police Department public affairs section official who asked not to be named said the capital's force would offer no comment.

Elite coach Fearing, however, said he would have preferred law enforcers to open up.

"I wish the police report was released and we would be totally vindicated," he said.

Several sources have confirmed that neither of the athletes was arrested or charged in connection with the incident.

Fearing was in the thick of events on Feb. 8. Fearing said that he, the Canadian and Satoya entered the Roppongi nightspot and were dancing. They had a few drinks and Satoya was "holding her composure," not staggeringly drunk as some reports have claimed she was.

Fearing said he was disappointed that the mainstream media had taken at face value a Shukan Bunshun March 10 edition article citing mostly unnamed sources who claimed Satoya had been having sex with "a young foreigner" then went wild when club staff broke them up, hurling objects around the VIP room and virtually destroying it. The Canadian said "there were no drinking glasses in (the VIP room) whatsoever."

Fearing said the media is wrongly portraying Satoya "as some sort of wild girl. Deep down, she has a Japanese reserve core to her."

Fearing added: "I really have a lot of doubts about what the media reports are saying."

The former U.S. Olympic Team skier said Satoya and her supporters had initially tried to keep the incident under wraps, but once the news had broken, the story completely changed.

"It has become the total opposite of what we expected," the American said.

Fearing said he entered 911's VIP room after the Canadian had yelled out to him from there to come and "save Tae."

When Fearing went into the room, he said he saw Satoya squashed in between two separable couches while the bouncer stood above her.

"He held her down with his left hand and hit her with his right hand," Fearing said, adding that he was not sure whether the hit was a punch or slap. "It was aggressive. I've never seen a man hit a girl. It was a firm hit. He wanted to inflict pain on her."

Fearing said the bouncer was well built.

"He had a fighter's physique, big shoulders and all. He was a gym-style guy," the coach said.

Satoya stands just 166 centimeters tall and weighs only 52 kilograms.

Fearing said the Canadian had offered to pay for the broken table in an effort to calm down the situation, but the only effect the offer had was to make the man calling himself the owner of Club 911 "more aggressive."

The alleged attack was interrupted when a group of police officers burst into the VIP room.

Officers began questioning the skiers' group in one part of the room and club staff in another group nearby.

Fearing said the man saying he was the club's owner -- he said he wasn't sure if he was the true proprietor as police told him 10 to 12 people make the same claim of ownership -- was speaking to law enforcers in a voice loud enough for the skiers' group to make out what he was saying. The man was allegedly making claims that Satoya had been having sex in the room.

"I've known her since she was 14. I've seen how she reacts in a crisis. And she was really offended by what the guy was saying," Fearing said, adding that Satoya loudly contested the man's statements.

Eventually, both groups were taken to the nearby Azabu Police Station and questioned. Nobody was arrested and all were released.

A World Cup ski team coordinator who was closely involved in the case confirmed that Satoya and the Canadian have filed a complaint with the police, accusing the club's bouncer of assault. The coordinator, who asked not to be named, said the club had also filed a complaint.

Japanese media criticism of Satoya since news of the incident broke early this month has been intense. She served a five-day suspension handed down by Fuji TV, her employer, and was dropped from Japan's World Cup ski team.

Fearing said he was upset his charge did not get a fairer hearing.

"I'm so disappointed the mainstream media took verbatim what gossip mags had said," the elite skiing coach said. "If all the sources had've been followed, it would've been different. The mainstream media could have done a little more footwork on it to find out more about what really happened."

Mainichi Daily News

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