chikan beat-down

Someone posted this news story on the Fighting 44s site. Maybe it's cruel of me, but I laughed.

Japan 'groper' dies after fleeing A Japanese man has died after being tackled by fellow train passengers who believed he had molested a woman during the morning rush hour. The man fled the train at a station in the city of Osaka after a 20-year-old student accused him of groping her. The 40-year-old was brought to the ground by four male passengers, who included at least one off-duty police officer. He died later in hospital. Women-only carriages run on some trains in Japan because of groping complaints. The college student accused the man of groping her on Tuesday, shortly after the train they were travelling in stopped at JR Tennoji Station in Osaka, Mainichi newspaper reported. He ran away but was chased by four other passengers, who tackled him on the platform. "We are looking into the cause of death and details about how he was overpowered by the passengers," a police spokesman told the French news agency AFP. Despite the introduction of penalties and women-only carriages, Tokyo police reported more than 2,000 groping incidents on the city's trains last year.

Yeah, groping on the train is still a big problem in Japan. You have to wonder if it's a combination of the emotional repression that many Japanese men have combined with the ironic state loneliness there is there in a densely packed urban setting. Some of my Japanese friends who were girls actually would refuse to ride the train during rush hour unless they could get into the 'ladies only car'. I don't really blame them.

Funny how train stories from Japan keep happening at stations I'm familar with. JR Tennoji is kinda on more on the southern-side of Osaka on the JR loop; I'd go there to meet up with my friend Michelle or hop another train line to go near her place at Kashihara.

Still, despite the problems, I wish Seattle had some trains...


.:.

More album lists of the year in addition to my list, with an indie rock slant:

-davephonic's top five of 2005
-six underground top ten of 2005

Nice.
posted by G at 8:48 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33