The brand image of Japan's most prestigious universities has long been regarded as a guarantee of an elite career.
But the recent arrest of five students from such universities for alleged gang rape has set off alarm bells and suspicions that some people have been abusing the schools' prestige to camouflage crimes.
The suspects, current and former members of a Waseda University social club, were arrested in mid-June on suspicion of gang-raping a female student in May. They allegedly got her intoxicated after a club party.