"John R. Yamamoto- Wilson" wrote:

> Eric wrote:
>
> > >
> > > > Are you starting to get that you will not actually see it yourself,
> yet,
> > > even
> > > > if it happens with you there?
> > >
> > > Well, I wouldn't have seen anything because there were several human
> bodies
> > > between me and her. People right next to her might have noticed
> something. I
> > > can't say.
> >
> > And if they had noticed anything, they did nothing.
>
> Right. And that's finally reminded me of something I should have thought of
> long before...
>
> It's funny how, after ten years living in a country, one no longer even
> notices the things that at first struck one as strange.

I don't like sexual discrimination, but after so many women choose for
themselves to hold themselves down, and so many answer that they support
traditional gender roles despite all women's talk about wanting to work, etc.,
I believe sexual discrimination here is normal.

> When I first came to
> Japan, the biggest difference I noticed between the trains here and those in
> the UK (apart from the fact that the Japanese trains actually run on time!)
> was the lack of emergency cords/buttons/levers...*anything*!
>
> Passengers on Japanese trains have no way to alert the driver, no way to
> force the train to an emergency stop, no way to ensure that the doors will
> not simply open and let social miscreants out at the next stop.

Well, I would hardly expect the train to come screeching to a halt midway to
detain some pervert or pick pocket, if people were never willing to react in
the first place. Half of Japanese carry cell phones, and about half of those
cell phones have cameras, for example. But they aren't used much against train
crime, either, it would seem, or station police or rail personnel could be
waiting at the next stop before anyone got off.

> As I say,
> when I first came to Japan I found that odd. Now I have come to accept it so
> much I don't even notice it and had so far ceased to be aware of it that its
> possible relevance to this discussion didn't even occur to me.

It distracts one from the real point of the matter, which is your disbelief in
something you do not personally witness or experience, or your rejection of
things you do not agree with, and your further disinterest in finding out the
truth for yourself outside your own experience.

> It is not simply the supposed twisted mentality of Japanese men that is
> leading to this situation on the trains.

What else is there leading to men from near all age groups and walks of life
feeling up complete strangers in a public place?

> As I say, I don't give much
> credence to the idea that Japanese men are significantly more deviant than
> men anywhere else.

I didn't say that, though they sure like them young here, and materials for
those who like them young are much more widely available.

> It is the fact that, in addition to there being a sick
> minority that wants to get up to this kind of behaviour, there is
> *opportunity*. On the platforms there are surveillance cameras, but once
> inside the train there is nothing.

People need to patrol themselves in this particular instance. They need to
react to what they see, and victims need to get over their shame, if they want
something done.

> Rather than saying the problem lies with the supposed fact that it is "the
> norm" for Japanese men to grope women, it would perhaps be more constructive
> to urge the authorities to give passengers that basic degree of control
> conferred by an emergency cord, so they can alert the driver to the fact
> that there is a problem.

Japanese would not put on the brakes just to tell everyone that someone has his
hand up her skirt, nor would fellow passengers appreciate it. Think about it.
Victims endure it, and witnesses ignore it, because they don't want to cause a
scene and don't want to get involved. I asked one victim why she simply endured
her abuse on her commute to school from that stalker chikan. Because it ended
(each time), she said. I asked a victim why she didn't leave the theater when a
man sat next to her during a movie and felt up her legs, even following when
she changed seats. Because she wanted to see the movie, she said. I asked a
woman why she didn't do anything about the man who raped her at the age of
nine. Because she sees that he's a nobody, she said.

Don't ask me to understand.