crime

Video showing convenience store workers being forced to kowtow to thugs leads to one arrest

47 Comments

In Japan, particularly online, you may come across the term DQN ("dokyun"). It’s a label reserved for those at the lowest order of intelligence and social graces and those who rank in the highest percentile for violence and general lowlife behavior.

Take alleged DQN Tsuyoshi Nakamura for example, who along with some associates stands accused of harassing, threatening, and extorting from the entire staff of a FamilyMart convenience store in Ibaraki, Osaka. Nakamura is also under suspicion of forcing them to get on their knees and bow in apology, with the entire scene being uploaded to YouTube for all to see.

The situation began when the group of ruffians entered the FamilyMart on Sept 8 and began eating and drinking the merchandise before paying for the items. The young male clerk, who was a bit of a tough character himself, sternly warned them against such behavior and demanded them to stop. An annoying argument ensued.

Although the young clerk should be commended for sticking up for himself, his forceful tones against a female of the species upset the other DQN greatly, causing one of them to hurl their drink at the man.

Things escalated from there as another video takes place in the back room of the shop. Here we see the young clerk along with an older one and someone who appears to be the manager. An orange-haired man can be heard making threatening gangster-like remarks to the staff like someone out of an Kinji Fukasaku movie, saying things like: “I’m gonna get one of my boys to drive a car through this store.”

In the video below, we see the entire staff and management kowtowing to the DQN in what’s called a “dogeza” position where the person seeking forgiveness sits on their legs and bows so deeply that their forehead touches the floor.

Also during the altercation, a DQN made the comment “A proper apology shouldn’t be empty-handed,” which is an old yakuza line meaning “give me something of value and I won’t beat you up.” Currently, Nakamura is suspected of extorting six cartons of cigarettes worth 26,700 yen presumably in apology smokes. It’s also believed that more was taken, including cash.

After leaving the store, the group appeared to waste little time posting their videos and pictures on YouTube and Twitter. This certainly helped lead to Nakamura’s swift arrest, which was announced the very next day, and we can probably expect the others to get hauled in soon as well.

Many online were amazed and called the group “a special kind of stupid” for posting their crimes on the internet, but it was a moot point anyways. The store had cameras of their own which they turned over to police after reporting the incident. Net users were also amazed by both the speed of the Osaka Prefectural Police and the fact that Nakamura is 39 years old – a little old to be shaking down FamilyMart cashiers.

Sources: Yahoo! Japan News, News Matome Mori

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Saitama man robs 7-Eleven with knives, steals 3 onigiri -- What do this Japanese convenience store and Sierra Leone have in common? -- I need gum, milk, and a verse of “Let It Go”: Special karaoke convenience store to open

© RocketNews24

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47 Comments
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No words for the thuggery and stupidity of these barbarians.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Now you know bar is too high for death penalty.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Bullies are small, small people. Thank goodness this one was also pretty dumb.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Yes. I saw this video 2 days ago and was shocked to see such bullying. I hope those people rot in jail.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Two more arrests have been made, a woman and her teenage daughter.

In Japan, I've seen plenty of "monster" customers, getting away with behaviour that would never be accepted elsewhere. This is the dark side of the supposedly superior service culture here.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Have they no panic button?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I sincerely hope these people spend serious time behind bars for this.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Tessa: In Japan, I've seen plenty of "monster" customers, getting away with behaviour that would never be accepted elsewhere.

Chinese flight attendant vs passenger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6fmlEJa7qU

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Want to see these thugs bowing to the real victims of their idiocy. Want there names and phone numbers on the net. Really hope they're pooping themselves thin and have a real bad year.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Straight robbery.

I don't think I could've contained myself if they were robbing my store and trying to humiliate me.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

These acts are done by kids not Gangsters, uploading their crimes on YouTube!? what a bunch of amateurs...I wanna take these Japanese wanna be gangsters to el salvador and south central LA. these fools will look babies in front of MS13 ,Surenos and 18th street.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

A bit of creative writing? * An annoying argument ensued.

Although the young clerk should be commended for sticking up for himself, his forceful tones against a female of the species upset the other DQN greatly, causing one of them to hurl their drink at the man.*

sounds like a detective novel. I wonder who was annoyed by the argument? The reporter?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

“I’m gonna get one of my boys to drive a car through this store.”

So that's actually what is happening when all of those old people mix up the accelerator and break pedals at combinis. Just one of this guy's "boys" teaching a lesson! /s

0 ( +1 / -1 )

In Japan, I've seen plenty of "monster" customers, getting away with behaviour that would never be accepted elsewhere. This is the dark side of the supposedly superior service culture here.

I totally agree with your comment. Thou in this case I'd like to think the manager was trying defend himself and his employees and stopping things from escalating into violence the best way he saw. I respect him for that. Coz was that me in that situation, I don't think things would have gone that quiet. And unless i had a gun pointing at me or my co-workers, no way I would have let that thug into the office with us.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Is it only in the movies that they have a "silent alarm button" that goes directly to the police ? In "electrical appliances specialist Japan" how come they haven't thought of that yet ? EVERY store should have at least one.

In the video, a "bell" keeps ringing in the background... It sounds like the bell to show that customers are coming in... Was there no-one to serve them ? Surely they could have seen what was going on and called the police ? 13 minutes of recording and nobody could do anything about it ?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

turbostat:

Nice try but this is about an incident in Japan created by pieces of scum who happen to be Japanese and with victims who happen to be Japanese. And the video you put a link to - the first air stewardess certainly wasn't putting up with any sh!t from the customer.

Now, what I'd like to see is an apology from these gangster wannabes (mother and daughter included) and a big slap on their heads, all posted on youtube.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I'd hate to work at a convenience store late at night because of the bad element that seems to hang around there. This is why overnight work there pays pretty well.

Either these thugs will get a sentence to be made an example of or they will get nothing and only get charged with stolen cigarettes.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Good old "safe" and "polite" Japan. I have seen guys pull this behaviour numerous times - be it thugs like the ones in the video or "sempai" bullying the crap out of their kohei. Glad they were arrested but think it is only because these guys were dumb enough to post videos of it all. The sad thing is, this type of thing seems to be increasing and entitlement is becoming a serious issue here with many males.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

I've always maintained that the only reason society hasn't slid headlong into the sewer is because criminals, by and large, tend to be blindingly stupid. I need to amend this with bullies. Preeeeetty stupid, the sheer obnoxiousness of these clowns aside.

It begs an interesting question though: If you were a customer walking in on this, what would you do?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

LFRA, if it was me, I would've called the cops and I would've said something to the idiots like "What the hell are you doing?" Obviously nothing that would get my head kicked in but something that would draw attention to their behaviour not being okay. Most of the Js that behave like thugs will shut up if a white or black person says something to them. They get used to getting away with this behaviour because most Js will look the other way and leave. Be it chikan, bullying... People ignore it which empowers the jerks.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Disgusting to see those thieves.

Hope they delete the video already. That would be pretty humiliating for those poor staff.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"It’s a label reserved for those at the lowest order of intelligence and social graces and those who rank in the highest percentile for violence and general lowlife behavior."

"lowest order of lowlife behavior." In Tokyo the ground has a higher order alpha and Beta particles uS/hr especially on the streets, Either way those there are screwed

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ noypi, the guy is 39 and the other 2 were mother and daughter team according to the article, no kids as far as I can tell

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The sad thing is, this type of thing seems to be increasing and entitlement is becoming a serious issue here with many males.

Yes, I have seen it on numerous occasions, too (and not only males, let me tell you!). I think it might be an Osaka thing?

A very typical example is when a man orders a meal or a drink at a busy fast food place, eats the whole thing, and then takes the tray back to the counter, angrily berating the staff and yelling "this is not what I ordered! Give me what I ordered!" The harassed staff always apologise and give him what he wants for free. It's less trouble that way. I'm convinced that there are certain men who actually score a free extra meal every single day using this method.

A few years ago there was a family in Osaka doing the cockroach scam. That is, they would go into a restaurant and order a meal, eat it, slyly place a dead cockroach in one of the dishes, kick up a huge fuss, and leave without paying. It kind of makes me sad to think that modern day freeloaders don't even bother using props like cockroaches, they just barge in and demand what they want!

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

"I'm calling the cops now" nips this right in the bud.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Toby Smit maybe it's my grammar mistake, what I meant was what they've done is not really an action of real gangsters but more of naughty kids.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

the Japanese bullies speaks in a calm way.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

This incident brought to mind perhaps the best line ever uttered on the silver screen: "Man, you come right out of a comic book." (2nd best: "I'll be too busy looking good.")

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Genetic trash.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I thought it was the users of 2chan that were able to identify the perpetrators via the videos - and even name & shame the entire family with their addresses & whereabouts...?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

My wife works a few days a week at an AEON & the stories she comes home with about customers "returning stuff" off the charts some of it, people using stuff for a party or something & then returning, suits/dresses used for weddings then returned.

One mom came is screaming about her kid racking up a ton of $$$ on video games over several months demanded "why" they would sell video games to kids....................just nuts, they apparently did call the cops in on this "mom" as we had seriously lost it.

Basically with retail anything goes & does apparently, some have no shame at all these days!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Basically with retail anything goes & does apparently, some have no shame at all these days!

Not only do they have no shame, they still expect stellar service. One of my students, who is otherwise a lovely lady, tried to return something to a major outlet store. She didn't have her own membership card handy, so she used her daughter's. The sales assistant immediately noticed the card, and informed her in no uncertain terms that it was against store policy for customers to use other people's cards. My student was furiously angry, and although she didn't make a fuss in the store, she went around afterwards complaining about "bad service" to everybody else in sight! What she didn't seem to realise was that she was in the wrong, not the store.

Sometimes this "customer is god" thing goes too far. I love Japanese-style service, but personally I would sacrifice a little of the bowing and scraping in exchange for a little more respect on the part of the customers. It's a two-way thing.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

How humiliating it must feel for the children of that manager when they see the video. I simply cannot understand why the manager did not immediately call the cops.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

DNALeri:

Absolutely. If you can't respect yourself, how can you expect your children to respect you? However, I doubt they would have bowed if I, a gaijin, was the thug.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I think it might be an Osaka thing?

Nope. Not in the least. I have seen it from Hokkaido to Fukuoka to Okinawa.

My issue is that when I, a nice customer, actually has a real issue or problem, the staff often refuses to give decent service or sort out the problem. Be it a broken zipper on a new pairs of trousers that haven't been worn or something arriving damaged. The only way I manage to get things solved is by demanding a manager and not being all nice about it after having vast amounts of time wasted by the old "moshi..". I hate it. I worked in retail and know these people get paid crap but at the same time, when someone refuses to help me, a paying customer who is trying to be nice, well, it sucks. Then I watch these wannabe yaks come in and everyone cowers and gives them what they want. They do this because it works. I'm impressed these guys called the cops to be honest.

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Yes, I have seen it on numerous occasions, too (and not only males, let me tell you!). I think it might be an Osaka thing?

Seems to be like that, although the other two places that I would consider having a lot of yaks and chimpilas would be Fukuoka and Tokyo (especially Adachi Ward). Those are three places I have a negative image of in Japan. Never had any instances in the other various other parts of Japan I've been to, like Akita, Nagano, Kyoto, the East Kanto region, and so on. It's too bad these few bad apples take advantage of kind folk's hospitality. I hope they get a taste of their own medicine.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

A friend once told me it's not the rich customers who cause headaches, it's the ones who think they're rich. Guess this goes for 'gangsters' too.

Honestly dunno what I'd do if given the choice between Dogeza and 21 days in the slammer. Without a gun to my head I guess I' have to throw myself at the mercy of the police.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Do these clerks have even a trace of dignity in them? I would have went in there and mopped the floor with those bosozokus!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

These customers are nuts! I have stories coming out of my ears with my own business here and one that I still remember very well was with a customer who ripped my wife a new one, and by her right my wife refused to serve this woman anymore. So, I took over the face-to-face service with this women, explained to her that my wife wouldn’t deal with her anymore due to her attitude and the first thing this women said was "hurry up and learn how to write Japanese better because your wife is a bi3%h!! My jar dropped, and all I could do was laugh. I then sighed and booted her out! But, the worst part was she didn’t understand what she did wrong that warranted her being kicked out!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

tmarieSep. 12, 2014 - 03:21PM JST

I have seen it from Hokkaido to Fukuoka to Okinawa.

My issue is that when I, a nice customer, actually has a real issue or problem, the staff often refuses to give decent service or sort out the problem. Be it a broken zipper on a new pairs of trousers that haven't been worn or something arriving damaged. The only way I manage to get things solved is by demanding a manager and not being all nice about it after having vast amounts of time wasted by the old "moshi..".

Agreed. 慇懃無礼 is disgusting.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

And everyone is perpetuating the bullying and humiliation by posting the video and encouraging us to watch it.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

wow teenager daughter ? where is the picture of the people who did the crime? So they can feel how it looks..

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Bunch of idiots! And why are the clerks bowing down to these dummies. They're UNARMED! Just walk out the store and get help! I would have just stared them down rather than pander to their bullying...pathetic...all of them!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Ah, the 'ijime' culture of Japan shining through at its finest. Ijime is bullying, if you didn't know. I'll bet a month's salary that not one of these thugs has ever been punched I the face. They've probably done a bit of judo or maybe even karate and think they top dog street fighters. I really get so sick of these pathetic Japanese boy-thugs. They never pick on anybody that can fight back. It's all too often women they are intimidating or beating on. The cops should send these clowns to the asylum seeker's detention centre in Port Morsby for a few months. That will sort these thugs out!

1 ( +6 / -5 )

It seems to me the point where this incident "went South" was where the clerk continued to be "stern" with the customers. A single warning should suffice, followed by the enlistment of the police in resolving the matter should the warning not have worked. Continuing a verbal confrontation isn't likely to work and usually only causes things to escalate. Let the police decide if "escalation" is necessary. I would think once the police showed up, these bullies would have turned meek as field mice. No embarrassment, no kowtowing, just a peaceful resolution or arrest on the spot.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Would the police have come? I doubt it.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Stand over men, and dumb as rocks, hope they get a few years in the slammer, stand overs are nothing but bullies.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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