crime

4 high school students held over attacks on homeless men in Tokyo park

63 Comments

Police said Tuesday they have arrested four high school students, aged 16-17, for assaulting a homeless man in Shakuji Park in Tokyo's Nerima Ward in December. The youths, who cannot be named because they are minors, have admitted to assaulting 5 or 6 other elderly homeless men in parks, Sankei Shimbun reported.

On Dec 12 at about 3 a.m., a homeless 56-year-old man was walking in Shakuji Park when he was stopped by five youths who asked him if he had any money. He said they then hit him with sticks, stole 500 yen from him, and tossed him into the pond.

Police said there had been two other early morning assaults by youths in the same park in a two-week period in December. In both cases, the victims were older men — one in his 60s and the other in his 70s.

Assaults were also reported in December in Ohjima Komatsugawa Park in Tokyo’s Edo Ward. In one case, a homeless man in his 70s told police he was in the public toilet at around 5 a.m. when suddenly four or five youths came in and threw water on him. He said they dragged him around on their bicycles before fleeing.

Police said that the four students who have been arrested all attend the same high school in Nerima Ward. Sankei Shimbun reported that three of the boys belong to a gang called "Gorimacho Gundan" (Macho Gorilla Gang) and that they had been involved in a turf fight with another gang in Suginami Ward on Dec 11.

One of the boys told police that they had been forced to retreat and wanted to take their frustration out on somebody, so they decided to go "oyaji-hunting" (attacking elderly men), Sankei reported. One of the boys was quoted as saying that it was fun to hit old men.

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63 Comments
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"Macho Gorilla Gang"?! These morons weren't so macho when they chose to beat up old guys who stood no chance against them. Hope the victims have recovered.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

One of the boys was quoted as saying that it was fun to hit old men

It is also fun for me to smack people that act and behave like this. One of these punks being my punching bag substitution for the day would be really great. It'll work fine for me.

8 ( +13 / -5 )

Something tells me that us "oyajis' should go Macho Gorilla Gang hunting.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

time to bring back corporal punishment, at least for minors. a few good public cane lashing will set teenagers straight.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

"One of the boys told police that they had been forced to retreat and wanted to take their frustration out on somebody".

Because we can fight kids our own age and win! Twats!

6 ( +7 / -1 )

These kids are sick. Do they not have parents? Hold the parents responsible too.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Anybody see a trend here ????? People in Japan make fun of and disrespect homeless people. Not all japanese people but some people regard homeless people as "rats"

I hope the teachersand principals talk to their students about respecting " HUMAN LIFE "

Everybody has a right to live.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

On Halloween, I'm dressing up like an oyaji, hang-out in one of these parks and have myself a blast. HE HE HE!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Minors convicted of such anti-social, borderline sociopathic crimes shouldn't have their identities hidden.

They should set up a stage next to Hachi-Ko, read out each of their names and crime comitted in turn, then give them a decent flogging with a cane. Mindless idiots like these won't respond to strict words or morals.

When they can't sit down for a week afterwards, maybe they'll think twice before targeting the vulnerable in society. Pathetic excuse for human beings.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

One of the boys told police that they had been forced to retreat and wanted to take their frustration out on somebody, so they decided to go “oyaji-hunting”

Yes, very macho. You gorilla.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

This is trending which is really. How is hitting old homeless people "fun". Truly disgusting! All of these guys should be required to spend a year or more in homes helping the elderly or homeless. And what kind stupid name is "macho gorilla gang?" More like 4 cowardly monkeys!

4 ( +6 / -2 )

These kids will likely be nothing but a drain on society. Execute them now.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

The homeless have a hard enough life without having to face thugs with their mindless violence. 4 youths between 16 and 17 years old should not have been anywhere else at 3 am in the morning but in their warm cosy beds sleeping safely. Why attack people who do not have that advantage.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Yeah Yeah....this too young to name crap is ridiculous. How about naming the high school that these cowards go to!! Or is that against the law too??? I hope they spend some time behind bars where there is a REAL Macho Gorilla who does likewise to these rodents.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

JT - gorimaccho means a very buff or muscular guy, not gorilla macho. It's another one of those new words, like hosomaccho, which means a skinny guy with some muscle. Still, I'm sure they'll find out they aren't very "macho" at all if they end up in prison.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

These "kids" need to be punished. I think all the posters to date can agree to this. Additionally, what is up with their parents? These little monsters are out at 3am, 4am and 5am? Seems to me that ankle monitors, house arrest (save for school) and the possibility of real jail time is needed. Society can either set these kids on the right and narrow path now, or see them as failures for the rest of their to-be pathetic and destructive lives.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

'“Gorimacho Gundan” (Macho Gorilla Gang)'

With a name like that they deserve a beat down. Morons. Sadly, as they are underage, nothing will happen except a sigh and a 'shouganai'.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Oh yes very macho beating the crap out of defenseless old people because your ass gets handed to you by people of similar age....

Force them to do unpaid hard labor and some time with the old cane. Something needs to be done about these youths or Japan will find itself in a similar situation to the UK.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Ganging up on a person and assaulting them because you had to run away from or retreat from a gang war is stupid. It's just like those young men and woman in Osaka who commited murder just because they felt like assaulting someone.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japan used to be one of the safest countries maybe but these youth gang members are picking on the vunerable to keep in practice. And I read the other day that with the Yakuza crackdown there will be a lot more violent crimes.

Kenichi Shinoda, head of the Yamaguchi-gumi, said in a rare media interview. "If the Yamaguchi-gumi were to be disbanded, public order would deteriorate immediately," he told the Sankei Shimbun. The result, he warned, would be the creation of a population of dispossessed mobsters who could turn to violent crime to make a living.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Where are the parents? This is pathetic, these scum need an ass kicking.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

" One of the boys was quoted as saying that it was fun to hit old men. "

Reading this makes think it might be fun to hit young punks. I hope they are on the receiving end of some ojisan tough love.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

LOL, they should get custom jackets made for them with the name of the gang in English, and sent on a free trip to the ghetto areas in NY, NJ, or Boston and get a lesson from a real gang!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This is very, very BAD!! Stupid kids, I hope they get a good old fashioned horse whippin!! Poor old homeless dude.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

There needs to be more playground justice dished out in Japanese high schools to stop these pathetic little thugs picking on the defenseless.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

These Japanese kids are really Sick minded they shroud be punished...as a lesson for their entire life time..

2 ( +3 / -1 )

So that's a disgusting attack on homeless, one in Osaka on a foreigner.... Yep, "safety" country... Japan really needs to start looking into the issues that are eroding their society as this type of crime is only going to get worse in the next few years if the economy continues to tank like it is. And teenagers? Charge their parents and hold them accountable.

It's not a myth, whoever said Japan was crime free? Incidences and attacks will always happen anywhere there are PEOPLE, but the fact remains that Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, unlike your beloved UK. If you just read the crime section, then it's easy to make the assumption that Japan is some sort of crime-stricken dystopia. But it isn't love, no matter how much you want it to be. Crime rates have actually been dropping, despite the economy 'tanking' as you like to say. In 2009 alone, there were fewer murders than any year since 1945.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

I would love to have an international Battle Royal-style gathering on some desert island between the world's worst boneheads 18 and under. I'm curious to see who the baddest of the bad would be. Not that a J-crew would win, but it would be neat to see all of these punks humiliated by some of their own ilk. Then just take the winning crew of baddies, bury them up to their necks in the sand and feed a company of ants with them. I bet you could sell a tonne of pay-per-view subscriptions for something like that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Japanese chavs in need of a good slapping!

1 ( +3 / -2 )

You will find them at the milk bar.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

If these maggots were on fire, I for one wouldn't stop to help them - I'd probably chuckle. Cowards who will end up achieving nothing in life - I only wish they could be named and their address exposed. They live in the slums of Nerima Ward - I wonder which High School they attend? Pity the poor teachers there. May have to check 2ch and see if them mob have been able to get info on them...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A continued sign of the decay of Japan, due to a lack of strong family units in modern Japan.

Kizuna??

Yet, look back on your own life and some of the crazy stuff you did when you were a teen that mommy and daddy didn't know about. Still feeling the same way? Ni idea what the hell you were doing as a teenager but no one I know was causing bodily injury and attacking random people.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

It all has to do with the frontal lobe of the brain. It is just not developed enough, so decision making gets screwed up. Make for great canon fodder though. Force them to enlist, and send them up to Fukushima to work.

Actually, the 17 year olds can repent and go to JCop school when they are 18 and be given a gun, a taser, and book to write tickets to HS girls with short skirts riding bikes.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It is not taking out frustration.

I meet and talk many young teenage boys and girls. When they become a bit relaxed they proudly boast with their wrongdoings. Torturing, assaulting homeless, old ones and animals without reason, young girls working part time in convenience stores and supermarkets and cheating their employers by letting their friends and families off with expensive shopping without scanning the goods and charging for it at the cashier. After two months they quit and rush for a new part time employment at another place. They are smart. They are good actresses, they smile and are lovely like you don't know what.

The point is, they have no remorse, they feel they are doing the right thing and feel themselves entitled to act like this. They do many other dirty things, I just don't mention them as it would be off topic to discuss it in this thread.

That's a much worse and bigger problem than a few crazy frustrated ones assaulted an old man.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I don't think their parents care hat these kids do, otherwise those kids would not be in a gang or out at all hours of the night / early morning. What parent who takes an active role in their kids lives would allow such a thing. It's clear civility is not part of their upbringing when preying on the weak is acceptable and probably encouraged. The words I am sorry are only acceptable when coming from a pre-teen whose learning the ropes, not full grown adults. Adults and teenagers need to be held accountable for the actions.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I meant: I don't think their parents care WHAT these kids do,

1 ( +1 / -0 )

JT - gorimaccho means a very buff or muscular guy, not gorilla macho. It's another one of those new words, like hosomaccho, which means a skinny guy with some muscle. Still, I'm sure they'll find out they aren't very "macho" at all if they end up in prison.

Shh!! don't tell them that! I want to see 4 punky Japanese kids with "Gorilla Macho" in big letters on their backs walking around the inner city thinking they're hot sh#t...and run into a real "macho" "gorilla-sized" Bob Sapp clone who could put all 4 of them in the hospital in under 5 minutes! Might give them a reality check! (and it would be a great TV special!)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Force them to do unpaid hard labor and some time with the old cane. Something needs to be done about these youths or Japan will find itself in a similar situation to the UK.

@KariHaruka - so wish I could disagree with you but you are absolutely right :(

As for the "macho Gorillas" - well, I like Samantha Uenos idea. Lets take a leaf from the UKs books and send these poor misunderstood youths on an adventure training camp - South Boston, South LA, Mogadishu or perhaps South London would be good locations. We can emblazon "WE ARE MACHO GORILLA GANG" on their jackets to give them a sense of team spirit and let them loose....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Demanding money from a homeless person. how low can you go? Or how stupid can you be?

The homeless guy should be able to throw tomatos at them and launch each of them into dirty cold water

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There've been numerous attempts to crack down on the Yakuza before and they haven't worked.

Worked in my town. They and all the bad young boys are gone.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Worked in my town. They and all the bad young boys are gone.

Ok, and is your town any more dangerous since they left? And it doesn't change the fact that crackdowns have happened before, and the Yakuza still found a way to subvert loopholes and continued to thrive. I really hope this time is different and this crackdown isn't just another attempt at keeping 'face'.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Japanese chavs in need of a good slapping!

LOL, English people are funny :)

0 ( +3 / -3 )

A continued sign of the decay of Japan, due to a lack of strong family units in modern Japan.

Until they stop promoting child abduction, start promoting joint custody, and encourage strong parental rights/values... these types of actions are going to continue to rise.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

lolz at the gang name!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Tough guys, beating up old men takes courage, strength, heart, muscles, skills, bravery, NOT.

These little scum bags need to be taught a few lessons, lets see how they stand one on one, they'd get smashed to hell n back.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Punishment and pain doesn't cure sickness.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

After I saw a few episodes of The Wire this is light...but still sick and the cops need to earn their paychecks (crackdown)... Could you imagine these kids and the Osaka punks in South Central LA, South Boston, North Chicago... 'And in this corner we have the macho gorilla gang...and this corner, the bloods and the crips.'

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Grrrr...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

This is a daily ritual event in Japan of youth beating or killing of a foreigner or old men. The Japan should lower the age to 18 as legal adult and let these young people face consequences of their crime as adult. If the crime is severe, even at 16 or 17, some of they should face charges as an adult. These young kids probably just get a slap on the wrist and sent home. The law should change to deter increase in juvenile crimes, else it will not get better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The homeless in Japan are looked on as a burden-nothing will happen to these youths unfortunately.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Nothing new in Japan...USA , UK, FRANCE... are far far worse. Just read between the lines in newspaper. A little drop of moral, that is all.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Legal age lowered to 18 ?

Surely most kids should understand the difference between right and wrong before they are teens. I was in senior school in 1986 and probably the last generation to experience corporal punishment. Maybe that's what's missing !

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So as punishment let the homeless live in their house for a week, and make the punks and their parents go live in the park.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't think teachers being allowed to beat there students is going to change these kids (and others like them). The problem is that they don't think and/or don't have a family that cares about them. Gangs become a substitution for family.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Back in the day...( 70's in NYC), we were bee-boppers...group of three (or four) vandalizing any hood and blame it on other turf gangs to cause a breakout street fight. Cops weren't doing a THING about it...so we ruled, but we NEVER - NEVER picked on and abused the Old nor women with kids. Granted - it was FLAT WRONG of us, but THAT was the life then. If we ever hurt or even come close to hurting the Old or women with kids...., POOR YOU - you get a beating from your own gang that would last weeks to bounce back. Now, I read this. No respect!! I'm the character type that I gave WAY to the elderly around me, and make SURE others do likewise!! Sick and tired of these locals wording out the have manners and respect, but never practice what they preach. Here...in Japan, it's only worse before it gets better. Seen it happen many times. I got boys of my own and I most definitely teach them respect and manners to the elderly - no exceptions. My pops did the same and so did Granpop! It all starts home. Today, these punks actout they too cool for school....erase my case!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So that's a disgusting attack on homeless, one in Osaka on a foreigner.... Yep, "safety" country... Japan really needs to start looking into the issues that are eroding their society as this type of crime is only going to get worse in the next few years if the economy continues to tank like it is.

And teenagers? Charge their parents and hold them accountable.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Seems like "the decay of morality" in society isn't just limited to Japan. Just recently there have been groups of teens around the nation in the US that have been targeting, beating, or harming random people or the homeless around the US. This is what happens when countries lose the "right and wrong" ethical base in a society and without consequences and enforcement of some sense of morals this will continue to get worse. Golden rule needs to be taught please, and IMO when teens do something like this to others maybe it just needs to be done back to them as punishment so they get the picture.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Stealing money from homeless? Seriously?

This is a whole new level of stupidity

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Japan used to be one of the safest countries

Japan still is one of the safest countries in the world, not used to

And I read the other day that with the Yakuza crackdown there will be a lot more violent crimes. Kenichi Shinoda, head of the Yamaguchi-gumi, said in a rare media interview. "If the Yamaguchi-gumi were to be disbanded, public order would deteriorate immediately," he told the Sankei Shimbun. The result, he warned, would be the creation of a population of dispossessed mobsters who could turn to violent crime to make a living.

There've been numerous attempts to crack down on the Yakuza before and they haven't worked.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

Teenagers have always done stupid crap, they always will. Parental problem? Most definitely in this case. Yet, look back on your own life and some of the crazy stuff you did when you were a teen that mommy and daddy didn't know about. Still feeling the same way? Definitely, they need to be punished. Probably a 100 hours community service and a little shame might save one or two of them.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

These brats certainly deserved punishment. Don't let them get away with it! Otherwise, they'll never learn to behave.

Because of all these discussions about Japan being safe or not, I looked up a comparison of the crime statistics of Japan and Germany, because both countries compare quite well. I put it here:http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/Germany/Japan/Crime.

Many parts of the statistics are very similar. However, a few significant differences should be noted:

Japan has only 1/300 of the acquittals in Germany. It seems that Japanese courts are extremely unforgiving in most cases. However, it seems that the scales of penalties vary a lot. Or that many cases, where an acquittal would be possible, aren't brought to court at all in Japan.

Japan has only one tenth of drug related crimes. Japan can simply close their borders being an island. Try that in the middle of Europe. Furthermore, the majority of drug-related crime in Germany is probably Marihuana. And the criminalisation of Marihuana is an artifact from the Dark Ages.

The numbers of crimes and of prisoners in Germany is about twice the number in Japan. Which is probably due to the open borders and transit crimes. Furthermore, some countries do not show up in the statistics at all, therefore the absolute rankings are meaningless.

The number of murders with firearms is about five times higher. The reason is that most of these firearms are smuggled in across the borders. Even though weapon laws are strict, it is quite easy to (illegally) buy weapons across the border and get them in.

I would conclude from this comparison that Japan is indeed quite safe. Japan is not safer because of the culture, but because it is an island. And maybe it looks safer - because of the way how things are defined as crime or not.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

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