71-year-old arrested over threat to attack 'noisy' kindergarteners

Thanks to the parents for notifying the police, AND the police for doing something about it! On the news last night, this dudes neighbors were interviewed and all talked about how this guy was always complaining about noise from the kids in the neighborhood.

(Omotenashi from Japan's elderly? The one's who "love" kids? ....Yeah right!)

Far too many elderly here are really getting out of hand!

Just another statistic rising out the Japan's largest growing criminal demographic.

Glad the community was proactive on this guy.

I must not be old enough yet because the sound of kids playing in a kindergarten makes me happy. It's the sound of life and joy

The ironic thing is how many elderly men here become gigantic man-babies themselves. Without work to occupy themselves, and with wives who have no doubt tired of their antics, they want their mamas.

If Japan is serious about addressing the fertility rate, they need to slap some sense into folks like this and build daycares regardless of oldster NIMBYism.

What a piece of work this guy is.... you had your day as a kid, let them have their day too.

He is not alone in his demented opinion of kids. Complaining elderly residents are the main reason there is a child care crisis in the cities. Every time a new child facility is proposed there are huge protests from people just like him.

What a sad SOB. The elderly here contribute to so many social problems. Refusing to stop driving, complaining about children having fun outside... well that's only two problems but I bet there's more!

don't complain no matter what happens,"

Certainly sounds like a threat to me. Needs to be held for a mental health evaluation

Bet he wants his pension, but doesn't want anyone around to pay for it?

Not everyone of course because I have met amazing older people here, but there is a bunch of of 50-70 or so, mostly men, very sad people in this country. Perhaps they lost a lot after the bubble? Im not sure.. but its sad for them and and others point out holding the country back from developing daycare and making having kids in modern Japan more difficult.

Part of it is also I think some elderly have too much time on their hands, Im sure the kids can get a little rowdy every now and again, but a few times a day while they are waiting for a bus, its not like they are keeping you awake at night... give some activities for them to do perhaps.

Can just imagine "bloody kids today... on computers and phones all day.. grrrrr.. they should get outside and play like I used to do..." two minutes later "those kids outside playing are too noisy..."

Just sad..

Time for the retirement home..,

I assume the kids are right outside his window and with most places using single pane windows, it probably sounds like the kids are right inside his home/apartment. Perhaps he should have approached the parents and asked for help paying for double pane windows and other sound proofing instead.

I live across the street from an elementary school. From my door to the school is like, 15m? Honestly 99% of the time it's great. It keeps the area alive, I like to see the kids happy and hear them laughing and playing, even practicing their instruments. A lot of the kids remember my daughter and give her high fives at her bus stop when they walk by. It's genuinely great. In fact the only annoying thing is the gym/sport coaches yelling at the kids to run faster and blowing their whistles at them in the courtyard. I genuinely don't understand what drives a person to hate children so much.

In fact, what's really annoying around THIS neighborhood is some of the older people. The old guy that lives in the house behind ours is a chainsmoker and he always smokes out on his veranda and it flows into our bedroom. We can't open the windows if he's home, it's that bad. There's also a very old man that sits down on the sidewalk between our road and the road to the station and mumbles to anyone passing by really aggressively.

I'll take happy children over entitled old people Any. Day. Of. The. Week.

Poor old guy ..No he shouldn't have sent such threatening letters , but at the same time , these stupid Mothers should make sure their kids behave themselves when out in public I am quite confident to tell a child to be quiet or even shout " be quiet" in my neighbourhood if I see them being too loud . Don't care if the Mother or the Father is around at the time either .

Abbey - these stupid Mothers should make sure their kids behave themselves when out in public I am quite confident to tell a child to be quiet or even shout " be quiet" in my neighbourhood if I see them being too loud . Don't care if the Mother or the Father is around at the time either .

Wow! I’m sure you’ll make a great parent, NOT!

I'm going to be a dissenting voice here, but I can fully sympathize with this guy. There is a growing sentiment that our precious, wonderful children should be spoiled and given free reign, no matter who else it troubles. I used to live behind an elementary school that had no problem hosting excessively loud events at 8am on weekends. Whistles. Megaphones shouting instructions. Recorded music playing at top volume, echoing through the neighborhood. And when I would complain about this to coworkers, they'd look at me in horror. Their attitude was "But it's rehearsal for Sports Festival! Don't you know how important Sports Festival is???" Or brass band practice. Or etc. And no, I don't care. Schools ought to be as considerate of their neighbors as everyone else has to be. If I generated that much noise echoing through the neighborhood at that time, the police would come. There are people who work second or third shift. People who work on weekends. Police officers, chefs, nurses, construction workers, etc. They're also part of the community.

So, if this guy is complaining over regular kid noise, then he's a nut. But can I imagine a case where "Nothing is too good for my children" parents or teachers are allowing constant, excessive noise? Absolutely.

@Abbey

A child talking and laughing is not a child misbehaving, ffs. Children have every right to exist as you do. And guess what everyone? You don't have the right to live in a world without noise. You don't have a right to live without being annoyed. You don't have a right to dictate the absolutely normal and reasonable behavior of others. We live in a society and that society includes children. If you want to live without all of these things it's your responsibility to move to a gated neighborhood, go live in the country, etc. If the sound of children playing bothers you, it's your problem, not the children. You do not own public spaces. Your strange need for absolute quiet does not override the right children have to be children. You are not any more important than anyone else.

There is an old man in my apartment building who screams abuse at teenagers who sit talking in the park that the building overlooks. Kids come to play in it during the day and the elderly (who make up more than half the residents in my building) get angry at them and tell them to keep the noise down.

But then when the neighborhood oldsters decided to go out there at 6:30 AM to do radio taiso, blasting the boombox so loud that it wakes up the whole neighborhood, nobody can complain about them. They just dial up the volume if any of the sleep-deprived working-age people call City Hall to complain.

Funny how the elderly always get their way!

In fact the only annoying thing is the gym/sport coaches yelling at the kids to run faster and blowing their whistles at them in the courtyard.

This!

If I generated that much noise echoing through the neighborhood at that time, the police would come. 

Then this.

So, if this guy is complaining over regular kid noise, then he's a nut. But can I imagine a case where "Nothing is too good for my children" parents or teachers are allowing constant, excessive noise? Absolutely.

But then the above.

Ay reasonable person enjoys the sound of children laughing and playing. But let's take all factors into account here, people.

It's funny, in the US it's common to meet retirees who chose not to live in over-65 communities b/c they want to be around young people, families and of course children.

You know what kids sound like--life itself. You know what morose oldsters sound like, looming death. If your life is so gloomy that you'd silence children, you're a borderline sociopath in my book.

I'm going to be a dissenting voice here, but I can fully sympathize with this guy. There is a growing sentiment that our precious, wonderful children should be spoiled and given free reign, no matter who else it troubles.

The kids were waiting for a Kindergarten bus which probably is sometime between 8-9am and probably for 5-15min per day if I am judging by K buses in my neighborhood. Unless the guy is teaching a meditation or Tai-chi class, there is absolutely nothing abnormal about kids waiting for a bus at that time and making sounds or talking.

Arai has denied the letters were intended as threats

If you can't do that, don't complain no matter what happens

Yeah, that' a threat. Good on the parents following it up.

He should receive mental care. If you are getting aggressive because you see/hear happiness, then you most likely have some kind of issue.

I don't like children, but it never once has made me angry when I could her them playing in the park behind my apartment. On the contrary, it is nice to know they are having fun.

He should get that looked at.

Old folks here are creepy stalkers at times and stick there nose in when it's not permitted.

I'm sure when this old geezer was kindergarten-aged, we has just as noisy as these kids were. How can you be angry at the sound of kids playing and laughing?

@Moskollo

Of course not all children are perfect. A child being loud and a child doing dangerous/violent things aren't the same. The story is literally about a man threatening the lives of 3-5 year olds for being noisy for a few minutes twice a day at their bus stop in a public area. Apples and oranges.

I can understand he's pissed of , some of the children scream like helö but writing threatening letters goes to far, I'd just scream SHIZUKANI KUDASAI !

Its worth noting that this jackass doesn’t even live near a kindergarten. He just lives next to a bus stop for kindergarteners.

My son is in kindergarten and the bus stop is only noisy for about 5 minutes a day. Kids and parents show up about 5 minutes before the scheduled time, kids play a bit, moms chat. Bus comes and everyone leaves. That is it.

In a country with the amount of noise pollution this one has, kindergarten bus stops are extremely low on the list of concerns, even if you live near one.

DaDude: Unless the guy is teaching a meditation or Tai-chi class, there is absolutely nothing abnormal about kids waiting for a bus at that time and making sounds or talking.

No. But if there were six little monsters running around, screaming, and going berserk while their mothers stand by playing with their smartphones, daily, then perhaps the man has a legit gripe. Neither of us knows the situation, so let's not make assumptions.

Also, just clarifying that I don't support this guy's creepy letters. I'm simply replying to the "children are angels and if you dare complain about them then you're a monster" crowd.

@The Original Wing

I'm simply replying to the "children are angels and if you dare complain about them then you're a monster" crowd.

I'd take the (pretty much non-existent) crowd over the 'The world needs to cater to my every comfort and children should be seen and not heard' crowd.

children are angels and if you dare complain about them then you're a monster"

Don’t know what to tell you: kids make noise. Kids play. Kids laugh. Kids cry. Kids scream.

Are there times and places where parents should get strict and keep their kids quiet (or attempt to do so)? Yeah. Does this extend to every situation in which somebody who has never had kids and has no idea what kids and parenting is like might have their tranquil,idyllic life temporarily disturbed by a cry, shout or laugh from a child? No. Not because they are angels immune from criticism, but because they are junior members of society who haven’t yet learned to control themselves the way grown ups do and shutting them in soundproof cages 24 hours a day to satisfy the demands of the unsympathetic childless isn’t going to help them do that.

Actually, the fault lies squarely at bad parenting and lacking manner education.

I see it more and more lately, younger parents nearly gave up on any kind of manner education and let kids run the roads.. scream everywhere and foster zero respect to elders or basic manners.

The fault is not kids fault but bad parenting and even worse schooling.

@Alex Einz

Actually, the fault lies squarely at bad parenting and lacking manner education.

Actually, the fault lies with this sociopathic oyaji who threatened to kill preschoolers because he though they were interrupting his precious peace and quiet.

The amount of people on this news story who are sympathizing with this man is insane.

Do people not remember that just a few weeks ago some psycho stabbed a bunch of elementary kids waiting at their bus stop? Would you sympathize with that guy if those kids had been particularly noisy?

Even if these, lets remember, 3 to 5 year olds were screaming at the top of their lungs every second they were at the bus stop it doesn't in any way make a sane human being think it's okay to threaten CHILDREN with violence. Have you all lost your damn minds?

rainyday, you and I are not so far off in terms of agreement. I understand just how hard parenting is, and anyone whose "tranquil,idyllic life [is] temporarily disturbed by a cry, shout or laugh from a child" is insane. No one here suggested anything close to that. But not every parent or teacher is a responsible one, and sometimes problems do arise beyond the normal, everyday noise and issues that you described. And sometimes those problems do cause greater issues in the community. Just because parenting is monumentally challenging doesn't mean that people have to be accepting of the community-wide problems that can result from gross negligence, irresponsibility, or obscene favoritism.

Could this be the reason for that former politician's son finally snapping? The one who was recently stabbed by the father? The son had previously complained about noise from a nearby elementary school.

It takes a certain level of psychological depravity to hate the sounds of children. Dark.

and, not sure what those pension mentions here, with parenting like that these kids are most likely to grow neets or criminals which would do nothing to enhance my pension ... besides, he is already receiving the pension and its capped and will be payed ( as miserable as it is ) regardless of that kids "contribution"

Sad way to spend probably the last few years of his life in this world. Threatening kindergarten children.

Put on some noise cancelling headphones for the 10 minutes when they are at the bus stop. Won’t hear a thing.

Old men here feel so entitled.

A preschooler is loud = future criminal

Yeah, that's a normal thought to have.

Just because parenting is monumentally challenging doesn't mean that people have to be accepting of the community-wide problems that can result from gross negligence, irresponsibility, or obscene favoritism.

Yes, but the article here doesn't describe anything like that. The guy is just angry because there is noise at a kindergarten bus stop. And some commenters, while acknowledging his threats went too far, are taking his side with him based on what probably amounted to no more than 5 minutes of the sound of kids playing in a public space.

There isn't any community wide problem, there isn't any gross negligence, there isn't any irresponsibility and there isn't any obscene favoritism at work in this. Its an entitled, grumpy old man going off the rails over nothing and finding a bunch of support among commenters here.

I’d much rather listen to kids playing than listen to some grumpy old git complaining about them and threatening them.

These old guys (and gals) are everywhere, and they scream at kids and threaten all the time. Glad these parents did something. This guy needs to be put in a noisy prison ward and see how he likes it. The sad part is that he won't, and he'll be released, and then do you think his anger will be abated? No... it will be multiplied.

Japan's aging population crisis explained in one article!

When the issue of residents taking legal action to block a daycare centre in Japan came up a few years ago, I did some research and found that similar law suits occur in the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand. Because such cases are local, they don't get attention in the national press, but with a little effort you can find them.

I would be most surprised if there are not old people complaining about the noise kids make in the countries I have mentioned. You won't read about it either because newspapers don't bother with such stories in the first place or because the news stays local.

Japanese news media regularly make national news stories out of things that would stay local in the US, the UK, etc.

I think his problem is misdirected anger.. being old didnt help , instead , he should have employed lawyer, measured noise and properly sued the kindergarden, parents and school.

Man, you gotta watch out for these old wheezers. Before you know it, they will be carry around very pointed chopsticks.

@Alex Einz

You must be joking. You think it's okay for a man to sue a preschool because a few of the kids are noisy for a couple minutes every day? I assume you're just a miserable troll but either way you should seek help for your anger issues.

what probably amounted to no more than 5 minutes...

There isn't any community wide problem, there isn't any gross negligence, there isn't any irresponsibility and there isn't any obscene favoritism at work in this. Its an entitled, grumpy old man going off the rails over nothing

rainyday, you're doing a lot of presuming with no factual basis in the least. The facts of this story are very limited (at least as far as this article is concerned). We don't know what happened, or what what extent, or any of the important context. We're left to guess. Yet, many commenters have leapt to the conclusion that the children's/parents' offense here was small and trivial (like your assumptions which I quoted above), while others (like I did previously) illustrated other examples of extreme behavior simply to remind everyone that there is a possibility that there was a big problem. Again, we absolutely don't know either way. Therefore, it's unfair to assume the innocence of one side simply because children = good and and elderly men = stupid and whatever other over-generalizations people would like to make. It's not always that simple, so let's be open-minded about it and wait to hear more information before insisting that we know things which we don't.

@The Original Wing

Are you honestly saying you think there are situations which justify threatening preschoolers?

And yeah, I think if you're going to threaten a 4 year old with violence at bare minimum you're a stupid, bitter, hateful human being.

What needs to be assumed here? Preschoolers don't hang out at the bus stop by themselves. I have a daughter in preschool and even if the bus is extremely late we're only waiting there 10 minutes max and that hardly ever happens. It's a bus stop, you get on you get off, that's it. Even if for some reason you're hanging around because you have to talk to another parent, you're obviously standing next to a road, you're not going to stay very long. Even if they were standing there for 30 minutes each time (which literally never happens), we're talking about an hour a day of a handful of children laughing and talking that angered this man soooooo much that he wanted to physically attack them. There is no two sides to this.

Are you honestly saying you think there are situations which justify threatening preschoolers?

If you can find anything I've written that even remotely resembles your paraphrasing, I'll give you a cookie.

I don't understand people's confusion here.

By the guy's own admission he threatened to attack small children because they were 'raising their voices'. He said it himself, his own words. There is zero ambiguity.

Are people sympathizing with this guy really reading the article? Do they really think this is defensible?

savethegaijin

There is no two sides to this

Unless of course we go back to his opening statement:

I'm going to be a dissenting voice here, but I can fully sympathize with this guy.

I can fully sympathize with this guy .... who left threatening letters in the home mailboxes of pre-school children. All that follows makes perfect sense if that's your initial take on this article. Not, oh those poor kids can't even catch their bus without some wingnut threatening them. Not, what's wrong with Japan, given recent crimes and accidents that have left so many precious young lives cut short.

Sympathizing with someone else's difficult situation is a very separate thing from condoning a crime or hateful act that they commit in response to it.

rainyday, you're doing a lot of presuming with no factual basis in the least.

No, I'm giving the old guy the benefit of the doubt on the available facts and still coming up empty in terms of any sort of rational argument in his favor. The only thing he is complaining about according to his own note is children raising their voices. That's it. So I'll assume they were yelling their heads off as loud as 4 year olds can yell. He isn't saying they were setting off fireworks. He isn't saying they were trespassing on his property. He isn't saying they were doing anything dangerous. He is just complaining about them using their mouths to make loud noise.

The entire basis of his claim according to the facts we have is that the children spoke loudly while they waited for a school bus. I don't in a million years see how kindergarten kids talking even as loudly as they can while they wait for a schoolbus amounts to, in your words:

community-wide problems that can result from gross negligence, irresponsibility, or obscene favoritism.

Everything we have in the article, even interpreted as far in his favor as we can, still leads to the conclusion that this is just an old crank complaining about nothing.

There is zero ambiguity.

Well, the way it is written has zero ambiguity. But think of how many people and languages it went through between whatever actually happened, and what is written here. The idea that there is no possible ambiguity is pretty doubtful. On the contrary, I'd be amazed if the story as we have it here is particularly accurate.

@Strangerland

I see what you're saying in general but if we're going to make assumptions about the article, why not assume that the children did absolutely nothing wrong at all, and the guy is just a violent nutcase? Why give the guy threatening preschoolers the benefit of the doubt? I've lived in Japan for like a decade and I could count the amount of completely unruly young children on a single hand. I see overreacting, entitled, angry and mentally unstable old people here all the time. I can only go off what the article says and take the man at his word. I can sympathize with someone who is annoyed at excessive noise but the second you threaten threaten innocent children with violence you immediately lose my sympathy.

I see what you're saying in general but if we're going to make assumptions about the article, why not assume that the children did absolutely nothing wrong at all, and the guy is just a violent nutcase?

I make no assumptions either way.

I was just pointing out that no story here is ever unambiguous.

Well, the way it is written has zero ambiguity. But think of how many people and languages it went through between whatever actually happened, and what is written here. The idea that there is no possible ambiguity is pretty doubtful. On the contrary, I'd be amazed if the story as we have it here is particularly accurate.

It went through two languages: Japanese and English, probably translated by a single person reading directly the words written by the man himself.

I have no idea what ambiguity you think would be eliminated from a Japanese phrase that results in an English translation of: "Don't let your children raise their voices." Perhaps you could elaborate? All the phrases that I can come up with seem to be basically just about children speaking loudly and not wider complaints about them doing other things.

It went through two languages: Japanese and English, probably translated by a single person reading directly the words written by the man himself.

Yes, it went through two languages. There's your first bit of ambiguity. The second one is that the mans words went first through whomever recorded them, to whomever they told, to the reporter.

Perhaps you could elaborate?

Sure. In my 20s, I read two stories in the paper, written very unambiguously. Then I found out the real stories, from people who were directly involved. What I realized is that the story we read in the newspaper often is quite different from the actual story. Add in a translation - and look how many poor translations we've seen in other stories on this site - and you're silly if you are expecting accuracy out of the stories here.

and you're silly if you are expecting accuracy out of the stories here.

I don't expect perfect accuracy (or objectivity for that matter) when I read the Washington Post, so of course I don't expect it on relatively breaking, translated wire stories. That said, we have to accept that certain standards have been met if we're to bother commenting at all. Unless we're to be left to meta-discussions doomed to OT deletion.

Yes, it went through two languages. There's your first bit of ambiguity. The second one is that the mans words went first through whomever recorded them, to whomever they told, to the reporter.

According to the Japanese media these were the exact words in his written letter;

朝、駐車場で子どもたちを騒がせるな。静かにさせろ。できなければ何があっても文句を言うな

Seems pretty unambiguous to me and the relevant part basically has the same meaning as "Don't let your children raise their voices" although phrased slightly differently.

its not couple minutes, its typically about 30minutes hang out.. they also typically block the whole street , again its not kids fault but mostly dumb parenting . its like a social club while kids running around blocking everyone from using a public road. I have seen it very very often . I have absolutely no problem with kids playing on their playgrounds ,but parents should be mindful of what their offsprings do in public.

Yes sue and close the kindergarten or get reimbursed out of parents pockets is a great way to teach a lesson with no violence.

@Alex Einz

Yeah I bet that happened.

Are you actually claiming that a bunch of preschoolers are standing so far into the street that they block it to the point no one else can use it? Ridiculous. Absolutely made up nonsense that anyone with a child can see right through.

30 minute hangout? Really? I've been doing this for three years and never once, not even one single time in 3 years has the wait time for a youchien bus been 30 minutes.

We get it, you don't like children, you don't like parents. Fine. That's your right. Do you. But you're just obviously making up nonsense now and it's not even worth responding to anymore.

Retirement villages seem a good idea.

I would not want a kindergarten near my home.

Yes correct that Retirement villages seem a good idea but it's not the solution.

lonely village might make them violent too.

Because of life style and leaving style, human ideology changes.