The Japan Trip
My whole Japan itinerary was to leave on December 22 and arrive back in Hawaii on January 9. Before the trip, Toto would always mention that she was looking forward to meeting me for the first time in-person and we'll have the best week of our lives. On the day of my trip, I was nervous, not because of my trip, it was because we have been spending every single day talking with one another but the flight I will be taking will take approximately 9 hours with a connecting flight to Hokkaido. This means that we will not be in contact for a whole day which I was sad about so before I began boarding the flight, she did a surprise video call and I really felt loved. During the flight, I was reading a book called "Once we were here" and finished it throughout my trip because I couldn't sleep at all. By the time I arrived in Japan, it was already midnight in Los Angeles but before she slept, she sent me a few messages, most of them just updating on what she's doing and how she misses me but that really made me feel happy. Even though the fact that we were separated for a short while, she would update me about her life. When I arrived in Hokkaido, I would update her every single day about where I was staying at, what food I was eating, and what activities I did so she never felt left out. One thing I noticed was that she became more busier with life and the replies definitely took longer which slightly worried me. It could be because she wanted me to spend more time with my friends, her working until the last minute so there would be no disturbances once we meet, or she was spending time with family. I didn't let it bother me because I was finally going to meet her within a week so I tried to enjoy my vacation as much as possible. Explaining it word by word will be boring so I will be showing pictures instead!

The Short Trip:
It was still December 31 and I arrived at my hotel asking Toto what was her plane flight details so that I would be able to arrive early and wait for her at the airport. I remember during that day that I was very overexcited and was looking forward to Tomorrow because I'll be meeting the love of my life. Unfortunately, that was short lived because I received a message in the middle of the night that her flight was delayed until January 3 due to meeting the investors/producers for work and that was fine, it was just a two day delay. I had to book an additional few days on a hotel and I'll be able to see her, that's okay. January 3rd came and she sent me a message that caused pain, anger, happiness, and sadness. Toto mentioned that she needed to travel to Korea to meet the actors that were going to play on her film but that meant that our vacation and our meetup together has been cancelled. I was happy for her because this was an amazing opportunity for her given the chance she was given, I was sad and felt anger because our plan was ruined so I just booked a flight back home with the thought of her behind my back. Arriving back in Hawaii, I told my boss that I wanted to work to distract me from all of the events that were happening that day. Toto did say that January 15 is when she will have everything finished and would meet me, that was the promise she gave me.

The End:
When she was in Korea, our conversations went from talking and updating our daily lives to speaking in the morning and not speaking at all after that. It was due to her being busy so I couldn't do anything but just wait and tried to keep my mind busy to stop thinking about all of the negative thoughts I had because I started losing trust and doubted her. I would still try to conversate and ask her how her day was, what she did and everything still sounded realistic, she would spend most of her days in meetings, and have meals with her colleagues. Toto would finally arrive home by the time I'm asleep and would relay that she misses me and she'll be looking forward to meeting me in Hawaii. I planned and booked several itineraries and hotels so she could look forward to the trip, I spent a few days to carefully organize and plan the itinerary but that day never happened. January 15 came and I received a message stating that her father was with her in Japan. I was ready to video call her to introduce myself to the father to show that the relationship was serious and I was prepared for anything. The video call never happened and I received a voice message that forever changed how I portrayed our relationship. The voice message was very obvious that the scammer was a girl using a voice changer to pretend to be her father saying that Toto won't be able to come to Hawaii because she had some important things to do. I was furious of myself because I realized what had happened with me and I was literally blinded by love. The reason why I trusted this person so much because we spent months getting to know each other, she spent countless hours creating gifts for me, all of the intimate messages and time spent we had with each other. I ignored her messages the following day and read about people who had a similar experience that I had. That's when I figured out that I was involved in a romance scam also known as the pig-butchering scheme. The scammers would find potential targets on a dating app and I was one of their candidates. I spent some time gathering all of the information of what happened, were the pictures/videos of the person they used real? I collected all of the pictures and selfies she sent and used reverse google image and fortunately I found out who the scammer used this whole time. It was 後藤楽々 also known as Lala Goto or Raku Goto, a former idol who is known for being really good at playing golf who can speak English. Her dream is to become a reporter/newscaster to make everyone's morning better by showing her smiles. Looking at her smile definitely makes me smile myself. This scammer represented her perfectly and used every single technology in this day and age to make everything so real.

The Last Message:
As for everything that has happened, I reported the incident to the police, I created a budgeting plan for my loans, and I am still recovering from this incident. Although this ended horribly, I sent a last message to her saying "I realized what has happened over the last three months. I have made a big mistake in taking loans and it is fully my fault for making these mistakes. I enjoyed every single moment talking to you for 3 months. I learned a lot about myself, I gained new hobbies, and I enjoy watching the new TV shows thanks to you. Although it was an expensive lesson, you seem like a really smart person and I appreciate the fake relationship we had. I really fell in love with your character you portrayed, if you're actually a scriptwriter, I hope the best for you but as for that, this will be the end of our relationship." 

I wanted our farewell messages to be a positive thing because sending anything negative won't change anything. It has already happened and I would like to think that they're doing it because they needed the money. I'm young and I am fortunate that I am in a safe place. I also try to think positively after meeting her, I've been reading often, I realized I enjoy reading healing books, novels, and writing. I also decided that I needed to take care of myself more. I discovered who Lala Goto is and note.com! If Lala ever reads my experience, I hope you enjoyed my story. I think being your friend would be amazing, if you ever come to Hawaii, I can give you some tips and we can talk about the books we've read and maybe teach me how to play golf! Maybe I'm asking for too much from a celebrity haha! Otherwise, I will be within the crowd of followers and praying for your success in becoming a reporter and all of your wishes to come true.

Final Thoughts:
As for everyone who made it this far, thank you for reading my experience. I hope you all learned a thing or two and never experience what I have experienced. It is the most excruciating/painful thing I have ever had. Writing my experience definitely has brought some closure to the scam and I wish you all a safe 2023. My goal is to learn Japanese in 2023 and hopefully I will be able to write an article in full Japanese by the end of the year. I will write as much as I enjoy writing right now.

Thank you Toto.