Ernest Schaal wrote:

> In japan, chikan is the rule for men, not the exception.

This is a different Japan from the one I live in, surrounded as I am by very
decent (male and female) neighbours and with very decent (male and female)
colleagues at work and only once (in ten years) observing any form of
impropriety. On that occasion the young woman involved said, as she got off
the train, "Hey, you! Yes, you with the [detailed physical description]!
Sukebe!" All eyes were on him, laughing and mocking, and he practically
crawled out of the train at the next stop.
Perhaps I live a sheltered life, but pray tell me about this Japan in which
"chikan is the rule". In my teens I hung around some pretty dicey quarters
of Spanish cities and gained some interesting - but one-sided - views of
life in Spain as a result. Perhaps you can give me the low-down on an
equally murky and - albeit one-sided - spicey version of life in Japan, to
brighten up my well-ordered, but admittedly sometimes comparatively dull,
existence.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com