Japanese girl returns to Florence to atone for graffiti

Sunday 13th July, 01:04 PM JST

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Latest 15 of 33 Total Comments Show All

lipscombe at 09:09 PM JST - 13th July

mum and dad paid their way out of this one for sure
Speed at 11:44 PM JST - 13th July

She didn't have to do any apologising whatsoever, but she chose to do so and in person. This is very admirable - no one else has come forward and did this.

All the detractors on this site seem to have something cynical to say no matter how positive a story or an act by a person may be.
yabits at 12:28 AM JST - 14th July

rdr jr writes:

Now folks this is a genuine act of class and decency.

What I know is that those words just sucked all the class and decency out of the action. They remind me of words said by my first Japanese language teacher: When explaining something, she would often say, "We Japanese are so humble!" Nobody had the heart to tell her that that kind of humility is just a perverse form of pride.

How many people in the world would actually spend their own time and money to atone for stupid things they did?

More than one might otherwise think. But the genuine people don't organize press conferences over them. What is it about some Japanese who feel this obsessive need to point out to others just how wonderful they are? Do some of these Japanese believe that all non-Japanese are too stupid to recognize such qualities without having them pointed out?
lipscombe at 12:42 AM JST - 14th July

She didn't have to do any apologising whatsoever, but she chose to do so and in person.

what? yes she did have to apologise. what else would a young aspiring fashion designer (oooh tokyo and milan out of the picture yikes) who finds unwittingly caught on film do? cynical and snarky? damn right I am because she SHOULDNT HAVE DONE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.
OssanULTRA at 03:17 AM JST - 14th July

"WHy are people praising her? She shouldn't have done it in the first place."

It's true she should never have done it in the first place. But to apologize for it deserves praise. We're not seeing all the other probably thousands of other graffiti writers from various countries stepping up to apologize, are we?
yabits at 03:26 AM JST - 14th July

We're not seeing all the other probably thousands of other graffiti writers from various countries stepping up to apologize, are we?

Sheeeyiiit...

How many of the thousands of other writers wrote the name of their school and took pictures while doing it?
OssanULTRA at 03:58 AM JST - 14th July

"How many of the thousands of other writers wrote the name of their school and took pictures while doing it?"

Don't know since I can't read & write 10 or more different languages. Can you? Also, are you suggesting that by remaining anonymous enough not to "get caught" then there is no moral obligation to come forward and apologize?
Blue_Tiger at 06:03 AM JST - 14th July

This young lady should have gone to jail, plain and simple. Spraying graffiti on a treaure such as the Duomo in Florence and she gets off by forking over E600??? She's fortunate not to be skulking away in a Floentine jail. I certainly have no praise for her. If she really wanted to apologize, why'd she do it in front of a tee-vee camera?
yabits at 06:12 AM JST - 14th July

Also, are you suggesting that by remaining anonymous enough not to "get caught" then there is no moral obligation to come forward and apologize?

I am suggesting that this incident does not imply any moral superiority on the part of the Japanese involved in it. And some posters using it to infer such a thing is a worse smear on others than what this girl did.

The question is would she have acted as she did if she had remained anonymous. That, we will never know. But I highly doubt it.

Far too much was made of the incident to begin with, and far too much show is being made of of this "atonement."
some14some at 06:56 AM JST - 14th July

Publicity stunt to cover up wrong doing for 600 euros= 20 days parttime job. Nothing to do with moral values.
GJDailleult at 08:59 AM JST - 14th July

I'm amazed that so many people here are still peddling the idea that this story is about graffiti, and the horrible crime of defacing a cathedral. Fair enough, everybody is entitled to an opinion. And if you could explain how it is that the Italian authorities responded to this horrible crime by doing nothing, and the Italian public found it so offensive that they were actually not offended at all, then maybe your opinion might start to make some sense. Until somebody explains that disconnect to me, I will stick with my opinion. Japanese girl offends some folks sense of Japaneseness. Offended busybodies then stick their noses into girl's business. Girl responds with excessive, over-the-top apology. In other words, a typical, run-of-the-mill Japanese soap opera, given some extra sizzle with an exotic foreign location. Nothing more than that.
supuncho at 12:07 PM JST - 14th July

Hahaha blue tiger you know nohting about this subject. The wall is filled with graffiti from top to bottom from people all over the world(must be over 200 graffiti). She was praised in the Italian media(for her apology) and the people who take care of the site were impressed by her also saying to her smile before you leave here please and hugged her. blue tiger just say and admit you just wanna bash people.
westurn at 05:44 AM JST - 15th July

"at her own expense"

Hogwash ! Try "at mom and dad's expense" ! Isn't that what this is all about anyway, the family has been shamed ! I bet they can't even put their heads out their genkan ! Bwahaha !
Blue_Tiger at 11:00 PM JST - 15th July

supuncho - Bash people, no; merely point out that stupid is as stupid does, yes. And, yes, I know quite a bit aobut the subject, thank you....
imagawa at 11:31 AM JST - 17th July

This whole thing smells like a set up.

"the university’s visiting rector, Yukitoshi Matsuda."

How did that come to happen just at the "right" time?