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Japan is pretty famous for its packed trains that invite occasional "chikan" (groping incidents). Luckily, in light of improving rights for women in Japan, the law of late tends to come down pretty hard on train gropers. Assuming a victim or a witness to such a crime speaks up about it, a perpetrator typically faces immediate arrest at the next train station and can probably expect to do some jail time.
While this system works pretty well for the most part, it’s not unheard of for some unlucky guys to face career and life-destroying consequences after being falsely accused of groping. One Japanese Twitter user, in fact, posted a series of Tweets detailing a close call he had himself, relating that he was almost certainly destined for the slammer if he hadn’t been saved by the alleged victim herself.
Twitter user @kuro_todo says he was riding the train on the morning of May 18 when another male passenger suddenly – and very publicly – accused him of groping a woman near him on the train. The male passenger then apparently demanded kuro_todo accompany him to the police station at the next stop.
But the hapless (self-proclaimed) otaku was apparently saved in the nick of time when the alleged victim came to his aid in a surreal twist of fate.
Here’s the Twitter user telling his story:
“I was riding the train today on my usual route to work. Crowded as always. A girl got on the train and stood in front of me. Suddenly this old guy shouted, ‘You! In the glasses! I saw you grope that girl!'
“The old guy tells me he’s going to escort me to the police station at the next stop and says he saw me touch the girl’s butt with the hand I was holding my bag in. What a drag.
“But the girl smiles and tells the old guy that we’re just playing around. She gets off the train with me at the next station, says, ‘See you later!’ and gives me a hug for some reason! I was so stunned I had to sit down for a while. The whole situation was like something out of a manga!”
The Twitter user goes on to turn the situation into a teachable moment, subsequently tweeting that the woman almost certainly wouldn’t have stuck her neck out for him if not for the fact that he takes the time for proper grooming, cares about his sartorial choices, and doesn’t look like your standard, creepy otaku.
“Otaku friends,” he goes on to say, “Remember to spend a little money and time on looking good. It might save you some day.”
It’s probably worth pointing out that this whole story is just a small series of tweets and that kuro_todo offers up no solid evidence that it even happened at all, so this could very well be some kind of made up brag; the social media-age equivalent of that kid on the playground who gloats about his hot girlfriend who, wouldn’t you know it, happens to live in Canada so he can’t introduce you.
Still, assuming the story is true, good on the true hero of this story: the alleged victim that handled things with incredible tact and grace and could have just prevented an innocent man having his entire life turned upside-down.
Source: My Game News Flash
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- New iPad App “The Legend of Momotaro” Brings Japanese Folk Tale to Life -- Rodin’s “The Thinker” goes thoughtless in Japan -- “I think I love you…”: Romantic confessions from around the world
© Japan Today
41 Comments
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Noble713
Articles like this remind you that there are certain advantages to the "gaijin bubble" on subways here.
In other words, women are much more tolerable of a man's presence and possible sexual advances if he's well-dressed and decent looking. No surprise here. It reminds me of that classic SNL skit with Tom Brady: https://youtu.be/PxuUkYiaUc8
Alistair Carnell
So, a news story from Twitter, which has no evidence of ever happening.... I dispare.
Living Memory
The word you want is "suspect".
And far more interesting is how this could have gone wrong. Old man accuses, and girl believes it even though she felt and saw nothing. Both take the suspect to the police and destroy him. He goes to court, pays a fine and gets his name printed in the paper. He loses his job and his wife leaves him, taking the kids and booting him out of his house. And what was the crime again? He touched some girl's butt, or didn't. Even if he was guilty the punishment was way out of proportion.
Yes it would be nice if groping ended. But ruining some guy's lives won't accomplish that.
Alistair Carnell
clueless
Lived here for 10 years and I still brick it when I ride on trains. Bad enough that some woman may falsely accuse me of touching her...I don't need no bloke trying to dob me in it either. So, I hang there, both hands grabbing the strap and swinging like some crazed gibbon. Why does Japan have this problem?
Mirai Hayashi
I totally didn't get this article at all. So a guy "allegedly" gropes a girl on a train, and some old guy calls him out for it. But the girl defends him by saying "we were only playing around"?...WTF?
First of all, if he REALLY was groping her, shouldn't the girl have called him out, instead of giving him a hug (which I thought was also a very odd thing to do). Basically she would have been rewarding him for bad behavior, and encourages him to find another victim. Another thing I found odd was him advising other otakus to dress nicely, as if to also encourage them to grope women on trains, but only do it if you look good so you have a better chance of getting away with it?
And if he didn't do it, shouldn't the girl have just told the old guy that he didn't do it, instead of putting on a very odd public display? Sorry, but I find this whole story to be very incredible and it sounds as if the whole thing was fabricated by the said Twitter user to up his follower based.
Either way, this is hardly newsworthy and definitely shouldn't be in the crime section is there was no arrest, complaint by the victim, or even evidence of the incident actually happening
DaDude
At the police station
Old man: This man here grabbed a woman on the train.
Police: Oh yeah, what woman?
Old man: Oh!
I have heard of times that this happens and the accuser takes the "suspect" to an ATM and to get hush money.
JackKasket
I'd like to share a story.
On my usual morning route, there happened to be a foreign guy, most likely Brazilian, sitting next to a girl in a summer dress. He was couple of rows away and I had a pretty good vantage point as I always stand on this leg of the train ride.
Suddenly, through my earphones, I hear this guy yell very loudly at the girl. What I gathered is that the guy was reaching for his phone in his left trouser pocket (right handers have it there), somehow brushed against the summer dress girl's leg, and now the girl was accusing him of chikan.
Well, I didn't see what happened, but this guy did what is in my opinion exactly correct. He yelled like a madman, explained the situation in loud voice to everyone in the car, asked the people sitting opposite of him to confirm that they saw what happened, and I think he even directly accused the girl a liar.
I hope he came out OK, and by the looks of it, I'm pretty certain. Give me a shout if you see this!
Moral of the story: Gaijin Card works if you use it. Also, always stand facing the doors with phone in both hands.
Or don't. I don't care.
Mocheake
I call bull. This is like one of those stories people used to write in sex magazine forums: entertaining but totally made up.
Jalapeno
Mocheake - agree. Nice bait and switch, JT. Should have know things were fishy when the guy wrote the woman hugged him. Not in a million years would that happen here.
turbotsat
Couldn't he have reached his phone without brushing her leg? Shouldn't his reaction have been apologies, instead of screaming? If he'd just bumped her leg, maybe she wouldn't have screamed. But maybe he slooooowly dragged his phone out and stroked her leg while doing so.
Magnus Roe
Do right handers keep their phones in their left pocket? Left jacket pocket maybe, but left trouser seems awkward to me. Of course sliding our (increasingly large) phones out of our trouser pockets is always an awkward thing to do though, it's very hard to do without interacting with the next person's leg in some way or another (your legs are already likely directly touching and the phone is probably suspended between two pairs of hips)
G.MAL.O.Q
Oh dear here we go again, the usual suspects with too much time on their hands are gonna be commenting on this one all day...
JackKasket
Right front pants pocket: Keys Right back pants pocket: Wallet Left front pants pocket: Phone
Only weirdos deviate.
Living in a country with pickpockets, you'll never put a phone in your jacket pocket.
Plus, it was summer...
JackKasket
*Having lived (sigh)
SenseNotSoCommon
Sounds like a fabrication.
I had a very attractive woman back slowly (and what seemed deliberately) into me on a train that still had room for her to move elsewhere (I was against the doors). It was terrifying, as the consequences of my involuntary stirrings could have been Orwellian in scale and scope.
ShyDingo
If I was hearing this guys story in person I'm sure my response would be "cool story bro".
Monozuki
For argument's sake, let's assume that the Twitter user's story was true. But still I want to know what happened after she had said "See you later!" and hugged him. Did he actually meet her again and make her his girlfriend, by any chance? :-P
Wakarimasen
This is sooooooo made up.
sandiegoluv
I try my best to never ride the train at all. If I do, I put both hands up in the air in the "freeze" position. I try to never, ever stand near women at all. I don't even like riding the elevator with one or two people. I have gotten off the elevator quite a few times when confronted with two people on the elevator. Reason: There have been situations where a woman has claimed that she was groped and someone was there to say that it was true and forced the guy to pay money or they would turn him in. If turned in, you can best believe that it will be a long stay in jail and without any evidence to prove that you didn't do it, you will either have to go to jail for quite a long time or pay a very large sum of money, or both.
It is not fair. Just because a woman says she was groped does not mean that she was. Might have been. Might not have been. Might want attention or money. If she does not have proof that he did it, then he should not be punished. Evidence should work both ways, not just cause she said so.
Frankly I want men and women to be separated on the trains and for there too be a ridiculous amount of cameras in the stations and elevators for the safety of women and men as well.
Kabukilover
We need men only train cars.
lostrune2
That's when more security cameras help make people feel safer
http://www.japantoday.com/category/poll/view/do-surveillance-cameras-in-buildings-stations-and-on-streets-make-you-feel-safer
Serrano
Either this is sooooooo made up or it's total fiction.
Yubaru
Thank you for stating so very well what I was thinking. The story sounds so wrong on so many levels that it makes me think it's pure BS and someone just looking for their 1 second of fame.
sandiegoluv
More cameras sure would make me feel a lot safer. I don't fear the government nor do I have anything to hide.
iLikeTurtles
Story sounds made up to me.
You lived in a country with a pickpocket problem and still put you wallet in your back pocket? :o
Fadamor
You are correct. You didn't get it. What allegedly happened (there's no proof it ever did besides this man's tweets), is that some girl got on the train in front of the tweeter, and some OTHER guy accused him of groping her - allegedly with a hand that was holding a bag. The girl, allegedly defended the tweeter by telling the accuser that they were in a relationship.
So in summary: There was no groping, there was no relationship, and there was no proof this all isn't the product of an overactive imagination.
Living Memory
Got to love how people sit comfortably at their keyboard and declare what people to do in real life situations on the fly to be illogical. People do odd and irrational things on the go. Come on. You know that don't you? On the other hand, sometimes people are a heck of a lot smarter than you think:
The right handed guy with his cell phone in his left pants pocket--- Okay, maybe he does not do that all the time. Maybe he was juggling a bunch of stuff and that is where his phone ended up that day. Or, maybe he was left handed after all,but used his right hand in order to make a clear motion everyone could see. If it was his left hand it would have been easier to accuse him of groping because the motion is harder to see, and would be the hand a REAL groper would have used since its closer to her, don't you think?
As for apologizing being better than yelling--- Apologizing registers as guilt in the minds of others, even if you are apologizing about something totally different. People are stupid, especially in sudden real life situations. Even in Japan apologizing is not always your best option. In fact, angry denials are so rare here, Japanese generally have no ability to counter them. And if you do it as described, by involving all around and presenting a clear explanation, its quite the trump card.
Lastly, why not just explain to the old man what happened?---Because she did not actually know what happened! If she says he did not touch her, the old man may respond that yes, he did, and the old man saw it. If she says he did touch me, but surely it was an accident, the old man responds, I saw it, and it was no accident. But if she responds that he is her BF and they were fooling around, BOOM, end of discussion. Old man is speechless and dumbfounded and sits his grumpy hyper-reactive butt down.
I am in the camp that the story is most likely made up. However, it may be real and that woman is a genius of sorts cause she took the one option that guaranteed to take the wind right out of that old man's sails!
toshiko
This one did not think of security camera on up when xreqted this story. jobless pervert wanted to sell his story.
Qamar
Magnus Roe: right hander here: I used to keep my mobile phone in my left leg trouser! Now the phones are too large and I have to keep it in my bag :(. Anyway, yes it can be awkward, even as a woman to try and get your phone out of your pocket on a full train or bus. Once I dropped my phone, another time I did brush against a guy's leg and he wasn't happy at all and accused me of being many things I'm never going to be. Saying 'sorry' only made him angrier and it was only thanks to an old lady who happened to know my family that he stopped accusing me. Whenever I meet the guy on the bus I make sure to avoid him.
scoobydoo
Possibly made up story but what interested me was the above quote. Aren't mobile phones supposed to be convenient and look what they have become.
Knox Harrington
Correct. No Japanese people hug. Ever.
Rob Din
Woman hugged the guy???? In Japan woman don't even hug their husband. This can happen if either the guy is from US with white skin and blue eyes OR he must have flashed few $$$ to this woman.
If you have seen how Japanese woman are crazy for Americans then you won't be surprised by this news.
Rob
toshiko
How Japanese men behave when hugged in oublic. Recall one or pic of day here. When Kelly tried to hug one of Japanese official, he tried to escape that Kelly almost fell on him. On left side Abe and others were laughing. When one of three social laws since 1940 was repealed a few months ago, Japanese mrfia reminded other two laws. Dance law was repealed. a majority of Japanese know hugging in public and kissing in public are still illetal. Don't believe Japanese women are crazy about Americna men if you are American man or GI. Don't become victim of Women's Marshal Arts known as KuNoIchi or Judo and Karate. '
Dan Lewis
It's all true. Actually I was just up as a girl at the time looking for some train-groping thrills.
Triumvere
Story doesn't make any sense. If this was some sort of scam, how is it supposed to work without the girl being involved? Furthermore, why did she pretend to be his girlfriend? If he never touched her, why didn't she just say that hadn't been touched?
Alec Savard
It looks like fake to me. For the Canadian girl friend, I think I wouldn't blame someone for lying about having a gf from Canada because we're such nice people!
Simon Phillips
This is BS on so man levels but what gets me is when the guys and girls say they will take you to the police station. Is their any law in Japan that make you follow any ordinary person if requested to go somewhere? I mean even station staff do they have the right by law to arrest you? If some men demanded I go to the station I would just walk off and if they touched me I would brush him off and exit the station asp...... I know that fighting the guy can lead you to more trouble but most of the time the wannabe-hero would back down no?
Jalapeno
Knox - when is the last time in Japan a Japanese girl you didn't know hugged you?