3 youths arrested for throwing eggs at foreign students in Saga

Gee, a shame Japan has no hate laws or anti-racism/discrimination laws here so these idiots could be punished even more harshly for their crimes of picking on non-Japanese.

Poor students. No one deserves this, more so just because of your ethnic background.

Omotenashi Japan!

yeah imagine if it was the otherway around. I could just see the airtime and outrage from the Jpublic. dangerous gaijin not welcome in safe Japan.

Police in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, said Wednesday they have arrested three youths, one aged 19, and two aged 18, for throwing eggs at students from Nepal, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Stupidity and youth travel the same road holding hands.

tmarieMay. 29, 2014 - 12:40PM JST Gee, a shame Japan has no hate laws or anti-racism/discrimination laws here so these idiots could be punished even more harshly for their crimes of picking on non-Japanese.

Oh yeah, toss these kids into prison for throwing eggs. Wait, why not just take them out and flog them 100 times or better yet just shoot them?

Hate crimes should be for throwing eggs.

When kids do silly things like this take them to their parents and let their parents handle it.

tmarieMay. 29, 2014 - 12:40PM JST Poor students. No one deserves this, more so just because of your ethnic background.

And no one deserves to go to prison because they threw and egg. Teach them, but don't beat them.

zichi:

I agree. Having to meet them face to face and apologize is better then some criminal punishment, in which case these two buffoons will only feel as victims.

Would it be less of a 'hate crime' if the victims had been students from another prefecture in Japan? People above/below a certain height? Homeless people? People in low-paid jobs? People in high-paid jobs? People with obvious physical disabilities? People so beautiful it just isn't fair? Picking on someone just because of the way they look/because you perceive them as 'different' from yourself, says a lot (none of it good) about you and nothing about your victim. But I don't see how picking on someone because they're of a different nationality or ethnic group is any worse than picking on someone for any other stupid, mindless reason.

Throwing eggs (or anything else) at anyone is a really stupid thing to do, and the three youths need to learn that they are totally out of line. I suggest stripping them naked, hanging them by their ankles, dipping them in a vat of raw beaten egg, rolling them in broken egg shells, then leaving them out in the sun to dry. A good hard slap up the back side of the head would probably work, too.

19 and 18?

After apologies like Zichi says, community service, preferably doing something on the foreign students behalf.

No one deserves this, more so just because of your ethnic background.

Just like I and my Japanese family didn't deserve it back home. (Oh dear, a Western country, with anti-discrimination laws that people just ignore anyway)

I also find it ironic that people who visit JT daily to vilify this country are discussing racism.

zichiMay. 29, 2014 - 01:32PM JST The lines which stick are numerous occasions and the students were 19 and 18 years old and certainly they knew what they were doing and that it was wrong. At the very least the students should be made to stand in front of the foreign students and both explain and apologise for their very bad behaviour. They should also be fined but because they are under 21 years won't have a criminal record.

Well said, tossing these kids into prison is a complete waste of time and tax dollars. It would be better to teach them that they have done wrong and force them to start acting like adults.

Today's kick them into jail and toss away the key mentality is just creating more criminals rather than less.

Well said, tossing these kids into prison is a complete waste of time and tax dollars. It would be better to teach them that they have done wrong and force them to start acting like adults.

Agreed. Just being caught should hopefully help scare them straight. A little re-education about accepting minorities would add to that.

Real shame about the foreign students. I hope the local community, or school that they attend, does something to help make up for this.

Hate crime laws are Orwellian - they are laws against thought. Any decent judge could use the laws on the books to punish (and hopefully educate) these kids effectively, without taking away from the human rights of the rest of the country.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that the three perps are probably the types of guys who have the "orange" color hair and tatoos. Where do they learn to show disrespect to others who are not like them, from Japan society itself. After all, the description I put to them would make them be seen as an outsider to their own people here in Japan.

If you don't fit the exact "mold" here in Japan, you are seen as an outsider. From the latest push by Zushi beach here in Yokosuka calling themselves being a more "family oriented beach" and requesting that people with excessive tattoos not show up to the beach which is being enforced by beach patrols (I have had hte briefing on that), to the guys who in their own country may not seem to fit in and are marginalized, who else are they going to act out on?

At the very least the students should be made to stand in front of the foreign students and both explain and apologise for their very bad behaviour

not just in front of foreign students, but they should write essays about what they've done and why it was wrong and what they've learned and how they will/should change - and the essays should be published on free papers. Their names and photos should be attached to the essays by the way.

Shame. The average Japanese probably don't see much harm being done here.

average japanese probably think this is terrible just like foreigners do.

Race certainly appears an aggravating factor and the kids should be dealt with bearing that in mind. But no one is going to prison for egging .

Perhaps my upbringing in Yorkshire, England gives me a different perspective, but getting somebody arrested for pelting you with an egg is a bit over the top.

Welcome to Japan, foreign students.

Disgusting. These little grubs will never amount to anything - thats our only consolation here.

Uuuaaaahh, racist scum!

I suppose these youngsters were brought up in the same kind of enviroment as Ed Norton's character in 'American History X'. I don't care in which country this stuff happens - it's always despicable and should not be tolerated. In fact, to support these students, officials in Saga should take action and denounce these boys' actions. An official apology wouldn't hurt either. Nip this in the bud, I say.

This is the direct result of the neonationalist rhetoric used by many of Japan's leaders, especially the present PM. Condoning and even promoting dislike towards especially Korea and China in political rhetoric will embolden directionless youths lacking a strong counterbalancing force that builds tolerance for difference.

They needed something to do.

Shame. 18 and 19 year olds are no longer kids and the fact that it was multiple incidences implicates the malicious nature. Ok maybe not prison but I hope something is done.

Perhaps my upbringing in Yorkshire, England gives me a different perspective, but getting somebody arrested for pelting you with an egg is a bit over the top.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/protester-convicted-of-pelting-minister-with-eggs-during-visit-1-2582923

Oh yeah, toss these kids into prison for throwing eggs. Wait, why not just take them out and flog them 100 times or better yet just shoot them?

18 and 19 are "kids" are they? And yes, everyone is suggesting jail time, flogginh and shooting them. A tad dramatic reaction, no?

Ah Cleo, ready to argue I see. No thanks. Old and boring.

Pelting someone with eggs is assult. I think assult charges are treated rather seriously in the UK. Heck, Beiber egged a house in the US and got dragged to jail for a few hours.

tmarie, your 'Oh you have a different opinion to mine, you must want an argument' is what's old and boring, and borderline paranoid. I expressed an opinion. I asked a question. I don't see how that is 'ready to argue'.

Yes, pelting someone with eggs is assault and it is taken seriously in the UK. As it should be. I don't imagine people feel any less assaulted if they happen to be the same race/nationality as the idiot throwing the eggs.

racist little brats

Cowards. Throwing eggs from the safety of a moving car. If they have issues with gaijin, they should confront them face to face.

Youths?????

@JoeBigs

When kids do silly things like this take them to their parents and let their parents handle it.

Couldn't this be the result of a general lack of parental care from the very start ? Children in Japan (as has been stated time and again) are just not disciplined. As children we were taught not to stare at someone a little "different", let alone pelt them with eggs or anything else ! Maybe these 19 and 18 year olds were bullied at school but their parents did absolutely NOTHING about it ? I believe this kind of behaviour is the result of parents not KNOWING how to bring up their offspring. "Letting their parents handle it" - since it seems they didn't do a very good job to start with, would just be a complete waste of time, they wouldn't even know how.

It's assault and it's a hate crime.

And battery

Someone threw an egg at me from a moving car once, in Liverpool. Hit me right in the back of the head and hurt like hell. I was pretty pissed off of course, but having been young and stupid not so long before that could certainly see the funny side, and wouldn't have wanted the perpetrators arrested. I was also very impressed - to hit that small a target from a moving car and at a decent distance takes a fair bit of skill. But this is totally different - 19 incidents all targeted at foreign students, as Reckless said, is harassment, and racial harassment at that.

As punishment, the gov't should "re-educate" these racists students by sending them to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Nepal and learn from the locals. They will need to work hard-labor to earn their living and tuition there. The gov't will only provide a roundtrip air tickets upon their "time served".

In fact, upon their arrival, the school should make notice of their racist deeds by announcing that to the whole school and neighborhood.

That way, these punks can be properly greeted, "re-educated" and learn of the consequences of their own reaping.

Jail is too kind for them and a waste of tax payers money.

If I were these students, Id be packing, but they have families, commitments to their education etc. So much for the welcome all the foreigners movement and reforms we are hearing about.

Fishy said

average japanese probably think this is terrible just like foreigners do.

I'm sure some Japanese friends and/or teachers did. I doubt that the foreign students were just ignored if they complained.

And the police that arrested these dorks - they were Japanese too.

So were the media that took up the story. Obviously they thought the story was something that their readers, also Japanese, would be interested in reading.

In fact, I'd like to know what apologies/condolences were made. There's lots of nice people here. I remember some very helpful guides who went out of their way when I visited Saga Castle. (Guides are volunteers. Some practice foreign languages to assist overseas tourists. By the way, Saga Castle is rather "unique" and has some very interesting history)

Different opinions are one thing, nitpicking is another.

Hate crimes are a serious issue in mst civilized countries. The fact that Japan has no laws against them speaks volumes.

As for suggestions about forcing these jerks to live abroad or live with foreigners, why should innocent foreigners be punished? Community service and hundreds of hours. Plenty of disgusting rivers that need cleaning.

while i love my vietnamese and thai friends, they hated them. I wish i could find those kids and get revenge for these poor ruugakusei.. :/

Different opinions are one thing, nitpicking is another.

What are you talking about? I asked a genuine question, namely how is pelting a person with eggs because they come from another country any different from pelting a person with eggs for any other inane, brainless reason? Throwing things at people is already assault, it's on the books, as is harassment. Why does there need to be another law for throwing things at a particular group of people?

Throwing eggs at people is wrong.

I never see any foriegners making trouble, especially from SE asia. Most leave lives of quite desparation. Occasionally you read about Chinese doing some crimes, but I have yet to see anybody doing violent behavior. I have seen plenty of Japanese doing it, however.

I don't know if these 'youths' really hated the foreign students. They probably found them to be easy targets and as there were no repercussions they continued throwing eggs. Now it has to stop. Time for some post-high school lectures and community service.

Reverse this. Just suppose these were foreign students throwing eggs at Japanese students. Would the Abe and LDP regime be satisfied with having them write essays and apologize? Dream on. They would throw the book at them and expel them from Japan. These punks are guilty of assault and battery, for which the law of this country are fairly severe. Let them have the full weight go the law on their backs.

Respectfully to some commenters, these "kids" are 18 and 19 and while they do not deserve the harshest of sentences, they are certainly going above and beyond schoolyard bullying.

...personally I think a week in prison with real criminals should be enough.

Maybe, MAYBE, doing it once, maybe I would close an eye, only one. But repeating the pelting on a number of times? Action should be taken! 18 and 19? Responsible enough to know what is right from wrong, to know the difference between 'innocent fun' and "making fun out of people, repeatedly, and probably even hurting them "

I don't know, the bullies seem to be needing some lessons in anthropology and respect for different cultures. Probably, their self esteem is also in bits if they need to pelt people with eggs to feel better/have fun.

Furthermore this ", as well as being hit with gravel fired from an air gun " really? That's taking it even further...

Send them on a 6-month homestay to Sudan or Eritrea or some other impoverished country. They will quickly learn how precious eggs are and how it may be handy having friends from and knowledge about different countries.

The comments here are interesting. Not quite sure what to think. I remember having a guy throw individual peanuts at me when I was on a Tokyo train. No one stopped him from doing that. I was quite pregnant then. I remember the man who did it. But, more than that, I remember the many people on the train who did NOTHING to stop him. I have had any number of incidents on trains in Tokyo when I was younger. In every situation, it was the people who did NOTHING that I remember most. There is something intriguing to young people about people who are different, sometimes it evokes a desire to cause them harm. One trend among bored young people is "rolling" homeless people who sometimes die as a result. Maybe starts out as a cat and mouse game and goes too far. Throwing eggs is not the point. Targeting particular types of other humans is the point.

I get a similar feeling with distinguishing between "molestation" and "rape." Some people make light of "molestation" as "not really a big deal." (different topic but I see a similarity here). An egg is not dangerous per ce, but nonetheless, a person of distinguishing features needs to be cautious in Saga now because what might by an egg or a peanut one day, could become a rock or a knife or a gun another day.

The egg is not the point. There is some underlying problem in their minds; a form of "othering."

I wonder who these young men role model are...Perhaps their grandparents, or their school teacher with their tempered history books ? Or maybe a very well known Japanese former big city Major...

@Kabukilover Reverse this. Just suppose these were foreign students throwing eggs at Japanese students. Would the Abe and LDP regime be satisfied with having them write essays and apologize? Dream on. They would throw the book at them and expel them from Japan."

You hit the nail on the head on many levels.

I could expound on this but "truth hurts" (you can see this by the consistent thumbs down on points that shine too much light. Perhaps as the awareness of such problems, and tactics gets more global attention progress can be made...

Punish the crime, not the motive. Punishing the motive is stupid, and the only reason its done anywhere is because the world is controlled by stupid people, who are the majority.

If this was done by them 19 times, that is 19 separate crimes to charge them with. Its plenty. No need to get all thought police on them.

Cleo - Your first post put it perfectly. Well said.

Pelting with eggs is silly childish - but firing gravel from airguns is a whole new ball game, which should be treated far more gravely as it hints at worse behaviour to come from these young fools.

@tmarie

Gee, a shame Japan has no hate laws or anti-racism/discrimination laws here so these idiots could be punished even more harshly for their crimes of picking on non-Japanese. Poor students. No one deserves this, more so just because of your ethnic background. Omotenashi Japan!

Amen!!

Seconded!!

QamarMay. 29, 2014 - 11:49PM JST Responsible enough to know what is right from wrong, to know the difference between 'innocent fun' and "making fun out of people,

It is perhaps unrealistic to expect the Japanese people to welcome so many immigrants when they have almost no experience of living together with people from other countries. Most Japanese people would rather starve than increase immigration.

And no one deserves to go to prison because they threw and egg. Teach them, but don't beat them.

Better yet: Restorative Justice: Let them apologize and go to work at the foreign studies center doing something productive by learning about the lives of, and helping, foreign students. Why do police like restorative justice? Because it changes lives while giving the victims a chance to get their needs met.

The irony here is that these J punks are almost certainly the outcasts of Japanese society. But that is pack mentality for you. The low end of the pecking order is even more brutal with those even lower than themselves.

just to be fair and to give people a little more info.. other than foreign students, some Japanese women had been pelted with mayo and eggs, too.. apparently, these boys are haters - or something wrong with their heads.

The irony here is that these J punks are almost certainly the outcasts of Japanese society. But that is pack mentality for you. The low end of the pecking order is even more brutal with those even lower than themselves.

Agreed.

...just to be fair and to give people a little more info.. other than foreign students, some Japanese women had been pelted with mayo and eggs, too...

Phew. That makes the whole situation so much better, thank dog they hit locals too...

The irony here is that these J punks are almost certainly the outcasts of Japanese society. But that is pack mentality for you. The low end of the pecking order is even more brutal with those even lower than themselves.

@ Mr.G: You hit the nail on the head. Just by the actions of these kids, you can see why back during WWII, those POW prison guards were some of the most brutal people around, when you look at how back then they were selected from those who were not really "the best" of the warriors and you can see how this is still carried out today.

For an interesting different aspect of this situation, take a look at what happens when a new person is hired into a Japanese company, and all of a suddent the old "new ones" then begin to rain down all of the frustrations on the new people. These are usually Japanese on Japanese. Throw a foreigner into the mix and it really explodes.

@Alphaape

You need to be cautious with such silly arguments ... during WWII, most of the prison guards were actually Koreans. The Japanese were officers.

@tmarie

Hate crimes are a serious issue in mst civilized countries. The fact that Japan has no laws against them speaks volumes.

It doesn't actually. It does not need additional laws because all such offences are already covered by existing laws.

Egg throwing is a strangely universal stage a certain percentage of youths appear to go through.

I know Japanese abroad who have suffered exactly the same experience from idiotic youth, only it never makes the front page of the newspapers to be brayed over.

Would this website, for example, publish a story, "Japanese oversea students hit by eggs and black muggers specializing in attack Asian females"? If it will, I will provide bona fide stories for it to follow up on.

Phew. That makes the whole situation so much better, thank dog they hit locals too...

no. my point was that this article was misleading. this is definitely a HATE crime. i was just pointing out that it wasn't just against foreigners. it does NOT make the situation any better - don't try to make a bitter comment because i'm as disgusted as you are about this news, too.

"According to police, the three youths threw eggs at the foreign exchange students from a car on numerous occasions"

where my non Japanese friend used to work, someone would take a mean dump at the bicycle parking place, where my friend parked the bike on numerous occasions.

The police were called but they did very little. They said they would patrol. Then the droppings changed from human dumps to pieces of trash, specifically where my friend parked the bike.

While it doesn't say that these guys were involved in all of the egg throwing incidents, it does say that they threw eggs at foreign students on numerous occasions. In a prefecture where foreigners comprise .4% of the population and foreign students a mere .03%, this would clearly seem to be a racist act. Had they simply wanted to engage in "youthful pranks" the obvious and easiest target would have been Japanese given how they far outnumber foreigners.

As for the notion that hate crime laws are "Orwellian", having a hate crime law on the books certainly doesn't mean you're not entitled to keep hating and thinking hateful thoughts, if that's what you want. You just can't act on it.

The different between throwing eggs at random people and at a certain group of people is intent and reason. Throwing eggs at anyone is wrong. No one here is disagreeing with that and I doubt anyone would. Stalking, following, planning and waiting for a particular group just makes it that much worse. Kind of like the different between 1st degree murder and 2nd degree murder. The end results is a dead person but it is the intent that makes 1st degree murder worse. Same with hate crimes. Calling a black person a name and calling them the N word is different because of the intent and feelings involved. I highly doubt I had to explain this though because most are well aware that racially based crimes are seen to be worse because of the reasoning and feelings incloved when compared to a random crime.

These "youths" have clearly been raised to believe that attacks on foreigners is fine. Whose to blame for that? Their parents and society. This is a country after all who had a mayor who suggested killing Koreans and Chinese in the event of a large earthquake in Tokyo. It's not surprising people here think foreigners are lower than locals when this kind of crap is spewed by "leaders" and those in power.

But I don't see how picking on someone because they're of a different nationality or ethnic group is any worse than picking on someone for any other stupid, mindless reason.

I agree with Cleo on this one. There are existing laws against this. Use the laws. The judge has discretion over sentencing. He or she can adjust appropriately for intent and lack of contrition under the current legal regimen.

The different between throwing eggs at random people and at a certain group of people is intent and reason.

Yes (leaving aside the fact that there is no reason to throw eggs at people)

Throwing eggs at anyone is wrong. No one here is disagreeing with that and I doubt anyone would.

Yes.

Stalking, following, planning and waiting for a particular group just makes it that much worse.

Again, yes. So isn't it just as bad regardless of whether the 'particular group' is made up of people from another country, members of a rival gang, people who live on the street, people who have more money....or the individual who you think stole your lover, the ex-lover who threw you over, the pop star/film star who's got all the money and fame you'll never have, the pretty girl/handsome chap who you hate because they're never going to give you the time of day...?

Calling a black person a name and calling them the N word is different because of the intent and feelings involved.

When calling people names falls under the heading of 'hate crime' I think we're on very muddy ground. Personally, I think it just shows ignorance and low class on the part of the one doing the name-calling.

Again, yes.

Great. So you once again agree with me so didn't need to nitpick my comments. Moving on...

When calling people names falls under the heading of 'hate crime' I think we're on very muddy ground. Personally, I think it just shows ignorance and low class on the part of the one doing the name-calling.

I would disagree. I would suggest it is hatred. Many "well educated" people are racist and bigots. I also don't think it is "muddy ground" at all. Rather clear as day to me when people are name calling a certain group for a reason based on hate. Hence "hate crime". I'll leave it that as I know from experience this can and would drag on if I bothered.

Imagine the uproar if the government decided that Japanese were a special group of people who needed protecting and punishments were increased in the event a crime was committed against a Japanese person. What is the real difference with hate crimes?

Essentially what hate crimes do is reward people for committing crimes against other groups. Consider, if a white man attacked a black man, it would be quickly assumed it was a hate crime. But if a black man attacked a white man that assumption would not come. Why? You think black people cannot be racists? Or you think white people are too superior to be race hated? Either way, you come out as a racist.

Further, I think its a bad idea to single out foreign students as being "extra special protected". That will incite hate against them.

Holy crap, I cannot believe some of you are attempting to defend these idiots. On what planet would this ever be regarded as acceptable behaviour? Hang your heads in shame.

Here's what I think:

Throwing stuff at random people is not cool.

Throwing stuff at people just because they look/talk different from you is really not cool.

M'kay?

Nepal?.....Really.

The Royal Gurkha Rifles are more than happy to assist with a tough training programme to steer them back on the straight any narrow........

Brigade of Gurkhas.

http://www.army.mod.uk/gurkhas/27784.aspx

Big deal. Happens in every country once in a while, no reason to draw the racism card but also no reason to condone this kind of behavior.

The crime should be punished but not the motive.

Japan is already bleeding and these kids are:

A) the symptom of a sick society

B) making it bleed even more.

I've copped rocks to the back and even had a bunch of students try to spit on me while on exchange way back in high school. Was a more rural part of Japan, and this type of thing does go on. Would never let a few bad eggs ruin it, though! As much as it pains me to say, it could really happen anywhere.

cleo: "Would it be less of a 'hate crime' if the victims had been students from another prefecture in Japan?"

The easy answer to that question is, did they throw them at Japanese from another prefecture?

No, they did not. They were targeted based on their nationality -- that's hate crime, pure and simple. If you want to argue the point that it would be no less hateful if they targeted Japanese as well, why not first argue for laws against hate crimes?

That said, I agree with zichi and others that, aside perhaps from gravel being shot from an air gun, they should be forced to apologize face to face to anyone who claims to have been pelted by eggs or had mayo thrown at them and do community service for a number of hours, but not thrown in jail (if they could be to begin with). This is not just kids being stupid, given that there have been more than 19 incidents reported (and probably others not), so serious actions need to be taken, but again, so long as they are punished in a way that they can understand their wrong-doing and try to make amends, that's enough. As for the gravel shooting thing -- that's a little more serious. Whomever admits to that should be sent to a reformatory.

The easy answer to that question is, did they throw them at Japanese from another prefecture?

No, they did not. They were targeted based on their nationality -- that's hate crime, pure and simple. If you want to argue the point that it would be no less hateful if they targeted Japanese as well, why not first argue for laws against hate crimes

It isn't an answer at all. Why they were targeted may be a factor (and can be considered in the sentencing), but it doesn't change the fact that assault is already a crime, and these people were assaulted. There are already laws to deal with assault.

Anti-discrimnination laws are different; e.g. it isn't against the law to refuse to rent accommodation to a person if the landlord has good reason to assume the person will be a bad tenant - fail to pay the rent, or destroy the property - but it is (should be) against the law to refuse to rent accommodation to a person purely on the basis of his race/nationality.

Assault is Aussalt regardless of the motivation behind it.

And should be treated as such.

In my experience these types of attacks escalate such in this case eggs to stones. In schools I have heard from paper to erasers to pencils and compasses.

smithinjapan -

The easy answer to that question is, did they throw them at Japanese from another prefecture? No, they did not. They were targeted based on their nationality -- that's hate crime, pure and simple. If you want to argue the point that it would be no less hateful if they targeted Japanese as well, why not first argue for laws against hate crimes?

yes they did - they threw eggs/mayo to japanese women.

an assault is an assault, whoever the target is, it doesn't make it okay at all, but just wanted to support cleo's statements as i tend to agree with her opinions here.

For all the apologists...don't complain when a Japanese tourist goes to Sri Lanka or Vietnam and is shocked that people there don't like them. These students will go home with stories of Japanese personal racism and subsequent institutional indifference if this young adults aren't disiplined. To suggest the parents will do it is ridiculous. Where do you think they got their attitudes from in the first place? I'd expect a face-to-face apology at the very least.

race issue ... if i saw this stubborn youth i will throw a ketchup on their face ...