> > There's not usually very much one *can* do.
>
> Call the police. Bring the victim to the police. If you think it is safe,
> apprehend the person yourself.

Um, how? Do I just say, in a very loud voice, "Police!" and expect one to
suddenly appear on a moving train?

> > The first time I saw it in
> > Japan, for instance, all I saw was one man *giving* another man a
wallet.
>
> So how do you know it was pickpocketing?

Duh, I knew how pickpockets operated, I saw the second half of the operation
(passing the booty to an accomplice), I *might* have been mistaken but when,
after ignoring my warning for ten minutes, a fellow passenger suddenly
noticed his wallet had gone missing, I knew I had been right.

 > > the perps had got out long before.
>
> Oh. And what of the police?

What police? By what powers, natural or supernatural, could I have conjured
the police into this situation? Anyway, I couldn't even have sworn to the
two people responsible. All I saw was a hand pass a wallet into another
person's hand. I guessed at the faces matching the hands, but this was a
crowded train. I could have been wrong. That's why pickpockets choose to
operate in them; it's almost impossible to pin down the culprits.

> > The second time, I saw a woman relieved of her purse. I told her what
I'd
> > seen and who did it, but also warned her that he'd have passed it along
to
> > his friend by now, which was true enough; he emptied out his pockets
with an
> > air of aggrieved innocence to show he was clean.
>
> And what of the police?

What police?

> Was it too dangerous for you have done something yourself?

I *did* do something. I told you what I did. The person who'd stolen the
wallet had passed the goods on to someone else. Even supposing I could have
put a half-nelson on the guy and frogmarched him to the nearest koban, what
proof would I have had?

> > And before you fall back on your statistics, forget it. They just don't
cut
> > it. Most people in the UK have had something stolen at least once in
their
> > lives, but that doesn't make theft "the norm".
>
> Why not? How much is a norm to you?

The norm is the norm. If you want it as defined by the dictionary it means
"what is expected or regared as normal; customary behaviour". It's normal
and customary for people to read books on trains, it's normal for them to
chat to each other, listen to their Walkman, doze off, etc., etc.. It is
*not* normal or customary for them to approach people and relieve them of
their belongings, and it is not normal or customary for them to approach a
member of the (usually) opposite sex and start groping.

Why is this so hard to understand?

> > Eric, you just said it yourself; *you have never seen chikan behaviour*.
>
> Of course not, I don't ride the train. And so what?

So why are you so damned sure that it is normal for people to be groping
unwilling victims on trains? Let me assure you, as one who uses them
frequently, that such behaviour is very much the exception. It is not the
rule.

> Read, ask or hear about the reality, not just assume there are no chikan
or few
> chikan because you haven't seen any yourself.

Eric, I am not assuming that there are no chikan or few chikan, I am just
telling you <ear-trumpet html/ start> IT IS NOT THE NORM <ear-trumpet html/
end>. If Ernest Schaal had said it was a problem, I'd not have disgreed, if
he'd said it was a worse problem than in many other countries I'd have
allowed him that, but when he says it's the norm he's going over the top.
But, heck, believe him if you like, why should I care?

> > To say that chikan is the norm for Japanese men is distorted and
prejudiced.
>
> Depends on what the statement means. Does it mean that it is claimed that
> Japanese men (generalization) are chikan?

Well, that's what it means if you go by the dictionary. That's why I've been
attacking it as a form of prejudice. This is the statement I've been
objecting to and you've been defending; you judge for yourself:

> In japan, chikan is the rule for men, not the exception. [Ernest Schaal]

Like I say, believe it if you like - I really couldn't care less, and you
are welcome to your views - but allow me to say I beg to differ.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com