Biker assaulted by iron bar-wielding Nara innkeeper

''Why do people love vigilante justice?''

Nobody love vigilante justice. People hate it, and won't do it, except when the authority fails to redress law violator, bousouzoku, criminal issues.

@ Michal Hrouda

You are wrong.

Why do people love vigilante justice? Do I sense some republican-style American view points on here? The criticism should be of the politics and institutional failures that have resulted in these disproportionate actions. Everyone feels like taking a iron bar to annoying youths at times, but it's not a civilised answer, call me crazy. Police need to deal with these social problems in a more robust way.

I'm picturing day care centers adjacent to old people's houses, in which case:

The little children there

DO

go around slow riding pathetic little bikes around the neighborhood deliberately revving the engines with the knowledge that people are being disturbed of their sleep.

Else why complain about it?

Developers have to build parks for new housing, in some locales. Why not make daycare centers be good neighbors and pony up for double-paned windows for adjacent housing?

@ turbotsat

Wow. Hope these are not the same posters that were throwing the pensioners-living-next-to-noisy-daycare-centers to the wolves.

Day care centers are not open from the evening to early morning. The little children there don't go around slow riding pathetic little bikes around the neighborhood deliberately revving the engines with the knowledge that people are being disturbed of their sleep.

REALLY people???!!! You condone possibly permanent bodily harm because of noise? What the hell is wrong with all of you? Vigilante bodily harm when someone isn't trying to hurt you is so draconian. Now if you find a way to get them to stop and beat the crap out of the scooter with a bar or run it over with your truck hey your call but injuring another person over that is not right.

I like that oldman!

And all it takes it one complaint from a senior citizen and kids can't ball in a park anymore. Go figure.

Tell me I am not the only one who has fantasized about doing exactly that every time these punks screech around the neighborhood at 2AM?

You're not. When I moved in to my new apartment, I have heard a small group of bikes traveling down the street right next to my building from half a kilometer away. My room is no more than 5m away from the middle of that street. They'd pass my building then stop at the nearby red light, revving their engines. Because of the small street intersecting with a 2-way, it'd take a while until it turned. I have been tempted to go outside with my Mt. Fuji walking stick and going at them.

Luckily, they have stopped coming for whatever reason.

Perhaps he was aiming for the bike, which is why he hit the guy low on the knee as he passed.

Michal Hrouda, I have never heard an American bike sound as loud as a Japanese bosozoku. I'm guessing the bosozoku are making modifications more regulated in the US? Also most American bikers stick to freeways, you don't hear them ripping through little residential streets in the middle of the night.

If the public disturbance and noise level of bosozoku is not legal, then we quieter residents have to think of some good way to discourage them, or just grin and bear it. If they are illegal, we can legitimately complain the police are rather lax about it.

I live on the fourth floor. I keep a pack of eggs fermenting on the balcony. When I hear them coming I get into position, and when they pass by I get at least three of them. Wash that out of your hair, clothes and modified scooter ya little wankers.

I'm totally going to stay a few nights at this ryoukan! You are a hero!

Today's news at Yahoo ... http://news.yahoo.com/netherlands-says-ok-biker-gangs-fight-islamic-state-155136559.html

‘’ Why those dinks escape the Rule of Harmony is beyond me. Any ideas?’’

Unlike in other Asian countries where motorcycles are for transportation, here in Japan these are toys for spoilt brats--high tech, high rev, kakko ii, expensive, bousouzoku stirs up the fashion that help boost sales for the maker--members of Japan Inc where police is not an outsider.

Incident occurred at approximately 10 pm, not am, as the article states. No mention in online Japanese reporting of "groups" of 暴走族 cruising the streets of Tenri that night; the victim of the assault was riding with 3 of his mates, and multiple complaints were received by local police about the noise the 4 were generating. Usually pays to go to the Japanese source of such accounts.

Don't blame the innkeeper one bit. The idiot deserved it. Too bad he didn't get a chance to bash the whole lot of them. I've meted out some street justice to a couple of them on occasion myself. The cops will come to your house if they hear even a tiny bit of sound from the stereo but I rarely see them do anything to these punks. Charles Bronson would be proud of this guy.

Absolute stupidity to attack anyone not harming you when they seem to be doing nothing against the law even if it is annoying. A thrown scoop of water would be a better solution then breaking bones and causing permanent injury.

In the early 90s, my friend lived on the 6th floor of an Apt bldg in Fukuyama. There was a police box next to it. One evening the bosozuku came by AGAIN so he lobbed a few eggs at them. The cops? They came looking for the person who threw the eggs. , During those years I was irritated in general but those ignorant little f..ks pissed me off even more. Having failed to figure out how to get rid of ALL of them at once I went shopping for a bowgun. If no one else was going to handle this then by god I was. Luckily I got hold of myself and opted out. I say luckily. For me and for sure for them. Why those dinks escape the Rule of Harmony is beyond me. Any ideas?

Used to live next door to two such scrotes. A respectable family too, I couldn't fathom why their mother allowed them to rev their bikes up at 3 am in a quiet residential spot. Neither could I. So I allowed myself the luxury of spending some quality time with them, explaining as politely as I could, that the next time they saw fit to tinker with their scooters at 3 am, they would be wearing said scooters. I can't imagine it'd be pretty.

The concurred. Not a peep since.

Years ago, a friend of mine got his friends together on a rooftop and waited for the bikers who usually arrived around 2am. He and the friends had put together crates of tomatoes and when the bikers zoomed through the street, they threw the tomatoes at them which sent the bikers skidding!

DaDudeOCT. 14, 2014 - 09:25AM JST "Noise pollution is not illegal in Japan which it should be."

Not quite. It is after 10 or 11pm at night.

What's the legal noise limit? Does the law apply only to individual device measurement or can a group of devices be combined to cause a violation? Before I can complain about the police doing nothing, I would have to find out if there is anything they legally CAN do about it. The noise from a bosozoku seems to be an aggregate nose from all the scooters. If the noise law only applies to individual motor vehicles, then all the bikers have to do is make sure their individual bikes are just within the law and the police can't do anything despite the combined noise easily exceeding the legal limit.

I don't know what it is though that some westerners take it as a personal offense if one of those japanese motorcycle groups happen to drive by while regarding western motorcycle gangs as something cool, heroic or even romantic. I dislike noise they make and shake my head in disbelieve over the vanity of their actions as much as everybody else does but for the Christ sake, leave them alone and don't inflict any physical injury upon them. One day they will grow up just like we all did, am I right?

Despite efforts by law enforcement, this trend continues all over Japan.

Surely a typo? "As law enforcement never lift a finger in response to this noise pollution..."

I'm glad someone is aiming fury towards those who have earned it, rather than whining about the noise of children laughing in a park.

@senseiman

I don`t mean it is dangerous to the police, I mean it is dangerous to the public

and as someone else also mentioned, the "bozo-punk" could have killed himself (like the car driver being chased by the police we read about just yesterday...) not to mention maybe killing innocent pedestrians.

Unfortunately these little pri@ks have time on their hands, and are happy to wage vendettas (which is when you discover the empty promise that is "kizuna").

I'm sure there's a pent-up demand for industrial quantities of cheese wire.

All I can say, the inkeeper had alot of guts to do that and would have had second thoughts of doing that. I have seen and had a fried taunt one of these bosuzoku groups, and they came after him with a veangance smashing the back of his car window chasing him all the way to the police station where they gave up pursuit. He should have just called the police to complain of noise disturbance and keep calling them every time it happens. Not worth putting your life on the line for something out of your league.

Though I'm not a fan of chaos, It's good to see the inkeeper standing up to bullies. Because that's what these little punks are. They sneer and act tough and finish every adjective with 'ei' and everyone just stands down because of harmony or a fear of confrontation. They feed off that and it makes them feel bigger and stronger.

One summer afternoon in downtown Sapporo I saw two kids on one bike, slowly weaving left and right, blocking both lanes of traffic and slowing everyone down. Not one horn was honked. They then had the nerve to straddle the line revving away while waiting at the lights, and again, nobody even confronted them. Everyone allowed themselves to be intimidated by these 'kusogaki'.

If people would stand up to the punks they'd think twice. In almost any city in Australia or NZ, someone would drag them off their bikes before the police even arrived.

Good on him.

If more people gave these punks a well-deserved beat-down, then maybe the number of these noisy dumbaxes would shrink. The cops are flaccid on this annoyance.

Yeh, but unfortunately not everyone can afford to cover their hospital bills when they inevitably cry like babies.

''Speak softly, and carry an iron bar...or, so they say...''

Or a piano wire, painted flat black, whose one end secured on one post on one side of the road, as the roar approaches, another end was tied to another post on the other side of the road, the harvest was not one knee of one rider, but the whole herd, actually happened in another country, police there declared unable, or more precisely unwilling to solve the case, that stopped the plague forever---badly injured riders said nobody saw the wire coming, not a single one of them.

Such intentional trolling should be punished and prevented, not allowed and excused. Does not matter what age they are if they can get a lisence they should be forces to obey law and common decency. There is no reason to be lenient or excuse such anti social behavior. They can go ride their noisy toys on open roads in the coutnry where there are no people..but the people in the country would take care of it fast. they are not hampered by the so called Politeness of the city folks. Sad story.

Bosozoku's mother: Hello?

Hospital: Hello, Ms._____, your son is in the hospital with a broken knee.

Bosozoku's mother: Ara! What happened?

Hospital: Yor son was making a racket with his bike, driving people up the wall, and one of them went off on him.

Bosozoku's mother: Serves him right. OK, thanks, I'll be there after I finish up some housework.

I don't think bosozoku gangs are on the rise at all, there have been several articles about how they are uncommon nowadays. Hands together for this guy though, but he should have aimed higher

If this was in say Texas, USA, the thugs would have been shot off their bikes.

In Texas you can't simply shoot someone for making a lot of noise. Texas Penal Code Title 2, Chapter 9, Subchapter A.

Again we don't know if this person was actually part of the biker gang. At 10am, many people are on bikes. What if this was just a regular person, the ryokan owner said he did it without thinking at all. Citizens can't just take the laws into their own hands.

Speak softly, and carry an iron bar...or, so they say...

What the heck were the cops doing after "police had reportedly received numerous complaints" from area residents? If the cops went out and arrested these young thugs, the inn keeper wouldn't have had to take the matters into his own hands. I say, praise the inn keeper. If this was in say Texas, USA, the thugs would have been shot off their bikes. Good for you inn keeper. Keep up the good work. The cops won't patrol your neighborhood to keep the peace, so do it with your neighbors.

Actually folks, the article doesn't say the 18 year old was part of the biker gang, it just says that around 10am he was riding past the ryokan when he was hit. Since the article doesn't go into any more detail other than saying he was a handyman (who could of been just going to work), this could be an innocent victim. Or to say, at 10am any person on a motorbike could of been an innocent victim.

What do the guys that actually do not ride their bikes do with their bikes?

The police won't engage in a high-speed chase of bosozoku because of an incident decades ago.

A bosozoku was killed during a chase and the police were held responsible in public opinion because bosozoku are minors. Minors are treated much more leniently in Japanese law and society than in most countries.

Many Japanese parents let children do almost anything with little parental control, since lives as an adult are tightly controlled in the society.

You won't see bosozoku over 20 doing much wrong on the street because they'll be held to a different legal standard.

I believe the defense will rely upon the police doing nothing thus driving him to temporary insanity to take it upon himself to do the job police should have done. Thus thrown out with no charges.

Statistically safest country... Lol Sure unless your a female

This guy should set up a Kickstarter campaign. I would contribute.

Confiscate the bikes and send them straight to the crusher. Problem solved. There are rules about noise, it's just the police don't enforce them.

I think it disgusting that everybody here seems to think that it is okay to take the law into their own hands and attack people they don't like. What if the guy decided he did not like loud-mouthed gaijin?

Simple solution: Record the license of noisy bikes. Notify the owner that the bike needs to be re-tested for sound. If the owner fails to comply, cancel the driver's license. The owner can still un-mod the bike before testing, but it will be a nuisance to do that.

DaDudeOCT. 14, 2014 - 09:25AM JST "Noise pollution is not illegal in Japan which it should be."

Not quite. It is after 10 or 11pm at night.

ironmonkeyzOCT. 14, 2014 - 10:55AM JST "Bosozoku are another reason I'm glad I no longer live in a country which doesn't allow its citizens to arm themselves."

What a joke. Japan is statistically the safest country in the world.

I doubt that. If it is a dangerous job to arrest them, then what are the police here for? So by your logic, if a guy is speeding away, the police should just get his license number and then show up to his home and ask him to turn himself in.

I don`t mean it is dangerous to the police, I mean it is dangerous to the public. High speed chases through densely packed urban areas pose an immense risk to bystanders, especially in Japan where most side streets are shared by pedestrians and motorists. Also, the nature of the chase - a patrol car chasing a bike - can only have three endings - the bike crashing, the bike running out of gas or the bike getting away. The first is a serious danger to the public, the second is highly unlikely unless the chase goes on for hours and the third is also a bad result. In other words, the chase itself is usually an act of futility and it makes much more sense to adopt the approach the police have. In the example you cite, it actually is standard practice (not just in Japan but in North America and Europe as well) for police to abandon chases when they enter crowded areas owing to the risk to bystanders (and, like the police in Japan, in such instances they usually do show up on the suspects doorstep later to make an arrest).

Bosozoku are another reason I'm glad I no longer live in a country which doesn't allow its citizens to arm themselves.

According to the story, the incident took place four months ago, on June 11. Quite some time has passed since then. It would be great to know whether the innkeeper was formally charged, or if (hopefully) he was exonerated.

Right. That seems to be working just great as the article points out that the number of bosozoku is on the increase. What needs to be done is the cops just set up a trap for these guys, they take the same path every weekend, and then arrest them and confiscate the bikes. They can do this for drunk drivers, they can do this for this social problem as well.

Actually the article doesn`t anywhere say that the number is on the increase, which is probably owing to the fact that Bosozoku numbers have been decreasing since the 1980s (http://jalopnik.com/the-bosozoku-are-japans-disappearing-rebels-without-a-c-1642416129 ).

Uhhh.... THAT IS THEIR JOB. Their job is not to sit around a koban, writing out forms in triplicate, and then do something after the fact. Part of patroling and policework is to stop criminals in the act.

Did you not read the rest of my post? They are gathering evidence and making arrests, which is their job, and doing so in a common sense way that avoids dangerous and largely pointless high speed chases in densely crowded urban areas.

While the police might be accused of a lot of things like sitting around in a koban all day filling out forms, this is one area where I much prefer their approach to the alternative, which would just precipitate violent confrontations and greater mayhem. And as I said, the fact that they do not apprehend these punks in the act does not mean that they are letting them off (read the link I posted above), these guys are getting arrested and are being punished, only at a time and place where it makes much more sense.

This inn keeper is my Freakimg hero!! Had run ins with these idiots during my 7 years in Japan. I have waited in the street for the jerks to return at 3 am a few times. They always seemed to know just how many times they could drive by before it would annoy me to the point of violence... I stopped a few in the middle of the street and told them to shut up or else, they did until they turned the next corner and I was no longer in sight. If all Japanese what this guy did to maybe a less violent extent, it would stop. Stop wailing around with your head in the sand with the excuse the bosozoku are Abunai !!! And stand up to them. Then it would stop!

Having violent thoughts and expressing them on a discussion list is a legitimate form of outlet to let off steam. But I really doubt anybody on this list would actually do what this guy did. What Paulinusa said "He should have smashed the bike instead" is a better way to express it.

I have been tempted from time to time. But this guy deserves a pat on the back. Bosozoku really piss me off.

Well done. I'd like to do that too.

He should have smashed the bike instead.

keystones are a JOKE wrt to bosozku, I mean they make a racket, violate tons of traffic laws, often are carrying weapons etc & the keystones do basically nothing!

Three cheers for the guy in Nara if he needs a defense fund I will donate!

When they follow them in their cars, they are usually filming the bikers for identification purposes and collecting evidence of their crimes. Since it is both difficult and dangerous to actually try to catch them in the act, they dont try (which makes sense actually).

I doubt that. If it is a dangerous job to arrest them, then what are the police here for? So by your logic, if a guy is speeding away, the police should just get his license number and then show up to his home and ask him to turn himself in. On the same note, the police are able to just walk into your home if you are a registerd gun owner and count your bullets to make sure you haven't taken the gun out and shot it. So law abiding citizen who goes through the paperwork to own a gun in Japan, is subject to random searches, while guys that are openly riding Helter Skelter and making loud noises are only followed at a safe distance? Doesn't make any sense.

To the poster that says that there is no law against noise pollution in Japan, I see all the time where local residents have submitted complaints to the local J-cops about noise coming from local bars near the Yokosuka base on noise complaints. the J-cops respond and will try to find out and ask them to tone it down, but of course they are foreigners who are making the noise. They have to exercise the full weight of their authority then.

It's really simple to detect and enforce noise limits if noise limits are clearly defined. If noise limits are not clearly defined then make them so. A device to measure decibels is necessary but that is not so expensive. It's also possible to fine garages which modify motorbikes/scooters to make noise over the limit, although many bikers will do the modifications themselves.

Hospitalizing somebody for two months as a reaction to a non violent crime is way out of line. He could have channeled his anger into changing the law or changing the way the law was enforced.

Wow. Hope these are not the same posters that were throwing the pensioners-living-next-to-noisy-daycare-centers to the wolves.

In fairness, it only looks like the police are doing nothing. When they follow them in their cars, they are usually filming the bikers for identification purposes and collecting evidence of their crimes. Since it is both difficult and dangerous to actually try to catch them in the act, they dont try (which makes sense actually). Instead, they just show up on the bikers doorstep a couple of days later and make an arrest (and confiscate their damn bikes).

Right. That seems to be working just great as the article points out that the number of bosozoku is on the increase. What needs to be done is the cops just set up a trap for these guys, they take the same path every weekend, and then arrest them and confiscate the bikes. They can do this for drunk drivers, they can do this for this social problem as well.

The only real solution is if the bosozoku wake up the Yak bosses. Then the problem is solved overnight. This happened in Kobe a number of years ago. The kids never ride in the hills behind Kobe as the Yamaguchi boss said it was keeping him up.

Noise pollution is not illegal in Japan which it should be. You know how back home, a house party is broken up by police? The only way to stop these guys is if they break a traffic law like run a red light or carry more than 2 on a bike. Trust me, if 10 police cars show up for small things like a small accident or stolen bicycle, they have enough manpower to deal with bosozoku.

someone buy that guy a beer in fact buy that guy allot of beer :)

The government should make it illegal to have noisy bikes. Most of these idiotd intentionally make their bikes noisier because they are dickless losers.

"Since it is both difficult and dangerous to actually try to catch them in the act, they dont try"

Uhhh.... THAT IS THEIR JOB. Their job is not to sit around a koban, writing out forms in triplicate, and then do something after the fact. Part of patroling and policework is to stop criminals in the act.

Tell me I am not the only one who has fantasized about doing exactly that every time these punks screech around the neighborhood at 2AM?

Nara inkeeper: You are my hero.

Efforts? Don't make me laugh! The police do nothing but follow them in their cars, if that.

In fairness, it only looks like the police are doing nothing. When they follow them in their cars, they are usually filming the bikers for identification purposes and collecting evidence of their crimes. Since it is both difficult and dangerous to actually try to catch them in the act, they dont try (which makes sense actually). Instead, they just show up on the bikers doorstep a couple of days later and make an arrest (and confiscate their damn bikes).

Police do no thing to stop such annoying boys and men ... at mid-night I heard them passing in slow pace with a huge noice.

Hurrah! Time government calculated the social costs in interrupted sleep caused by these inadequates.

I don't know if I should sympathize the assailant for doing something the cops fails to do . He should be punished but rewarded as well.

I think the innkeeper showed remarkable restraint to aim for his knee and not his head.

Let's hope more people decide to do this as the police do absolutely nothing .

I think the ryokan manager should be sentenced to a 1 year's gym membership, so that the next time he swings and iron bar at one of these punks, it'll cause more damage!

Haha! Little baby. If you are going to annoy the townsfolk, don`t go whining to the cops when you get beat up. I really think it is time the cops did something about these annoying little pukes.

100% agree. I remember the first time I worked very late at night in Tokyo with my colleagues, so the AC was off, and the windows were all open. Didn't take long for me to notice the ear-splitting noise emanating from the nearby freeways. When I asked what it was, had it explained, and then also asked why the police did nothing about it, I just got the usual shrug, followed by "shoganai". Personally, I think a concerted effort by police, including using some of the spike strips cops use here in the U.S., would be in order.

If the police refuse to take action against obviously illegal behavior then they can hardly be surprised when elements of the population take matters into their own hands.

Let's hope for a slap-on-the-wrist sentence.

If more people gave these punks a well-deserved beat-down, then maybe the number of these noisy dumbaxes would shrink. The cops are flaccid on this annoyance.

Great to hear--one can only hope it's a beginning of a trend!

Despite efforts by law enforcement, this trend continues all over Japan.

Efforts? Don't make me laugh! The police do nothing but follow them in their cars, if that.

Haha! Little baby. If you are going to annoy the townsfolk, don`t go whining to the cops when you get beat up. I really think it is time the cops did something about these annoying little pukes.