Man arrested for kissing woman during overnight bus trip in Shimane

Wednesday 25th February, 10:20 AM JST

SHIMANE —

A 25-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for forcibly kissing a female passenger who was seated next to him during an overnight bus trip in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. The victim typed a help message on her cell phone and handed the phone to a passenger seated behind her, who was able to help restrain the man.

Tadafumi Watanabe was arrested for allegedly kissing the woman in her 30s who was sleeping around 5 a.m., while the bus was heading for Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, from Osaka.

According to police, the victim woke up after Watanabe kissed her. Instead of protesting out loud, she typed the message, “The guy next to me is a groper. Please report it to the driver,” on her mobile phone and handed the phone to the passenger behind her. The driver called police when the bus arrived at Matsue station and Watanabe was arrested.

Watanabe was on his way home in Matsue, police said.

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Latest 15 of 43 Total Comments Show All

Triumvere at 10:28 PM JST - 25th February

Shouldn't the title read: "sexually assaulting"?
bamboohat at 10:37 PM JST - 25th February

If this guy gets busted based only on her testimony, somethign ain't right. if he confesses, it's a different story. I always wonder what happens of I'm on a long local train ride and i fall asleep and my hand accidently brushes some lady. Will I get busted?
medievaltimes at 11:49 PM JST - 25th February

I just pray that a fare and thorough investigation is done before anyone is convicted.

Nothing was mentioned about not paying the transportation cost.
Disillusioned at 11:49 PM JST - 25th February

Is it possible the woman was too terrified to move quickly in case this loon had a kilo of nerve gas strapped to his chest. I think she handled the situation well by staying calm. Who knows what you could wake up next to on a bus.
likeitis at 11:46 AM JST - 26th February

I think the woman's nonconfrontational attitude is very typically female, rather than a culture thing. I think that some women are naturally more aggressive than other females but its not as common. Some cultures do, however, encourage women to be more confrontational, despite their nature. And a lot of people freeze in these types of situations. Women are hardly alone in that, but its usually safer for a woman do that.

The only Japanese culture thing I see here is her use of the cell phone.

How could she pull it off? Well, she says he kissed her while she was sleeping. When she awoke, he stopped. She whipped out her cell (like an enormous amount of Japanese do at any time and probably even more after waking up on a bus, so no surprise to the dude). It was easy to type the message as he had stopped kissing her. Turning to another passenger might have raised an eyebrow.

And her move was HUGELY clever. If she opened her mouth, the guy would have heard it. And he would have been first to react, guaranteed, piting her against a male no doubt much stronger and more aggressive than she is. Everybody else would have hesitated, possibly while he either berated her or beat the crap out of her. By typing the message, only the passenger and the driver know she complained, and they have time to absorb the situation and think of how to react appropriately. Thus, when the guy first hears of her accusation from the driver, her protectors are already right there.

I can't say if her chief motive was genius or just a reactionary reliance on the cell phone in a moment of panic. But I can say it was the absolute best move she could have made. Those of you suggesting she slap him, etc. watch way too many movies, such as Tombraider. Women are three times weaker in the upper body than males. Fact. Males are far more likely to meet any violence, even verbal, with completely disproportionate violence that women are usually ill equipped to handle. Fact.

But yes, it is also possible that she is lying or dreamed it.
WilliB at 10:15 PM JST - 26th February

" "But yes, it is also possible that she is lying or dreamed it." "

Indeed! So how do you feel about being accused of something by cellphone message and then dragged out of a bus and into the police station?!

I find this story scary as hell. If this sort of thing escalates, we need male-only trains where we are safe from such stealth accusations.
johnnyboy73 at 11:08 AM JST - 27th February

Just wondering how she knew he was kissing her if she was asleep ?
likeitis at 11:14 AM JST - 27th February

Just wondering how she knew he was kissing her if she was asleep ?

She woke up because of it. It might have taken time for the guy to realize she woke up and stop kissing her. There is an after-effect from being touched, and its clear enough to know if it was a kiss or not. Moisture might have been left as well. Her lipstick might have been on his lips. All sorts of ways.
likeitis at 11:15 AM JST - 27th February

I find this story scary as hell. If this sort of thing escalates, we need male-only trains where we are safe from such stealth accusations.

I do too, but I am at a loss as to what to do about it.
LillacyDeFleurs at 12:42 PM JST - 27th February

I stayed the night at my cousin's once and her boyfriend was kissing me in my sleep - I thought the dog was licking me - I woke up and said "What's going on?!" - he jumped back and said "Sorry! Sorry!" - I tried to pretend that nothing happened - but he kept trying to get closer to me - it was weird - I didn't know someone could get arrested for that sort of thing, good to know
cleo at 01:07 PM JST - 27th February

Something similar happened at my house, too. A very good friend from way back was staying with us and early in the morning she was woken by what she thought was my husband lying on top of her and kissing her passionately. She opened her eyes to find the dobie giving her an enthusiastic good-morning kiss. Neither tried to pretend nothing had happened, and neither was in the least bit sorry.
cwhite at 09:18 PM JST - 28th February

and in the meantime the driver did nothing until he reached his destination...
Orangeporange at 11:14 PM JST - 2nd March

I agree Likeitis. This woman handled the situation very well. I had a Japanese man grope me on a flight once and I was terrified about what to do. This was before cell phones, but I did manage to excuse myself and tell a flight attendent to immediately ushered me away from the passanger to the front of the plane (first class) so I would not have to confront the man. He was taken in to custody in Los Angeles where he confessed and apologized, claiming he had "a few drinks too many." I never heard what became of him. But you really do not know what these　people are capable of. With all of the stabbings and murder going on recently, you just never know what could happen.
WilliB at 12:43 PM JST - 3rd March

Orangeporange:

" I agree Likeitis. This woman handled the situation very well. "

You assume there was "situation". What about the situation of being accused of something in secret and then hauled in by the cops on the basis of a cellphone message? How about we turn that around and try it on you?
ippanjin33 at 08:12 AM JST - 4th March

The actual text message was「隣の人は痴漢です。運転手に連絡して下さい」