Domestic violence cases rise to record 25,210 in 2008

Friday 13th March, 06:29 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 31 Total Comments Show All

likeitis at 04:22 PM JST - 13th March

This incident happened just last spring.

Then the supervisor is either a throwback, or the violent husband has yak connections.
likeitis at 04:39 PM JST - 13th March

Then the supervisor is either a throwback, or the violent husband has yak connections.

Wait. One more important point. If the wife did not file charges or even speak against her husband, then there may be no case. If there is no case, then it would appear that your acquaintance troubled both the police and the couple.

Also, an apology is not viewed as some form of punishment as in the west. An apology is just the thing you do when you are wrong. Your friend might have zero proof of anything at all. So the only way he does not appear wrong is to take his word over the man, the woman and the police. A bit of a stretch for most people (unless they have a head full of preconceived notions about DV, and automatically believe every story they hear about it.)

I hope your friend lets this wash off like water off a ducks back. The only true cost of an apology is potential travel expenses. I hope he would do it all over again without a second thought. No doubt the offending man suffered a lot more with his arrest than your acquaintance did with an apology.
BBLeo at 06:43 PM JST - 13th March

2008 was a year that world was heading for economical disaster and no one didn't think of that. Everyone is only thinking for today and tomorrow and not will happens later on. 'WE DON'T JUST HAVE FRACAS AECONOMY BUT SUN IS RISING ON CRIMES, AND DEMON IS SHARPENING HIS NAILS.'
Midnightpromise at 01:30 AM JST - 14th March

other forms of threat to their lives such as harassment through repeated phone calls

How can a simple be phone call be life threatening? Just like someone pointing a loaded gun at you, until he actually cocks it and shoots it in your general direction, it is just a nuisance. Right likeitis?
LFRAgain at 12:11 PM JST - 14th March

likeitis,

"If the wife did not file charges or even speak against her husband, then there may be no case. If there is no case, then it would appear that your acquaintance troubled both the police and the couple. . .

You're apparently missing the point I was trying to make. This isn't about perceived wrongs or misunderstandings or taking one person's word over another. It's about a husband beating the crap out of his wife in public and all involved in the incident essentially being told that it was a private husband/wife matter. The yakuza connection is sheer speculation and sounds more like excuse making for a social problem that needs to be taken seriously than genuine consideration of what I posted.

(Regardless of your changed username) I know how loathe you are to accept that a man persecuted for how he treats women might in many cases actually deserve it, and I know you harbor no small amount of resentment against women for possessing what you believe to be greater rights in terms of protection from domestic violence, rape, molestation, or assault, not to mention anything regarding prostitution in which you feel men are actually victims of female predation.

But a man was beating his wife in full public view, was caught by the police doing so, and was ultimately let off the hook because it was a "private argument between husband and wife." That's simply wrong, and as I said, indicative of some of the significant hurdles Japanese society has to overcome in order to properly address domestic violence.
likeitis at 12:36 PM JST - 14th March

Midnightpromise: How can a simple be phone call be life threatening? Just like someone pointing a loaded gun at you, until he actually cocks it and shoots it in your general direction, it is just a nuisance. Right likeitis?

I said such calls should be taken seriously, just put in anther category. And the definition of life-threatening is something like an enlarged heart. You do not drop dead from a phone call. It is not REMOTELY like a loaded gun pointed at you. Did I just say it was not serious? NO, I did not. But words have meanings that you don't just change at random because people get confused, like you, are greatly confused. Is that quite clear enough for you?
likeitis at 12:57 PM JST - 14th March

LFRAgain, I do not know in what context you are reading my posts except perhaps from a bitter feminist perspective miffed that we have not arrived at a matriarchal society in your lifetime. Please read my posts again, and this time try to do so without reading so much into them.

But a man was beating his wife in full public view, was caught by the police doing so,

Well you did not say so before. You did not say that he was caught in the act of beating his wife by the police. What you said was that your friend witnessed it and called the police. I assumed that by the time the police got there he was no longer punching his wife in the face. It does take time for police to arrive you know.

Now, I will say this again. If the wife refuses to file charges, there is not a lot that can be done. Its not a matter of the view of wife beating in Japan. Its a matter of the legal system. Its the same with any assault and battery just about anywhere as far as I know. If the aggrieved party refuses to file charges, the hands of the police and courts are tied.

And another thing. It was NOT the police that told the guy to go apologize. It was your friend's supervisor. One man. One man who was not even a witness to what happened. One man you are pinning the entire outlook of Japan as to DV on. One man who has more on his mind than some stranger he never saw beating his wife. I have been in Japan a long time, and I can tell you that ANYTIME there is a phone call to a company about one of its employees, an apology is expected 99 percent of the time. The circumstances hardly matter. To make a special case of an alleged (and it is alleged) wife beating is to quite clearly declare that there is a special place in your heart for the subject of wife beating. Its really just that simple.

Now, as for this crap about me. I may be many things, but I am certainly no wife or woman beater, and I sure as ^%#! do not remotely condone such a thing, so you can just dismount your high horse right this instant. If not for the fact that I live in Japan, and I know that no amount of violence will be tolerated, I would have pummeled this guy at least twice as hard as he did his wife. But its Japan, so I can't. But I would not have turned tail to get the cops either. I would have put myself between him and her and stopped it immediately. Then I would have berated for the guy for being such a cowardly little twerp for beating a woman, and suggest he learn to be a man.

And if I had to apologize for it, I would have; gladly. And I would do it in such a way as make him have no doubt I would do it all over again because I do not condone cowardly tiny testicled wife beaters.
likeitis at 01:10 PM JST - 14th March

It's about a husband beating the crap out of his wife in public and all involved in the incident essentially being told that it was a private husband/wife matter.

I need to address this. If the wife said so, then, so far as action beyond the actual incident (as it is happening) it is. Futher, you have no proof, nor have you even stated, that the police even ever said such a thing. So what you have is the husband and wife. The supervisor is hardly "involved". No doubt he just wanted to wash his hands of the matter. And while its not noble at all, he is between a rock and a hard place. He cannot do anything about this incident in which he is not a witness, and he if he does not garner the apology, then the next phone call will go over his head and he could be implicated in causing trouble. Welcome to Japan.

And about it being in public, yes, the Japanese have a tendency to look away. It is strong here, but it happens everywhere and not just here. Its nothing to do with DV. Its just cowardice combined with that sometimes strange notion of wa.
timeon at 01:33 PM JST - 14th March

while indeed many guys treat their wives here badly, the reverse is also true. It seems like wherever I look around, there is lots of cheating involved. Motivated in many cases by the guys working long hours, and the guys going to various parlors. It is a vicious circle and I'd say it's unfair to blame the Japanese males solely for that. I used to treat my ex as an angel, just to find out one day what an idiot I was. I could have very well ended up in the JT crime section...
meanmutha at 06:48 PM JST - 14th March

jesus... I feel banged up after this thread.... 119.
meanmutha at 06:50 PM JST - 14th March

spot on.
USARonin at 06:54 PM JST - 14th March

The Dutch had a study a few short years back where they said of all first-world countries, Japanese women felt the safest outside of their homes and the most afraid within.

This, of course, was not a blanket statement or condemnation of the Japanese. It was just comparing certain attitudes among certain nations.
tyciol at 10:46 PM JST - 14th March

I just don't get this! I would think that due to anime that japanese men would want to be gentlemen who let women dominate them, because that's how I get after watching it. The problem is not enough people watch it!
PaulieWalnuts at 07:46 PM JST - 16th March

I would think that due to anime that japanese men would want to be gentlemen who let women dominate them, because that's how I get after watching it.

ahem, errr. yes.
winniebhoy at 09:45 AM JST - 17th March

In all seriousness those stats are depressing though. I imagine not so bad stacked up against other countries but doesnt matter. Really though those men are dead cowards and Id be happy to smack em around meself. Its a cycle and all you can do is hope that the woman clues up enough to get out of the situation. ganbatte ne.