Handcuffed man escapes police after molesting woman in Aichi

Wednesday 11th March, 02:57 AM JST

AICHI —

A man is on the run with handcuffs on his left wrist after he got away from police who had arrested him for molesting a woman on the street in Toyokawa City, Aichi Prefecture, on Tuesday night, police said Wednesday.

According to authorities, two officers spotted the unidentified man, who is in his 20s, molesting the woman around 8:45 p.m. They approached the man who resisted arrest. As one police officer put the handcuffs on the suspect’s left wrist, he struggled and sprinted away with the cuffs dangling from his hand. The officers gave chase, but the man eluded them by jumping over a fence.

Police said the man is about 170 cm tall and was wearing a black jacket and beige pants.

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Latest 15 of 52 Total Comments Show All

MeanRingo at 08:46 PM JST - 11th March

When my wife was groped on a train (there's muthaf'in snakes on this muthaf'n train) it took 8 cops 8 hours to process. Hmmmmm, I really wonder why this crim got away? Perhaps it was the end of the shift.
likeitis at 08:49 PM JST - 11th March

LFRAgain at 08:38 PM JST - 11th March

Bravo! Great post! Unfortunately, those with the pathological need to bash Japan despite all the evidence, just in order to feel better about their pathetic selves, will recover from the just slap you just dished out eventually.
sharky1 at 09:06 PM JST - 11th March

Big difference between the effectiveness of law enforcement and passive conformity...
medievaltimes at 12:33 AM JST - 12th March

Oh, please, people. Cut the melodrama for a minute and actually look out your front door. For anyone who actually lives here, all you have to do is take a stroll down the street at any time of the day or night and you KNOW you have very little to fear in terms of assault, rape, or murder. Which suggests something about the effectiveness of Japanese law enforcement and the society that is responsible for its existence.

Again, you are confusing cause and effect.

I think most people would agree (except for a few posters) Japan is a very safe country overall. It's one of Japan's good points. But to say that Japan is safe due to the effectiveness of its law enforcement is a naive statement.

The society and culture values conformity, respect for authority, obedience, avoidance of conflict and groupism. These values are instilled from birth. In my opinion, I would say the stucture and values of the culture have more to do with Japan being safe than the law enforcement.

The argument could be made that the reason Japanese cops seem so inept at handling anything other than checking bicycles is becuase they never have a need to do much more than that. And that's a good thing.

As for the rape thing, I would have to disagree. The society's attitude towards women is sickening to me. Anything of a criminal sexual nature seems to thrive in Japan. I've never seen/experienced/heard about so much rape, groping, public reading of porno, harrassment, flashing, old dudes fixated on 19 year olds, panty stealers, rape porno or stalkers in my life. But that's just my experience.
J_rock at 01:53 AM JST - 12th March

While Japan is in many ways significantly safer than other industrialized countries, the idea of "Safety Japan" is a complete and total myth. Unfortunately, it is one that is embraced by both the locals and foreigners alike, and is rarely challenged. A LOT of crimes, especially those of a sexual nature against women, go unreported. Ask any of your Japanese female friends whether they have ever been touched, or flashed or harassed by either a stranger or someone they know. The chances are that they have, and that they did nothing about it. That's called assault in a lot of other places. In Japan, that's simply known as taking the train to school. There is also an allowance for a lot of other things which would be prosecuted in other countries. The Yakuza are allowed to operate freely in cities and towns all over Japan, and not only do the police know where their headquarters are, but they also have membership lists. Child pornography, human trafficking, prostitution and gambling all occur pretty much in the open, with the tacit approval of the authorities.

I spent a long time in Japan, and while I always felt safe there, I know people who were swarmed on the street for no reason, robbed, beat up and groped. A man even got shot at a train station near my old apartment in Nagoya (I don't think he died though). Bad things DO happen in Japan, and the police need to be better equipped to handle them when they do.

Stories like this one, or the one from a few years ago when police in Tokyo were caught on tape running away from a suspect, or the very famous naked Spanish man are good for a laugh while I peruse the Japanese papers each morning. But when you think about the fact that these are the people responsible for ensuring the safety of the population, it becomes a lot less funny. And in cases like the Ichihashi debacle, when he escaped the police, BAREFOOT - it becomes downright tragic.

I also know from just speaking to Japanese friends that the police are not held in particularly high esteem. Much like the political classes in Japan, they are simply another institution whose ineptitude is merely accepted as most people feel that it's simply the way it is and feel powerless to do anything about it. When the tape of the J-Cops in Tokyo running from that speed freak a few years back was being played all over the world, more than a few people I know expressed both embarrassment and resignation.
herefornow at 06:14 AM JST - 12th March

likeitis -- actually, I think medievaltimes and J_rock's comments were much more on target. And, based on their rather rational manner of defending their position, I would not qualify either as haveing a "pathological need to bash Japan". Me thinks you protest too loudly.
likeitis at 09:04 AM JST - 12th March

herefornow--actually, I think medievaltimes and J_rock's comments were much more on target...I would not qualify either as haveing a "pathological need to bash Japan".

That's nice. I don't remember naming names, but you just go right ahead and act like I was talking about them despite the fact that they posted only AFTER my post with the exception of one by medieval times that hardly applies.
LFRAgain at 09:27 AM JST - 12th March

The society and culture values conformity, respect for authority, obedience, avoidance of conflict and groupism. These values are instilled from birth. In my opinion, I would say the structure and values of the culture have more to do with Japan being safe than the law enforcement.

I agree entirely. But you can’t simply take the police force out of the equation and assume that this dynamic would continue to work. As I said earlier, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement, with the police meeting the needs of the community in a way that is no worse than what I see with other nation’s police forces. Criminals get away all the time all over the world, so this isn’t something exclusive to Japanese society. And again, the fact that this is in the news at all says something about the unusual nature of the incident. Meanwhile, we all go on blithely unaware of the countless successful arrests that happen on a daily basis.

Which is why I take issue with posters who lambaste the police here with the tired refrain, "Well, where I come from, yada yada yada . . . " The point is that this isn't back home, and the same brass balls, head-cracking, "We command respect" (versus earning respect) approach to community policing, while perhaps effective elsewhere, would not work here, IMO.

For one, it would be a developmental step backward for a Japanese society that not so long ago was terrorized by the kempeitai, a police force that operated with impunity.

For another, overtly creating the kind of hard-as-tacks police force that posters here seem to pine wistfully for, would ultimately create the same sort of Us Versus Them attitudes that have come to characterize how many other industrialized civilian populations view their own police forces. This would go entirely against the Japanese social and cultural dynamics that you point out above, and have thus far contributed to the relatively safe society that Japan is.

To address your points about Japanese society’s attitudes towards women, you’ll get no argument from me. But even you can appreciate that the asshat who molested this woman would in all likelihood have been given a free pass only a decade ago. That they went after him is a credit to changing social attitudes evident across the board. Still, social revolution in Japan isn’t something that’s going to come about overnight at the behest and shrieking of disenchanted ex-pats. Change takes time. Granted, that change isn't coming about as fast as we would like, but is is happening, and for the better. But calling for a revamping of the police force isn’t going to address the needed changes one bit.
boboh at 03:29 PM JST - 12th March

Another classic blunder by incompetent J-cops.
likeitis at 04:38 PM JST - 12th March

medievaltimes: I've never seen/experienced/heard about so much rape, groping, public reading of porno, harrassment, flashing, old dudes fixated on 19 year olds, panty stealers, rape porno or stalkers in my life. But that's just my experience.

Every single thing you mentioned was very far from the crime of rape. Next in line would be stalking and groping. Then harassment. And the rest are not even worth thinking about, much less putting them in the same sentence as rape. Now, go back to rape and get yourself some statistics.

Now, you can choose to disbelieve those statistics and imagine that Japanese women just are not reporting if you want to. Some people go that route. But some of those stats are based on surveys and not filed reports, like the one from the UN here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics

Japan's rate is not the lowest, but it is low. And that rate is paramount. Flashing can run rampant for all I care so long as the rape rate is low.

The society's attitude towards women is sickening to me.

And my society's attitude toward men sickens me.

Contrary to the perception of those who hang out in gaijin bars, not all or even most Japanese women regret that they are Japanese. In fact, most women have about as many little complaints as any woman anywhere. Japanese women don't have it so bad. But their priorities and demands certainly are different.

Just try to keep in mind that frequenters of gaijin bars are not representative of all Japanese women. Plenty of women in other bars with no gaijin and a heck of a lot more of them. So I do not think your feelings are shared by the people who really matter; Japanese women.

Also, try to keep in mind that women's attitude toward themselves is also significant. With regard to the survey above, I do not doubt that many Japanese woman just did not consider themselves to have been victimized, whereas other women were real quick to believe they were.

What is the best, most normal balance in male-female relationships and treatment by society? I cannot tell you. But Japan seems to be pretty close over all. You want a place to be sick of societies treatment of women?

Moderator: Back on topic please.
Midnightpromise at 11:08 PM JST - 12th March

two officers spotted the unidentified man, who is in his 20s, molesting the woman around 8:45 p.m.

I wonder if the victim was mute? Perhaps this was a concensual public display of affection gone bad eh?
medievaltimes at 12:41 PM JST - 13th March

likeitis - Huh?
WilliB at 02:46 PM JST - 13th March

LFRagain: Well said!
medievaltimes at 05:44 PM JST - 13th March

But calling for a revamping of the police force isn’t going to address the needed changes one bit.

I guess this is what the issue revovles around. I guess you and I disagree. I think revamping it would be benificial to society...but that's just me.
soothsayer at 09:00 PM JST - 16th March

LFRagain,

At the risk of causing your head to explode, hear, hear!