Japanese Embassy Official to Stand Trial for Wife Beating

The San Mateo County Times reported that the vice consulate general of Japan accused of domestic violence against his wife while they lived in San Francisco and San Bruno will stand trial for the charges.

After the conclusion of the preliminary hearing proceedings Friday, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Lisa Novak ruled that there was enough evidence against Yoshiaki Nagaya, the embassy official, for the case to move forward, the Times reported.

According to the Times, the Japanese vice consulate general is facing three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon and nine felony counts of domestic violence, plus four counts of misdemeanor domestic violence.

Nagaya was arrested in May for repeatedly beating his wife for more than a year shortly after they got married in 2010. Some of the allegations his wife made during the preliminary hearing were that he stabbed her in the hand with a screwdriver, knocked out her tooth, stomped on her and threw her out of a car.

The wife photographed her injuries after each attack and testified during the preliminary hearing that most of the alleged beatings happened after she started questioning her husband about his relationship with another woman whom he worked with at the Japanese embassy.

Nagaya has denied all of the allegations.

The court dismissed one count of domestic violence due to insufficient evidence.

Nagaya, who remains out of custody on $350,000 bail, is expected to return to court Oct. 5 for felony arraignment on the charges.

Bay City News Service contributed to this story.

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