Police in Kyoto have arrested a 32-year-old man for assaulting a 13-year-old boy whom he accused of laughing at him.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 12:20 p.m. Sunday near the escalator in a building in Kyoto Station. TV Asahi reported that the suspect, Kento Yoshii, approached the boy who was chatting loudly with his friends and slapped him three times.
Yoshii, who is a part-time newspaper deliveryman, was quoted by police as saying he got upset because he thought the boys were laughing at him.
The boy was not seriously injured, police said.
© Japan Today
26 Comments
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Mirai Hayashi
another day another child abused.
shonanbb
Junior high kids here can be very loud. He should have just told them to be quiet.
techall
or maybe ingone them and mind his own business?
Disillusioned
Now, we are all laughing him! Fool!
JWithers
32 years old delivering newspapers? I bet he was very insecure about himself and how other people saw him.
Triumvere
So was he? Laughing at him, I mean. Not that it makes a lot of difference - in polite society one does not get to haul off and smack people who cause you offense. Anyway, dude sounds like a paranoid nutjob. Let's hope we won't be hearing his name in connection with a more serious incident a few years down the line.
nath
Why would he be?
smithinjapan
Shonanbb: "Junior high kids here can be very loud."
So can old people, or middle-aged people like Yoshii (and what speaks louder than a few slaps in the face for something you're not even sure about). Even if they WERE laughing at him for some reason, that's no excuse to slap them, and most certainly won't stop everyone from laughing at Yoshii all the more for getting busted.
Americanhonor
Im surprised its an assault as under Japanese law an open handed slap is a midemeanor and not classed as assault. Hes probably released without further prosecution.
Mocheake
I hear the kids on the train and in other places talking about me sometimes and it makes me angry but I would never hit one. He needs some anger management courses after he gets out of the cooler.
Serrano
If the kid was laughing at him, he might think twice about laughing at people after being slapped for it. That being said, Yoshii should have just laughed back at him instead of slapping him.
Michael Craig
Police did the right thing arresting that jerk. Never EVER raise a hand to a child!
Serrano
How about never EVER laugh at other people?
Wc626
A 32 year old who is pt newspaper delivery person? Each kid shoulda' slapped him 3 times!! What a world-
nath
Your post seems to be saying that you think there is something wrong with being a delivery person at 32 years old. Is that correct? And if so, what is the problem?
FizzBit
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing."
Robert E. Howard
Wc626
Jesus christ! Do i need to spell it out? Okay . . . . L - O - S - E - R !!
Lets hope the guy has a real career and he aint no "fritta" who delivers my japan times every morn' 4 part-time.
wontond
He could be driving the truck, that delivers the papers. His job doesn't make him a loser, slapping a child does.
nath
Why? For having a job and paying his bills? I don't get it.
I do agree with wontond though, he's a loser for slapping the kid.
jcapan
"Your post seems to be saying that you think there is something wrong with being a delivery person at 32 years old. Is that correct? And if so, what is the problem?"
Not to worry, if he were unemployed or homeless he'd also be fair game. Personally, I find this attitude of far more concern than the alleged crime.
ShyDingo
Who the feck cares about a persons employment status &/or what type of job they have. It has zero relevance to how they are as a person or how they should be treated. Plenty of people out there with a great job+poor attitude = still a loser. Life can turn from champagne to s*** very quickly so its best not to look down on people.
I'm two minds about him hitting them, I got slapped as a kid for disobedience & I have to say it worked. But then that's old school. Next time Yoshii just yell straight back at them.
Dan Lewis
Wontond, give the guy a break. He probably just got a promotion m in the English school he has been working on for the last 10 years and has realized how much better of him and he is then a mere newspaper delivery boy.
misunderstood
This guy should be checked he "THOUGHT" the boy was laughing at him so he slapped him. The guy needs help next time it could be worse!
Aaron Lloyd Brummett
Some times kids need to be slapped! The boys parents failed him... so a stranger had to discipline the brat in their place. Next time he will be more careful!
25years in Japan
Michael CraigFeb. 09, 2015 - 09:04PM JST Police did the right thing arresting that jerk. Never EVER raise a hand to a child! -----------------------------------------------------
I certainly wouldn't regard 13 year old Japanese boys as children. They can be very loud and arrogant especially in a group. I have even had them try to intimidate my wife and I getting in to a lift ( girl included) If you can understand Japanese, many young kids talk very rudely to adults. Don't ever chide one for misbehaving in a store or you will have the mother forcing you to beg forgiveness while bowing profusely over her poor innocent child. Seen it more than once.
LFRAgain
Based solely on the facts as reported in the story above, this guy deserved to get arrested. He purposefully slapped a perfect stranger three times across the face in public for possibily having been laughed at. That suggests no small amount of emotional baggage on the part of Mr. Kento. Maybe he was having a bad day. Maybe he was tired. Maybe the kids were laughing at him. But you don't slap someone for it. It's an immature response to the mildest of provocations. Add "13-year-old" to the mix and his offense is compounded by the embarrassing reality that he allowed a child half his age to provoke him to violence. He should be ashamed of himself for letting this kid rile him up.
With that said, 13-year-old kids can be vicious, emotionally abusing little . . . darlings . . . when they put their minds to it. After all, the environment where we see the highest incidences of bullying are in junior high schools, the very wheelhouse this kid sits smack dab in the middle of. If the kid was perceived as being a disrespectful asshat, I have little doubt he was being just that. But that still doesn't justify slapping the kid. Public shaming via witty verbal barbs certain to recast the kid's world in a shade that can sting only a 13-year-old just right? Sure. Assualt? Hardly.
Mr. Kando doesn't deserve jail time, but he may need some stress management counselling.