Actors, police raise awareness of year-end binge drinking
TOKYO —
Actor Takuro Natsumi has teamed up with police in the nation’s capital in an effort to raise awareness of binge drinking and to discourage violence on the streets, as Japan enters its famously raucous end-of-year party season.
Natsumi, along with other fellow actors, joined police on the streets outside of Tokyo’s bust Shibuya Station to call for the eradication of acts of drunken violence, NTV reported.
According to police, around 850 acts of violence against station staff were reported between January and November this year. Instances of violence against staff and confrontations between passengers tend to increase at this time of year, said police. As a result, rail companies are cooperating with officers to raise awareness of the issue as the festive season approaches.
Japan Today
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14 Comments
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1
TheInterstat
To be fair, the level of silliness in Japan when people are drunk is MUCH lower than where I come from in the UK. It will happen here, of course, but it is almost a non-problem. A worse problem is the sexual assault that happens around this time of year.
0
Novenachama
Binge-drinking during festive celebrations can affect and cause damage to our health leading to heart and liver damage in the long run. Chronic liver disease takes years to develop but can be accelerated by daily drinking at an early age as we all know. Excess drinking is also associated with increased risk of a number of cancers. Thus binge-drinking can increase the risk of breast cancer by 40% according to doctors. On the other hand the idea of drinking small amounts of alcohol will do you no harm is a myth. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption because alcohol is a toxin that kill cells such as microorganism. That's why it is used to preserve food, sterilize skin and needles. It kills humans too. Therefore no evidence exits of any benefits for low alcohol intake including the risks of accidents, cancer, ulcers, etc. rises seriously with intake. Sadly the myth of how it benefits the cardiovascular system including the powerful safe level of drinking claim that many health professionals believe in unfortunately continues. As a result the toxic alcohol industry uses it to defend its strategy of making the depressant drug available at low prices. Hence as we see the use of alcohol increase in society we see major problems everywhere.
3
Matthew Simon
Where do you live in Japan TheInterstat? There are loads of drunks here driving, peeing and singing drunken songs on the sidewalk every New Year.
2
TheInterstat
I didn't say it didn't happen, I said it was much lower than the UK, where I come from. It is also of a much less severe nature.
Go to any market town in the UK, and you will see fights, smashed bus stop, vandalism, muggings, stabbing, etc. every single weekend.
2
Disillusioned
Oh, get a grip you guys! Binge drinking happens every day. Yeah, it may increase 'slightly' during the silly season, but the problem is annual, not only for a few weeks of the year.
-1
lostrune2
Heck, we do that all the time in colleges! Which leads to many life lessons ya learn in the process, like:
Good idea: copping a feel.
Bad idea: feeling a cop.
Good times, good times.................
0
smithinjapan
I was walking around last night and saw HEAPS of drunks shouting, saw one vomit in the street, and saw another guy trying to peeing onto a manhole. Instead of 'raising awareness' why not try to limit the partying?
0
Amidalism
I'm surprised they don't have AKB48 fronting this campagin as well. Also don't see how they think that giving warnings is going to accomplish anything as the people who tend to do this will not heed them. Why not make stricter punishments to actually give these people a reason to think twice about making fools out of themselves while drunk instead?
-2
JapanGal
@Matthew SimonDec. 16, 2012 - 11:29AM JST
I have never seen a car here ever drive on the sidewalk.
0
Fadamor
How about drunks driving bicycles? ;-)
This is just about the time for the company year-end parties to begin in Japan, right? Bounenkai! Kampai! How about just eliminating the drunken year-end parties and going alcohol-free for a change? That would probably put a big dent in the end-of-year surge in incidents.
0
martyman
This article is very vague on whom and were this article describes. Is it just in Tokyo with the Japanese Populace or is it an issue Japan wide and includes foreigners. Is it a problem dealing with passengers on trains? Or is it about drunks going home after partying? Lately Japanese publicity and mindset falls back on foreigners(that are not equal even to one percent of the 850) and issues involving alcohol.
One thing that works in the US is publicizing in the newspaper, names and pictures of arrested through out the year in the newspapers (public domain) to show the stupidity of the guilty. This should bring down the numbers of incidences during bonenkai season with the knowledge that one could be famous for their actions. Right now it seems only high profile cases get lucky enough to have their pictures posted on the news and newspapers.
I have a few times in Yamaguchi and Okinawa! It makes it easier for the J-cops to identify and apprehend the drunk drivers. I guess they thought is a party lane to get to their destination faster! LOL!
-1
jojo_in_japan
Matthew Simon: You forgot PUKING. Yuck!! (><)
1
Hide Suzuki
@TheInterstat
A very good point and fair. Most posters on this site seem to remember only positive things about their country after living in Japan for a while. There are those who get drunk but you don't have to worry about any of them carrying a gun like in some other countries,
or a bunch of teenagers who start a fight just because they are bored like in London.
0
Spanki
they should have enlisted that nudie SMAP guy to lead the campaign
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