She was afraid of what he might do if she resisted.
In the quiet hours before dawn in Kagawa Prefecture, a woman found herself unable to refuse a man whose authority over her career made resistance feel impossible. A Tokyo court has now named what happened for what it was: a captain of All Nippon Airways, Ryota Mise, used the weight of his rank to silence a flight attendant's instinct to resist, assaulting her repeatedly on a street and in a convenience store after a crew meal in October 2023. Sentenced to twenty months in prison, Mise's case asks the aviation world — and workplaces everywhere — to reckon with how hierarchy can become a weapon, and how silence is not always consent.
- A captain assaulted a flight attendant multiple times in the early morning hours, exploiting the professional power he held over her to make resistance feel dangerous.
- The woman testified she was paralyzed not by physical force but by fear — fear of what he might do in the moment, and what he could do to her career afterward.
- Mise insisted at trial that a shared meal had built enough trust to make the touching acceptable, a defense the court dismissed as not merely wrong but absurd.
- Judge Takao Okawa sentenced him to twenty months, calling the assault despicable and finding the captain's lack of remorse an aggravating failure of character.
- ANA has pledged to introduce thorough preventive measures, though the airline has yet to specify what structural changes will follow to protect crew members from those who outrank them.
Before dawn on October 10, 2023, on a street in Kagawa Prefecture, an ANA captain grabbed a flight attendant's buttocks — and then did it again, later in a convenience store. The woman had met Ryota Mise only the day before, during a crew meal after a flight. She did not move away. She was afraid of what resistance might cost her, both in the moment and in her career.
On Tuesday, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Mise, 44, to twenty months in prison. Judge Takao Okawa called the assault despicable and found the flight attendant's account — the repeated touching, the fear, the helplessness — convincing and highly credible. Mise had argued that the evening's shared meal had established enough trust between them to make the touching acceptable, a kind of joke. The court found this reasoning not merely unconvincing but absurd, noting that Mise showed no sincere remorse.
The court also found that Mise's rank as captain made the crime worse. His position gave him a kind of invisible shield — one that made the woman feel that pushing back might carry professional consequences. Prosecutors had sought two years and six months; the judge settled on twenty months, acknowledging the absence of a prior record and the absence of violence beyond the assault itself.
ANA released a statement pledging thorough measures to prevent recurrence, without specifying what form those measures would take. The case has nonetheless illuminated something the aviation industry has long quietly understood: the strict hierarchy of a flight crew can make it very difficult for those lower in rank to say no — and that vulnerability, as this case shows, can be deliberately exploited.
On a pre-dawn street in Takamatsu, a captain of All Nippon Airways reached out and grabbed a flight attendant's buttocks. Then he did it again—on the street, later in a convenience store. The woman, who had met him for the first time the day before during a crew meal after a flight, found herself unable to move away. She was afraid. She did not know what he might do if she resisted, and she knew what he could do to her career if he wanted to.
On Tuesday, the Tokyo District Court sentenced that captain, Ryota Mise, 44, to twenty months in prison. Judge Takao Okawa called the assault "despicable" and rejected entirely Mise's insistence that he had done nothing wrong. The judge found the woman's account of what happened—the repeated touching, the fear, the helplessness—to be "convincing and highly credible."
Mise had offered an explanation for his conduct. He said that during the group meal the previous evening, he believed he and the flight attendant had built enough trust between them. On that basis, he claimed, he thought it was acceptable to touch her buttocks as a kind of joke. The court found this reasoning not merely unconvincing but absurd. "He made an unreasonable excuse and lacks an attitude of sincere remorse," Okawa said from the bench.
The incidents occurred on October 10, 2023, before dawn on a street in Kagawa Prefecture. The woman testified that she could not escape because she did not know what would happen if she pushed back against a man who held authority over her in the workplace. She also said she could not understand why Mise was defending himself at trial, why he was willing to lie rather than acknowledge what he had done. The court concluded that Mise's position as captain made the assault worse—he had used his rank as a kind of shield, a way to make the woman feel that resistance might cost her professionally.
Prosecutors had asked for two years and six months. The judge gave him twenty months. The sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime but also, perhaps, some recognition that Mise had no prior record and that the assault, while repeated and deliberate, was not accompanied by physical violence beyond the touching itself.
All Nippon Airways released a statement saying it takes the ruling seriously and will implement "thorough measures" to prevent this from happening again. What those measures might be—new training, new reporting structures, new protocols for crew interactions—the airline did not specify. But the case has exposed something that many in the aviation industry have long known: the hierarchy of a flight crew can make it difficult for those lower in rank to say no to those above them, and that vulnerability can be exploited.
Citações Notáveis
He made an unreasonable excuse and lacks an attitude of sincere remorse.— Judge Takao Okawa
She could not escape because she did not know what would happen if she resisted.— Flight attendant's testimony
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did the judge call this "despicable" rather than just wrong?
Because Mise didn't just commit an assault—he weaponized his position. He was her captain. She couldn't simply walk away without risking her job.
But he claimed they'd built trust at the meal. Doesn't that matter at all?
The court saw it as an excuse. A meal doesn't erase the power difference. He knew that. The fact that he offered that defense suggests he understood what he'd done and was trying to reframe it.
The woman said she couldn't understand why he was lying. What does that tell us?
It suggests she expected him to at least acknowledge reality. Instead, he fought her account entirely. That lack of remorse—that refusal to see what he'd done—is what made the judge's language so harsh.
Twenty months is less than what prosecutors asked for. Does that mean the court was lenient?
It's complicated. The sentence is serious, but it's also not the maximum. The judge may have weighed his lack of prior record against the severity of the crime. But the real question is whether twenty months is enough to change how airlines think about crew safety.
What happens now at ANA?
That's the open question. The airline says it will take "thorough measures," but that's vague. Real change would mean new reporting systems, training that acknowledges power dynamics, and accountability that goes beyond individual punishment.