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In the late afternoon of Friday, Nov 19, 25-year-old Tatsunori Koga was at work and in his seat. He wasn’t in an office, though, because Koga works as a bus driver for Meitetsu Bus Co in Nagoya.
A little after 4 p.m., he pulled over to the side of the road for what he assumed was going to be a routine stop at a bus stop in Nagoya’s Moriyama Ward. As with most busses in Japan, passengers exit via the door at the front of the vehicle, but the 18-year-old girl who walked up to where Koga was sitting didn’t want to get off, but to report a chikan, or groper.
“Somebody touched me,” she began, as tears welled up in her eyes and she started to cry. As Koga was listening to what she had to say, though, another passenger, a man in his 60s, slipped past the girl, hopped off the bus, and nonchalantly started walking away. “It was him,” the girl said, pointing to the man as he continued to put distance between himself and the bus.
“I have to find out the truth,” Koga recalls thinking, his inner dialogue suggesting that he might have missed his calling as a detective, before jumping out of the driver’s seat and chasing after the man.
When Koga caught up to the man several meters away from where he’d left the bus parked, he informed him that a passenger was claiming that he had groped her. “I just accidentally bumped into her,” the man, who had been sitting in the seat next to the girl, protested, but Koga wasn’t going to be easily convinced. As he continued questioning the man about the situation, a police cruiser happened to roll by, and after Koga flagged it down, the officers took over, with the man eventually admitting to the crime, saying “I wanted to see how she would react.”
Part of what makes catching chikan difficult is that they often strike when the vehicle is crowded, like the man did as Koga’s bus was filling up with passengers in the early stages of rush hour. Often by the time the victim realizes the contact is intentional, the chikan has already gotten their jollies and makes a getaway at the next stop, completely disappearing from the scene of the crime before the victim can even report the incident to an authority figure. Thanks to the girl’s quick willingness to come forward and Koga’s speedy response, though, the chikan was arrested and taken into custody.
At the beginning of this month, Koga was presented with a letter of commendation from the Aichi Prefectural Police’s Moriyama Ward. Upon receiving it, he said “The actions of chikan are truly unforgivable, and I feel terrible for the victim. For the sake of the local residents, I want to continue working to make our busses ones that they can feel safe riding,” proving that not only does he occasionally sound like a detective, he sometimes sounds like a superhero too.
Source: Asahi Shimbun Digital via Golden Times
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2021/12/04/japanese-bus-driver-chases-down-groper-who-targeted-18-year-old-girl-on-his-vehicle/
38 Comments
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Mickelicious
Why not hentai sama?
Yohan
In Okayama City, on all buses and the streetcar you enter from the rear and exit from the front.
It's not everywhere the same in Japan. I know buses in Tokyo where you enter from the front and exit from the rear.
Tom San
Should have given him a judo chop!!!
purple_depressed_bacon
No but it gives the kids the confidence to be able to handle themselves in these kinds of situations. I myself did a variety of marital arts from middle to high school and while I can't move buildings or mountains, I am confident in my ability to confront and contain my would-be attacker if need be. All kids should learn some form of martial arts in my opinion. It teaches discipline, focus etc. along with being able to defend and protect yourself.
Tochan357jp
By the number of +/- of my previous post about the creation of a National Sex Offender Registry and why the government doesn’t create one… I now see the true reason. The general populace apparently dissent want one. That is sad and pathetic. More needs to be done to protect the victims and potential victims, not the creeps and perverse salary men.
Brian Wheway
Any self defence classes are good, even if you cant put the assailant on the ground, the classes should give them a inner confidance to stand upto hentai san, this can be done in many ways, mainly telling him to, ( expletive) or asking for help.
Zaphod
KariHaruka
I am all for sending kids to Judo class etc. but try to be realistic. Going to an MA class a couple of times a week does not turn kids into superman.
KariHaruka
Chikans are part of the reason why my daughters are learning martial arts as a form of self defence....
Try inappropriately touching them, and they will put you on the floor of the bus/train etc.
FizzBit
The hero of the day!
Its nice to see some good writing on here too.
WilliB
Stewie
Err, seriously? In a crowded train, with uncertainty which hand belongs to who? I am not eager to get tasered without a reason, are you?
WilliB
letsberealistic
It is groping. It is creepy and disgusting, but it is not the same as e.g. violent rape. Words have meanings, is it really so so hard to respect that? We see too much of hyperbole like this. If everything is the same every nuance gets lost.
lolozo79
Along w/ ''anime'', ''sushi'' and ''ramen'', a quick Google search would suffice. I'm sure you can find an in depth analysis on wikipedia.
Stewie
Women should carry a Tazer and give these perverts I bit of a tickle with it, just to see "how I they react" of course.
Mocheake
Excellent work by the driver, but, man, what corny writing.
Haaa Nemui
I don’t know about Tokyo central area but in the greater Tokyo area this is false.
Mickelicious
Which part of the internet would that be?
Jonathan Prin
She is the hero.
You are not a man if you would not have helped her, at least in my country.
I am not saying I would resort to violence for that objective but surely would try my best (picture, name).
So baffled by a groper admiting his wrong behaviour nearly immediately. It seems admiting your wrongdoing allows you a rinse and repeat process.
I pray for her to recover well enough after this ordeal.
WeiWei
Every bus in Tokyo for example, exit is from the rear and not allowed from the front.
Nippori Nick
There are plenty of buses like that in Japan.
fatboysosa
Meitetsu buses: The fares vary with distance, so you get on at the back, take a ticket, pay at the front when you get off.
Nagoya City buses: It's a flat fare, so you get on at the front, pay your fare, get off at the back.
Tochan357jp
None of this will change nor end until there is a level of serious accountability for sex offenders. Umm… perhaps a National Sex Offender Registry? Why is that so hard for the government to do? It’s sad they do nothing to stop this sort of crime.
Richard Gallagher
Excellent! A fine job.
nandakandamanda
Great story, with courage, heroism, and plenty of luck involved. Love it!
lolozo79
Kudos to the bus driver for taking action.
Incidentally, it is unfortunate how the word "chikan" has now become part of the English lexicon along with "hentai", etc.
Mickelicious
Base, utterly callous, patriarchal entitlement.
Well done, victim, driver and cops for their refreshing proactivity.
kiwiboy
I've lived in Japan for 13-14 years and taken many busses in Tokyo, Nagano, Niigata, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Akashi, Nagoya and Okinawa and I've never seen a bus where you get off from the back door (other than the free airport terminal shuttle buses, that is)
lovelytime
@WeiWei
Ride more busses? It’s about 50/50 and usually depends on the service operator/city/hardware setup.
Brian Wheway
saying “I wanted to see how she would react.”
and the police arrested you to see how would you react by being put in the back of a cop car, hahaha, well done to the girl for saying something very quickly, and the hero of the day is Koga san.
WeiWei
On most busses you exit from the rear, enter from the front. I don’t know of any bus where you exit from the front.
purple_depressed_bacon
This was his excuse? Maybe someone should kick him in the family jewels and then when confronted say, "I just wanted to see how he'd react".
Kudos to both the girl for being brave enough to step forward and the bus driver who took immediate action. One less groper on public transportation is a good day indeed.
Btang
He should've smashed the dusty rusty geezer's cranium yamato style.
Good
Excellent work!
Concerned Citizen
Well done Koga san! And well done to the girl for refusing to stay silent.