Man held for punching 50-yr-old woman on Saitama train over playing games on cell phone

Friday 27th March, 10:10 AM JST

SAITAMA —

A 21-year-old man was arrested for assault on Wednesday, accused of punching a 50-year-old woman several times in her face, breaking her jaw, while on a Saikyo line train and in a train station office Wednesday morning, police said Thursday.

Police said Jun Ando, a computer programmer and resident of Toda City, became angry on the train bound for Shinkiba at around 8 a.m., after the woman asked him to stop playing games on his cell phone as the train was so crowded. Ando told her to shut up and sprayed her with some colorful language, before punching her several times.

He was restrained by several passengers until the train stopped at Toda Park station, where they escorted him off the train. They took him to the station office, but while in there with the woman and station staff, he punched the woman again, police said.

Ando admitted to assaulting the woman but told police there’s not much he can do about the crowded trains.

News reports

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Latest 15 of 133 Total Comments Show All

Himajin at 09:02 AM JST - 1st April

You briefly bark at someone 'Stop staring at me!!' and they punch you and break your jaw. Justified? Where did I write breaking someone's jaw is justified? I said getting hit. Not the same thing and what you wrote is not. Sorry, if you are getting stared at and need to hit someone, you are a bit to conscious about what people think. You might need help.

That is what this thread is about, he broke her jaw, and I'm sick of reading posts like yours saying 'she asked for it' 'she might have nagged him'

She spoke to him on the train about an annoying behavior, playing games in a really crowded train. Then came all this 'I understand' 'maybe she asked for it' baloney, so I gave you an example that many foreigners deal with on a daily basis, being stared at, another irritating behavior. If you really need it simplified, if you asked someone to stop playing games on their cellphone on the train, how would you feel if they punched you several times and broke your jaw, which is exactly what happened to this woman? Get what I'm saying now?

Sorry, if you are getting stared at and need to hit someone, you are a bit to conscious about what people think. You might need help.

If you get asked not to use your cellphone on a crowded train and you feel the need to hit someone, like the man in this article, you might need help,eh?
Himajin at 09:14 AM JST - 1st April

Himajin - you are taking parts of what people are writing and flipping them. If someone asked me to turn down my music in a nice manner I don't think that I would be upset. Not matter how bad my day was. Now IF someone yelled at me or was very rude to me and IF I was having a bad day I might react in a different way. Does that mean I will hit the lady no

I am not flipping anything. You just said exactly what I was saying. Would you hit them? Would you think it was ok for you to be hit? I gave two examples, being asked nicely and being snapped or barked at. Personally, I think that anyone barking at someone is ill-mannered at least, if not a bit off. But--I was wondering about where you draw the line....is it okay or 'asked for' if it's a request, 'asked for' if the person asks you rudely or barks at you, or is it never defensible to hit another person and injure them? My personal opinion is that force enough to break someone's jaw is not justified at all by this situation, even if she yelled at him. This kind of force is justified in my opinion only in self-defense. I was wondering what other people thought.
Himajin at 09:33 AM JST - 1st April

I guess she won't be doing any complaining to cell phone users in the future?

She should be more careful next time. Get off the train rather than complaining.

but I bet that old lady was asking for it too(IchiyaWarFare)

I kind of see where this guy is coming from,

Or she may have provoked him with her choice of words. Not smart and also rude. You never know if a stranger is a nutjob, so tread lightly.

Hopefully old people will start thinking twice before opening their mouths and telling people what to do

it is entirely possible that the woman went out of her way to make that happen.

quite obviously then, both the man and the older lady are equally at fault.

Later on if I find out that he lost his job his wife and family. I could understand why he did what he did.

There you go, all the quotes to which I am referring, pasted as posted, Lord knows they don't need any 'twisting'.
IchyaWarFare at 09:39 AM JST - 1st April

cleo-after your posts about thinking it was a koban and then not understanding slang, you just wanted to know what she did to "deserve" it. You did not state that at all. You are just retaliating. Understanding someone does not make anyone less normal than trying to figure out why they did something. Understanding is a part of learning. It is not a hard thing to understand. Watch Dr. Phil, it might help.

Himajin-If you do not like peoples opinions, than ignore them. It is not a hard thing to do.

If you really need it simplified, if you asked someone to stop playing games on their cellphone on the train, how would you feel if they punched you several times and broke your jaw, which is exactly what happened to this woman? Get what I'm saying now?

Um, if you look, I answered you way back. Don't condone it. Just trying to understand him. What part of the English language did you miss?

I was wondering what other people thought. No, you were only referring to me.

Never said it was justified, but you only have two colors to view everything. Pretty dark and sad.
CMEANDU26 at 09:49 AM JST - 1st April

Then again, if he goes around punching people for nothing it's no wonder he lost his job his wife his family.

Umm...I gave an example. I didn't say that he lost his wife and family because he was punching people. You just made that up.

That's what we're saying. Normal people are different from this guy. Normal people do not go around breaking the jaws of people they are annoying in a confined space.

Who said this guy was normal? What if we were to find out he was really crazy and couldn't get his medication because he lost job and had no insurance or couldn't get to the hospital. Maybe playing that cell phone game was the only thing keeping him from going off and not being able to control his emotions he snapped. What would we be saying now? The story was one sided. I am trying to see why he did it. I am sorry that you are so closed minded to fit the pieces in where there are blanks but I am trying to see the whole thing. If people are going to fill holes where they make sense I want to look at it from another point to open the minds of others. It seems to not have worked in this case with you but maybe someone was able to see it from another point.
Himajin at 10:35 AM JST - 1st April

What part of the English language did you miss?

I could very well as you the same thing, after you said to me--

I said getting hit. Not the same thing and what you wrote is not. Sorry, if you are getting stared at and need to hit someone, you are a bit to conscious about what people think. You might need help. No I don't 'understand', no I do not see the 'need' to take his side. I know. He behaved like an animal. It's unacceptable. Matter of opinion. What part of that do YOU not understand? I do not understand what was said and how all the events transpired. What's the use, especially as you keep insisting you weren't there? We know you weren't there, it makes your defense of an unbalanced person all the more strange. I don't know. Why do you keep asking? Kind of futile, ya know.

Your posts are hardly crystal-clear....
Himajin at 10:38 AM JST - 1st April

Never said it was justified, but you only have two colors to view everything. Pretty dark and sad.

More genius material. 'Having only too colors' might be better than drowning in a sea of moral relativism where anything goes.

Thanks for the 5c psychoanalysis, after one thread you know all there is to know about me. Sugoi!
IchyaWarFare at 10:41 AM JST - 1st April

Himajin-They are called JT edits. I am sure it has happened to you.

Next time I cut and paste from your own posts, which you do not recognize, I will make them pretty colors for you. :)

Moderator: Readers, this exchange is going nowhere. Please focus your comments on the topic, not at each other.
sageb1 at 05:11 PM JST - 1st April

let's take this part of the news story one more time:

"Police said Jun Ando, a computer programmer and resident of Toda City, became angry on the train bound for Shinkiba at around 8 a.m., after the woman asked him to stop playing games on his cell phone as the train was so crowded. Ando told her to shut up and sprayed her with some colorful language, before punching her several times."

A woman asks a guy to stop playing games on his cell phone as the train is very crowded. Probably he had the sound on, and it annoyed her.

Even so, she did not address her specific issue: crowds are an annoyance, but having to listen to a noisy game is torture.

Thus is why I stated both parties are at fault: she was at fault because she used an indirect means of getting him to silence his cellphone.

It was not because the train was crowded but because the ignorance of her suffering led her to choose him, rather than to comment on the obliviousness of youth to unbearable conditions on the train.

However, his reaction is an abreaction, and out of line. It shows irresponsibility (forethought regarding your reaction to others when they make a simple request of you) and a lack of consideration for others.

It is doubtful I can read anything else into the news report.
kwilkins21 at 07:40 PM JST - 1st April

I can't believe you people are arguing about whose side is who on! The woman was 50 years old and he was 21!

Back in America we respect or elders! I am 192cm an 116klg! If that little old lady told me to close the phone and put my nose in the corner while singing Yankee Duuddy I would do it!

If I was in that train I would have broken his jaw plain and simple! It doesn't matter what she said at all! She has lived twice his age and has put up with far more S&%$ it her life and has the right to tell a young, ignorant, disrespectful kid to stop playing a phone during the short time is on a train.

I mean, I can't live without my phone but god, people are going to far!
kwilkins21 at 07:44 PM JST - 1st April

Sorry about the typo's but I am angry about how no one is talking about respect! That bothers me in Japan!
IchyaWarFare at 10:12 PM JST - 1st April

kwilkins21-Do not open another can of worms.

sageb1-good post.

Himajin-I am sure you understand what I was talking about before about the edits.

Moderator-understood.
mindovermatter at 11:17 PM JST - 1st April

Yea...! That's 1st class police work for you... I hope the lady presses charges and files a law suit against those loser cops...

Except that it was in the train station office that he punched her, while they were waiting for the cops to arrive. You didn't read the article either, eh?

Obviously you read into these stories on JT way too much. It doesn't say anything about, "No Police" presence in the office when the lady was struck again by this wack-job.

But you may be surprised to know that, the minute this station staff and/or Good Samaritans usher this woman and wack-job into that station office, they opened themselves up for liability.

If you do nothing and the woman gets hit, it's nobody's fault other than the person who hit her, but the minute you offer assistance, in the case of this instance, you are obligated to provide a safe area, free of harm or injury.

To summarize, they escort both the woman and wack-job into a room together, not a very good idea to begin with... It shows lack of common at the very least, but once they did that (Station Staff or Good Samaritan, passengers) They also had a responsibility to ensure her safety...
IchyaWarFare at 01:11 AM JST - 2nd April

CMEANDU26 at 11:00 AM JST - 27th March

Man....This guy didn't care about what is going to happen. He should have done that when he was 19 and he wouldn't ge going to jail. Kids today need to be taught respect. Maybe it should be a subject in school.

kwilkins-There was somebody who did talk about respect and more after, just did not want to cut and paste it all.
TheguyNextdoor at 10:21 AM JST - 2nd April

kwilins-

I said it way back...said she was 50!!! wtf.....i feel your anger man....