Others In kuchikomi

Few authorities know how to deal with rape victims in Japan

A 13-year-old Tokyo girl left alone at home one night ventures out and is raped by a man she doesn’t know. Yomiuri Weekly (May 4)…

Family restaurants face uncertain future

There’s nothing quite like them, those “oases of the night” known in Japanese as “famiresu.” Clean, well-lit and open 24/7, the family restaurant is the…

Pram safety aboard trains a growing problem

Pram safety aboard trains a growing problem

From the end of March, JR East Japan and a consortium of railway companies in the Kanto and Kansai regions launched a joint campaign appealing…

Briquettes are out, hydrogen sulfide in as latest suicide method

“Generating poison gas. Don’t open.” Such was the notice on the bathroom door, posted on March 27 by a 27-year-old Kobe man testing a new…

Young women lax on security at home

The recent arrest of 28-year-old Toshiya Tsuji, accused of committing at least two break-in rapes in Saitama Prefecture, has shed light on the low awareness…

OLs licking their lips at young fresh-faced new hires

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me,” smiles the veteran OL to the new company recruit. "Anything at all." It’s that…

Vehicle rip-offs change with the times

“The other day, I ran into a friend. He told me two men had approached him in broad daylight. One sprayed some kind of tear…

Laugh meter could prevent murder in the family

Laughter is no joke to Kansai University Prof Yoji Kimura. He studies it, measures it, seeks to develop its health-giving potential. He is the inventor…

Fraudsters running scams ahead of digital TV switchover

“We mailed you three explanatory flyers about the new terrestrial digital broadcasting system. Did you receive them?” the man asked. “Unless you have the work…