Cop caught taking up-skirt videos during anti-pervert campaign

@dbung10 - this is what confuses the hell out of me. So many people say that when they call someone up on something like this the victim either doesnt support them, is hostile, doesnt even say thank you!

Do you (or anyone for that matter?!) have any idea WHY??? these women behave like this? Having had it happen to me, and knowing how terrifying it was, I would have been eternally grateful so I just can`t for the life of me understand why women behave this way.

@dolphingirl - people see crimes all the time and dont do anything to stop it. I saw this happen once on a train and called the guy out on it, he stopped. The girl that it was happening to gave me daggers and walked off at the next stop. Everyone else was asleep, emailing or reading. It was weird. If I had hit the guy, or at least held him so that police could come and arrest him, I bet i would have been left standing there with no victim, no witnesses - just me (big foreign weird looking guy) holding on to a salaryman for apparently no reason. I think that this is why people witness these crimes and dont do anything about it - no back up from the commuter zombie hords.

@DerekJ - I think Anthony39 posted that information for my benefit actually - I was asking for clarification on the law regarding possession and opposed to creation/sale of child pornography.

@Anthony39 - thanks for that info. I understand better now (although still shocked!)

@dolphingirl: the victims of these crimes are often young girls who don't have the strength or the experience to do something

I think you have hit the nail on the head here. It is NOT about sex or attraction, it is about power. Having power and control over your victim. Thinking back to the guy who went for me, I thought maybe he just couldnt tell I was pregnant. But thinking about it, there was no way he could not have been able to tell - Im 10 months! It was a bit obvious! I am not exactly small this time around! It was purely a power thing - he thought he could get away with it because, being so heavily pregnant, I was vulnerable and couldnt fight back. Unfortunately, he was right. I was terrified, in a way only someone who has ever been heavily pregnant and felt that sense of vulnerability can understand. I was so scared he was going to hurt me or the baby. All I could do was move away from him and hope he didnt turn nasty. I think two guys sitting the other side of him told him to leave me alone but I cant be sure, I didnt hear what they said.

Believe me, in my "normal" state he would never have gotten away with it!

anthony39, I am well aware of the status of the child porn issue. I am not excusing that. My complaint is about the sweeping generalizations.

That is horrible...

Go kirakira and auntplum! I'm really tired of people who say that women should change their attire; implying that they are asking for it. Didn't you ever watch 'The Accused'? We don't blame the victims of sexual harassment or assault. The pervert is the one doing something very wrong! People who think that women shouldn't wear short skirts because it's too provocative are the type of people who are scared that they don't have any self-control. Also, as others have mentioned, the victims of these crimes are often young girls who don't have the strength or the experience to do something. And it sickens me that sometimes people witness a girl being groped on the train and don't try to stop it.

I remember being in Tokyo a couple of years ago and there was a sign which said something like 'Chikan ha hanzai desu' on signs in the station, which roughly translates to 'groping / molesting people on the train is a crime'.

I then imagined how ridiculous it would be to place such a sign say in London St.Pancras. I mean, talk about stating the bloody obvious.

Japan, along with Russia, are the only two member countries in the G8 that have not outlawed the simple possession of child pornography itself.

Today, the law permits the simple possession of child pornographic images if there is no intention of selling or distributing them.

The United States ambassador to Japan has stated that Japan's lack of laws restricting possession of child pornography has impeded international efforts in the investigation of child pornography rings.

In June of 2008, a bill proposing the ban on child pornography possession was submitted to the Japanese House of Representatives, where it was brought before the Diet in September.

Yay! Go Auntplum! I couldn`t be bothered to argue any more!

Images of child rape are not illegal here? Wow! I thought possession of child porn had recently become illegal, and this covers these images, but I think I might be mistaking possession and creation or sale. Can anyone clarify?

Hve to say, Auntplum wins the auntplum vs SSBarnes argument hands down. Agree with anthony39 - maybe making images of child rape illegal may be a step in the right direction!

DerekJ - Japan is one of only 2 countries in the world in which it is not illegal to possess images of child rape and abuse. Till this changes prepare to get slated everytime a perv pops his camera out (whether it is a police man or a mother selling pics of a SIX year old).

@taiko666: Your post misses my point. I bemoan the utter disdain some posters display for the Japanese in general. The behaviors we see are neither unique to Japan nor an excuse for derisively classifying a whole people.

Funny thing is that most Japanese will hear this and just say "baka da ne". For gaijin, the crazy part is that he bothers saying that he has done it before.

Yes, I would agree that assailants are often brief in their assaults with foreign or adult women. This is not the case with middle school children, however. Middle school children are the target of serial attackers, due to their vulnerability and the fact that they take the same train every day, meaning that their attendance and route is predictable. In short, the attackers know how long they have with the victim and know that they are in a position of strenght over the victim - factors which greatly reduce the chance of them being apprehended.

the majority of groping and perv incidents in japan are "drive by" variety. For instance:

-man runs up behind you on the street and sticks his hand under your skirt and bolts away.

-man coochicoos your behind for 3 seconds on the train right at the stop then steps off.

-man grabs your breast as he walks past you on the train.

-man walks up to you on busy street and punches you in the boobs and runs off.

These are all experiences that have happened to me or to my friends. You always curse yourself out afterward with "coulda/woulda/shoulda" actions like say, chasing down the perv and beating his skull into the curb but usually he is long gone before you can make a move. Most women don't "yell out" because in most cases the guy is gone pretty instantly anyway. The most I've ever gotten out is "Hey!"

My best advice is simply to LOOK AROUND YOU. I had about 5 incidents in my first year of living in Japan and each subsequent year I've had less as I've become very vigilante when I get on a train-car or if I'm walking on the street. Pervs look for women who look distracted or unaware more so than they are looking for short skirts and tight blouses.

S8Barnes, I sincerely hope that you never have a daughter that you chose to raise in Japan. It would be heartbreaking for her to come home and try to report the horrible experience that she had been through to you, only to be told that she has concocted a story. It is unfortunately the case that there are many parents that do just this. Those that choose and are able to seek psychotherapy have a chance of escaping the cycle of events that I have mentioned. Many simply find their way into the Mizu Shoubai industry and a souless existance. Have younot ever wondered why this industry is so large in Japan, and how they source their recruits?

You have an interesting vision of the abilities of a 13 year old asian child - to be heavily assaulted in a public place is a shocking experience itself, especially by an assailant wearing the uniform of the establishment and what has been presented to you as authority all of your life - namely, a business suit.

To your points:

1.Did not resist most likely.

By resistance do you mean that she did spin round punch the attacker on the nose? Could you strike an adult double your body weight and size when you were 13? I trust that you are aware that these attacks take place on crowded trains where the victims are not able to move their bodies easily.

2.Did not yell out

Children are not likely to yell out in this situation, as the shame and shock they feel paralyses them into a numbed silence. They are likely to weep however, and to vomit and faint when they get off the train at the next stop to escape the attacker, even though it is not their desired stop.

3.Did not pull the string on the anti-crime alarm or did not carry one.

I do not quite know how to answer this. Is this a joke? This sounds as if you would have children kitted up like soldiers just to survive the gauntlet of the journey to school without being sexually assaulted.

4.After the second time, did not see the pattern and did not get someone she knows to protect her or sort it.

May I ask how long you have been in Japan, how many Japanese aquintances you have? It very much sounds to me as if you are judging the actions of a Japanese victim by EU/US behvioural norms, which is quite obviously out of step with the entire context of a Japanese child's life and upbringing.

5.Did not report it to authorities.

May I refer you to my answer for your point 4. It may be worth bearing in mind that even western adult women stay in relationships in which they are battered and sexually abused for quite some time before seeking help or raising this to the authorites. It is interesting that you would like to judge a 13 year old Asian female child by a higher standard than adult women of your own country. Or is it perhaps that case that you feel that all women deserve what they get if they don't nuke any assailant the second a hand goes anywhere near their body?

kirakira wrote: Oh, sorry! Did I make a grave sexually provocative mistake with my maternity clothes??!!!

Two things. First, did you miss the word "may" in my post? It was an indication that I would judge the situation as I cannot from here. It means I will name the problem if I see one, and there may not be one. You may have done nothing wrong in that situation. I was not there. Second, I did indicate that other women may pay the price for how another woman dresses. When men are aroused by a woman, their feelings don't evaporate when she does. The feeling lingers and may be placed on another woman.

Kirakira wrote: The problem here is NOT the way women dress!

Its not the only problem. Its not even the largest one. But it is a problem and one that women can do something about today without Diet deliberations. Besides, even if a man wants to upskirt or grope a woman, her choice of apparel can make it difficult or impossible to do it significantly or at all. Why women should think they should get a free pass when it comes to personal responsibility and protection is beyond me. Because that skirt goes with these shoes? Please!

kirakira wrote: You mean the one I already mentioned is only open a couple of hours a day? You clearly have no idea!

I have every idea. Every situation is case by case. I presented some possible solutions, not the only solutions and not tailored to anything we discussed.

Yes I know the woman only cars are not 24/7. But if you got groped on the train when it was available well dang, you had a chance to avoid your fate. But I am not saying the groper is off the hook. I don't even suggest a lighter sentence for him. I am just saying that if women don't want to be groped or upskirted, then they should do something to help themselves. There is not always going to be chivalrous knight there to pick up your hanky. And there are fewer out there for women not appreciating them.

Afterward I may suggest you consider your attire before leaving the house

Oh, sorry! Did I make a grave sexually provocative mistake with my maternity clothes??!!! The problem here is NOT the way women dress!

You clearly pass the ball and most likely someone will catch it. Are you even in Japan???!

use the woman only car

You mean the one I already mentioned is only open a couple of hours a day?

You clearly have no idea!

auntplum you have a great gift at making a very rare case seem like everyday. You ought to write screenplays for movies.

auntplum wrote: identify where the 13 year old victim of this gross sexual assault is at fault.

Did not resist most likely. 2. Did not yell out. 3. Did not pull the string on the anti-crime alarm or did not carry one. 4. After the second time, did not see the pattern and did not get someone she knows to protect her or sort it. 5. Did not report it to authorities.

And I will also blame the parents too for apparently not spelling out the above to their daughter. I may also blame the train passengers pretending to sleep for not at least investigating.

kirakira25: Well, this line says it all really. What hope do women have?

A whole bunch. Effectively communicate to Stephen Barnes that you are being sexually assaulted and watch how fast it ends and how any brutality on behalf of the assaulter will be returned in kind. Afterward I may suggest you consider your attire before leaving the house, use the woman only car, or be more aware of your surroundings or something, but I promise you won't feel half as berated as the guy who groped or upskirted you. But that's me. Fact remains that if you have a problem the ball is in your court sister. You clearly pass the ball and most likely someone will catch it. You have to shame people into action sometimes and women are not alone in that. But people feel shame very keenly unless you allow them the chance to avoid it.

wow, did not know that. poor kids.

Precisely. It is child sexual assault of the worst kind. The word 'chikan' has been used to describe any sexually perverse behaviour - from voyeurism to sexual assault. Due to not 'airing dirty linen' being a cultural norm here, the extent of these assaults is not well known outside of the perpertrators, victims, and courts. If you take a trip down to your local Koban, they will tell you that Japanese law recognises three levels of 'chikan' offence - hand on outer clothes, hand below outer clothes but above under garments, and hand below under garments. Most of the populace have little idea what some children have to endure on their way to school on a daily basis.

@auntplum WHAT? REALLY?? I thought we were talking about grabbing someone's bum (actually the article isnt even about that, its about taking a photo of someone's pants). You seem to be talking about systematic, daily child rape. Does this really happen on trains???? Ive not heard of this before and ive been here a while.

It is interesting to see so many young men here talking about this issue as if it is a cultural clash between east and west. However, I can assure you that once the nature of assault is understood, it is not something that is considered acceptable by many Japanese people, and is certainly endured at a high cost by the victims.

Very many of the young Japanese women I speak with have had the most terrible experiences on crowded trains, and these horrible experiences shape their lives. I assume that it is understood that we are often not talking about men caressing a woman's buttocks but more typically the penetration of a 13 year old school child's body. They are often assaulted by the same attacker on a daily basis. I would be intrigued to hear if any one is able to find justification of this behaviour, or identify where the 13 year old victim of this gross sexual assault is at fault.

Perhaps what is most heartbreaking about this, are the consequences of being a victim of repeated sexual assault. These young girls are not brought up with a voice and are not able to speak out even when enduring the most horrific of assaults you could imagine. Instead they elect to avoid being sexually assaulted by simply avoiding crowded trains by taking a later train - arriving at school late. They then find that they are shunned by peers and teachers for their tardy attendance, and begin to play truant - as not attending seems to cause less personal embarassment than being late. They are now a drop-out. Whilst playing truant, in game centres in whatnot, it is only a matter of time before the gangs / sex industry scouts / unscrupilous men recruit the young girl into their services. More often than not, they begin to work in 'girls bars' providing services of loose morals. Each step along the way, they lose their sense of self, respect for their own body, feel increasingly soiled, and are therefore more susceptible to being recruited to even lower forms of employment.

In short, the habitual sexual assualters are not simply enjoying a twisted sense of sexual gritification, they are taking a life.

victims often bear some fault, not even half usually, but some.

Well, this line says it all really. What hope do women have?

kirakira wrote: Yes I have, but that doesn`t justify not stepping in and offering help if needed.-- I still offer help when I know its needed. The point is, I often can't tell if its needed or not and women are often not much help in making the call. I am not a mind reader.

Kirakira wrote: Oh come on, you can`t tell when someone is in trouble and looking around for help?-- I often can't. On the train or on the street, I often don't know if that guy and girl are together or what. If he punched her, I would punch him. But I never saw that.

kirakira wrote: Does that apply to every woman who is attacked and can`t raise her voice?--Sadly, yes it does. Believe me, I want to help. But I also don't want to get involved on an hunch and find out I was wrong, or worse, find out the woman is not going to back me up when the cops come, like if its her husband. Often when I help strange women, they do not even say thanks here. And its not like I have crooked eyes or something. I am just foreign, white and male. Its no fun being a hero when no one recognizes your heroism, particularly when its the cops.

kirakira wrote: The guy was obviously nuts.-- To you he was. But how can I know the nut is not your husband?

Kirakira wrote: Surely a more appropriate measure would be to make it socially unacceptable to start with. -- I did not know it was acceptable! I am gonna have some fun tonight!

Kirakira: I`ll just bend over, pick up my bag, dig around for it, find it and finally let it off all the while shaking like a leaf while some degenerate thinks its OK to touch whatever he wants. -- Look. You find your own way to alert those around you then. We are not your automatic body guards until you hire us. Like I said, most women won't stick around to sort things, and even then, its no guarantee it will get sorted by the cops. You want help, communicate it dag nab it. Its you wanting help. I don't want to get stuck in a web, so communicate.

kirakira wrote: that it is the victims fault?-- victims often bear some fault, not even half usually, but some. And your case may well have been the fault of a different woman baring her bottom on the escalator.

DerekJ: have you not noticed that similar stories, involving cops, teachers... basically all sort of people who should know better, appear weekly, almost daily, in Japan? JT doesn't make them up. Have you also not noticed that trains carriages are segregated in Japan to prevent molestation of women? Where else has this ambient level of sexual immaturity and seediness?

glycol57: your claims that 'the west' shares the same moral hang-ups as the Taliban, and that condemning surreptitious sexual photography of complete strangers is 'cultural imperialism', mark you out as at best a muddled thinker. Do think that being an immature perv is part of Japanese culture? And that the J-cops were doing our culturally imperialistic bidding by arresting this guy?

Sorry about the above - the "quote" thing didn`t seem to work properly.

Have you ever seen something happen between a man and a woman and when you try to put a stop to it they both tell you to buzz off? Yes I have, but that doesn`t justify not stepping in and offering help if needed.

It can be very hard to tell what is going on between people you don't know Oh come on, you can`t tell when someone is in trouble and looking around for help?

It sounds like you need a body guard if you are so afraid to raise your voice Does that apply to every woman who is attacked and can`t raise her voice? Because that seems to be the majority of them here, and if so, what a sad state of affairs. Let me reiterate - I was heavily pregnant. The guy was obviously nuts. What would happen to me if he decided to punch me in the stomach?

Or you should ride the women only carriage Open a couple of hours a day. Hardly practical in preventing this kind of thing. Surely a more appropriate measure would be to make it socially unacceptable to start with.

anti-crime buzzers Excellent idea. I`ll just bend over, pick up my bag, dig around for it, find it and finally let it off all the while shaking like a leaf while some degenerate thinks its OK to touch whatever he wants.

you are expecting a degree of knowledge impossible for strangers to have while refusing to give them sufficient clues. Er, no, I think if you read my post again you will find all I am saying is "relax, breathe, get some perspective" is not great advice for a victim of one of these perverts and asking for a little understanding of what it is like to be faced with this situation.

You are you own second worst enemy Am I to read into this - yet again - that it is the victims fault? As I said in a previous message, I was wearing a knee length skirt, knee length boots, and a jacket, sitting down with my bag on my knee, and I was heavily pregnant. Do you have ANY concept of how terrifying that was? How vulnerable you feel? Obviously not.

Again - for the last time - a pervert is a pervert is a pervert. It is NEVER acceptable to attack/touch/intimidate/grope/photograph or in any other way invade an individuals private space. I just can`t believe there are people out there who seem to think it is nothing to get worked up over. Come back to me after it has happened to you and let me know how you feel.

.

kirakira25: Have you ever looked around a carriage desperate for help only to find everyone burying their noses in their manga pretending not to see what is going on in front of their eyes?

Have you ever seen something happen between a man and a woman and when you try to put a stop to it they both tell you to buzz off? It can be very hard to tell what is going on between people you don't know, and it does not take many cases to make everyone give up.

It sounds like you need a body guard if you are so afraid to raise your voice. Or you should ride the women only carriage. Or carry one of those anti-crime buzzers; that would certainly make it clearer to people what was happening and the offender would surely be too shocked to get violent, especially if you did it on the sly and he was totally taken by surprise.

But, in short, you are expecting a degree of knowledge impossible for strangers to have while refusing to give them sufficient clues. You are you own second worst enemy, the offender being the first. Get a buzzer or two. Keep them in handy places.

I'd like to say I'm surprised "bdiego" didn't understand what I was saying but I'm not. I try to make what I'm saying interesting to read (to amuse the reader and lead them to a conclusion) but since somebody doesn't understand I'll do the boring version:

What I'm advocating is the abolition of taking pictures of people without their permission in general. If we're saying the illegal act is taking pictures of women's underwear, then it is inherently unfair to allow them to flaunt them (which like it or not some women do) because it could create situation where people with no ill intent break the law. Additionally it's inherently discriminatory to place such importance on just one type of picture or one article of clothing (why not short skirts? or tight shirts? why women's clothing and not men's) and not grant equal protection for all types of disagreeable photos.

Thankfully, the law says it is pictures in general (which means somebody probably actually thought about this before writing the law). So the law the cop broke was not because he was taking "upskirts" but because he was even taking pictures at all. I'll bet he knew that too....

glycol57

Peeping up skirts is "naughty", even in Japan

And what planet do you come from...?

Naughty....?

It's a fricken crime! There's no Grey area about it... When you start taking pictures up women's, school-girl's dresses, skirts, in their bra, IT's NOT NAUGHTY... IT'S A CRIME!!!

I haven't kept up with the latest stupid JN laws, which make it a crime to take a picture with your cell phone on the train of people, Not talking up someone's skirt... Yes, this is a crime, with the same legal consequences as this fricken pervert - pedophile cop!

Now that's a country with some screwed up priorities!

But it's some-how scene as "Naughty" to take a picture up a woman's skirt in Japan... "Oh Japanese oyaji boys will be oyaji boys - You Naughty Japanese Oyaji boys stop taking those up-skirt photos!"

You needn't say another word... You just explained the average mentality of the Japanese man.... It sits somewhere between 7 and 10 years of age...

Macarthur wasn't far off!

In short, relax. Breath. Get some perspective ... and quit telling Japanese how they're supposed to think about love and lust as if they're idiot children.

Does that advice also apply to the victims of this? Your daughter? Your wife? Your sister? Have you ever been a victim? Do you understand how unbelievably scary it is to have it happen to you? Have you ever looked around a carriage desperate for help only to find everyone burying their noses in their manga pretending not to see what is going on in front of their eyes? Have you ever stood there or sat there and wondered what you can do, if anything, as you have your 3 year old little girl with you and what would happen to her if you tried to defend yourself and the perpetrator turned nasty?

You are right that people often use this kind of topic to justify their dislike of Japan. Personally, I find your disdain for the victims far more shocking.

His investigative techniques are impeccable.

@glycol57: Thank you for those words. The number of posters that appear to look down their noses at the Japanese is truly disappointing. I know it's a strong word but often there seems to be a tinge of hatred in these postings. The cop in this story is simply a cad, regardless of his nationality. Good for the honorable cop to call out the guy.

Better yet, wear a burqa. That's what they're for.

attention skinny girls of japan - cover those skinny legs!

Of course the RAM is recoverable, that's a give. It doesn't matter because the officer confessed, already knowing that to be the case. Meanwhile, Junnama retreads another variation of the "wear jeans = rape is okay" argument before backtracking. Many chikan after being arrested have delusions that "all the women" are showing them their privates and this gives them permission - even for women who are not.

Helly is right, the RAM should be recoverable. Even if it is a surface mount device there are any number of labs in Japan that would be able to extract the data. Only if the memory device itself is broken would the images be lost.

But guys over 50 do have such thoughts. That's what Viagra is for, to give the unfortunate ones something to do about it.

The cops definately need to be held to a higher standard but they are a sample of the population. Seems like the population, in general, isn't all that worried about it. Like it or not Japan (or China, or Korea, or Thailand) are not going to have the same standards as the US. That's not always a good thing but it is what it is. I'm not going on a crusade about it. It's their country. If they want to get up to chikanery that's up to them.

Peeping up skirts is "naughty", even in Japan, but really it's just not that important in the bigger scheme of things

It was a POLICE MAN. Shooting VIDEOS. There's nothing 'naughty' about this at all. In the big scheme of things it is illegal, immoral, unethical, and transgressive. Especially when perpetrated by an officer of the law.

Perhaps if the Japanese stopped telling us all how to subscribe to the system, your comments may not have been such an exceptionally poisonous dose of fail.

Vive le common sense, you utter buffoon.

definitely up for the best chikanist of the year award

I'm amazed at how many people think their nasty view of life through a lens of western/US/Talibanistic sexual hang-ups is necessarily how the rest of the world views such affairs. Just another manifestation of "cultural imperialism".

Peeping up skirts is "naughty", even in Japan, but really it's just not that important in the bigger scheme of things - worth a slap in the face instead of endless moral posturing from atop a high horse (usually delivered by hypocrites).

In short, relax. Breath. Get some perspective ... and quit telling Japanese how they're supposed to think about love and lust as if they're idiot children.

Vive la difference!

I am tired of the childish behavior.....clean up your act before you install any cameras. There is a serious problem but they never look at the source. The good policeman could resign so quickly...he should be made to stand a few watches with sign around his neck saying I got caught...don't be like me.

Maybe you should have another look at the article. This is not about chikan. This is about sneaky up-skirt photographers.

As quoted in the article: "anti-chikan (pervert) campaign", as quoted in the headline "anti-pervert campaign". Sorry - to my mind this is absolutely about chikan.

People specially the males are the majority reader of the mangas in the subway. The Mangas with perverted behavior stimulates the pervy ones to do groping or taking up-skirt photos. Those guys who think that child porno is legal in Japan just think that if a guy takes up-skirt photos of your daughter or sister, how will you feel??

i don't have a problem with the short skirts, and recently i guess fashion has held back a bit. Maybe it's the cold weather.

women have a right to choose what they wear, but they should realize that if they wear that, then men will look at them. If you throw a 10,000 bill on the street, it will be picked up for sure! same thing. If I see a 10,000 bill on the street with no one around, i will take it, however i don't go around picking people's pockets...

with all the so called techie forensic specialists in police here, i can't believe that they could not retrieve the pictures. Once it's committed to memory, and in some cases SD cards which handle many g's of impact force, the data should be recoverable in the vast majority of cases. The guy's name should be outed as well, but perhaps his yakuza connections keep him safe.

I'm running my own business in Japan, and I'm just waiting for the dreary day when the yakuza will be showing up at my door.

After gorging myself on the latest news of violent killings and robberies back home, it's always a welcome change to head over to JT and have a jolly good laugh at the expense of the greater Japanese electorate. Keep up the comedy of errors JP.

kirakira25 wrote: Um - to everyone that is commenting on women who wear short skirts, I would just like to point out that I was chikan`ed on Saturday night and I was wearing knee length boots, a knee length skirt....and I am 10 months pregnant!!!

Maybe you should have another look at the article. This is not about chikan. This is about sneaky up-skirt photographers. We are blaming short skirts for the desire to photograph here. Although I would still say there is a correlation between women showing skin and groping, its not quite as solid as with cell phone photography. Sometimes the skimpy clothing of one woman is paid for by another.

The guy's in his 50s?? I thought at that advanced age all thoughts of sex are gone! Really, he should be able to control himself in his old age.

I get what you're saying, but I still don't see any girls walking around with their privates showing.

Even then the initial quote I was responding wasn't even about underwear it was about short skirts, which apparently are the same thing?

The offense was noticed by another police officer who was on the same train. Police said that the sergeant broke his cell phone in half, destroying the evidence, after he was reprimanded by the officer.

So because he broke it in half the little SDRam chip that the picture was saved on could not be checked.... Was his phone from 1991?

kirakira & kokorocloud: I agree with both of you. First, up-skirt picture-takers, gropers and other perverts are generally opportunistic cowards and they likely don't really care about what the woman is wearing. Secondly, there's a big difference between admiring a woman who is skantily clad from a far and getting close enough to take a picture up her skirt.

I get what you're saying, but I still don't see any girls walking around with their privates showing.

I do quite frequently, but maybe that's because I work near Shibuya/Omotesando. More than a few ladies there showing off their undies.

Junnama-- I get what you're saying, but I still don't see any girls walking around with their privates showing. The men who do this have to make the effort of getting close and moving a camera underneath her to get what he wants. It is still private whether she's wearing a short skirt or a long one. If she was walking around in her underpants, then yes, that would be the same as someone taking a picture of someone who just looks weird.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I don't think wearing a skirt justifies chikaning (is that even a word) or that there is any connection between skirts and chikans. I'm just saying if you want to have women's privates getting special treatment (can't take pictures of them) then the owners ought to treat them special too....or all areas of the person should be treated as special (any picture is illegal)...

First males are brainwashed by countless manga magazines depicting perverted behaviour and then they have anti-pervert campaigns to try to stop them acting out such behaviour. Something is out of wack here.

Um - to everyone that is commenting on women who wear short skirts, I would just like to point out that I was chikan`ed on Saturday night and I was wearing knee length boots, a knee length skirt....and I am 10 months pregnant!!!

It was pretty terrifying actually. The guy sniffed at my legs like a dog! I had my handbag on my knee so I don`t think he noticed how pregnant I was.

Sometimes a perv is a perv is a perv - and it makes no difference what you are wearing, or it seems, even what you look like!

Clandestine 'up-skirt' photos are innocent, even kinda cute...

when you consider that he could have a computer full of child rape and child abuse photographs at home and NO ONE in Japan seems to have a problem with it. Child pornography possession is legal in Japan!!!

Does anone else think there mgiht be a link... ???

could he have been arrested for having laid down beneath and simply looking up her skirt? does anyone have a ruling on this one? is it criminal because he tried to record the memory for posterior? oops! i meant posterity.

he he he ... this is the best article i have EVER read!

Lets be clear "woman for women", girls might want attention by wearing shorts skirts but they aren't wearing shorts skirts for people to take pictures of. They have the freedom to wear what they want. They keep their legs together or crossed on trains as ladies do. If they want to feel and look attractive that's there choice. They aren't looking for the attention of a pervert nor should they have to change their style and go around in long skirts or pants to avoid perverts or the comments of old people who are not intune with the times.

I always though this seemed like a double-standard somehow. Do I have the right to have someone arrested if they take a picture of me because they think I look strange? Probably not...

But a picture of a girl's underwear is an arrestable offense because it's different (someone's naughty bits)...

If it's different why don't girls have some responsibility to be discreet with their naughty bits? Some girls surely aren't....

Lets be clear "woman for women", girls might want attention by wearing shorts skirts but they aren't wearing shorts skirts for people to take pictures of. They have the freedom to wear what they want. They keep their legs together or crossed on trains as ladies do. If they want to feel and look attractive that's there choice. They aren't looking for the attention of a pervert nor should they have to change their style and go around in long skirts or pants to avoid perverts or the comments of old people who are not intune with the times.

As for the anti pervert campaign, it's clear that some people will never learn or care to learn what is wrong.

inakaRob wrote: This really has nothing to do with j-cops or j-pervs or Japanese anything. This is just a sad pervert with no self control. He could have bought some porn ten feet away at any stop where there is a news stand.

True, but "live" upskirt shots beats porn in a magazine any day.

Last week there was a cop stealing a teenagers underwear, these guys think they're above the law.

well said random task. It was all getting a bit weird on here until you clarified.

Wearing short skirts is fine, looking is fine. Moving a camera into a position where you can take pictures is not fine.

It's pretty obvious stuff.

I wonder what his family thinks of him

I love the new vocabulary we are getting here: 'up-skirt' and 'anti-pervert'. I'm sure their are perverts everywhere in every profession but a police officer is supposed to be catch these guys not be one himself. He has caused shame to himself and all cops in Japan. Disgraceful. Although we here many similar stories in the news, I would still like to believe that cops like these are the exception and not the rule. As another person said, we only hear about the bad officers not the good ones.

As for whether woman are partly responsible for wearing short skirt that provoke such perverted behavior in men...Well, in an ideal world, yes, I think women should be able to wear anything they want without fear of being harassed or molested. I think that especially in Japan, some women use their sexuality for power since they are not regarded as equal to men. Any mature woman is smart enough to know that short skirts are going to attract attention. I'm all for personal freedom, but you also have to consider the people around you. However, taking pictures up a girl's skirt is still a violation, plain and simple.

Rugbyfan wrote: If they want men to look at their legs and above, then why are they so shocked when men take photos of them.

Maybe most are not really. The article does not say the woman turned him in. Usually I hear they were caught by someone else. How most women feel about it is hard to tell. I don't think anyone asked them. And some women seem to care only because they are "supposed to" if you know what I mean. It certainly does explain the insistence on dressing skimpily despite this happening so much.

kyolicious wrote: The problem is not that women are wearing short skirts. The problem is that men forget that actual human beings are wearing those skirts.

Wearing those short skirts, its almost like they want men to forget! Respect is earned, not given. Its a two way street. Yes, men need to maintain self control. But women should not flaunt what some men cannot seem to see without a properly angled camera because for some men, its all they are likely to get.

anti-pervert campaign??? Anti-cop campaign would be more appropriate. So, last week it was a cop stealing 40 odd pairs of undies from a 14 y/o girl's bedroom during an interogation for a stalker. This week it's upskirts during a campaign to prevent upskirts. Is there a pattern here? It seems the cops are the ones the public needs to be protected from.

OR maybe its the same girl?? and actually its the police that need to be protected from her? never thought of that did you?

Come on - we all predicted it would happen so let's not be surprised!

this is rich!!

anti-pervert campaign??? Anti-cop campaign would be more appropriate. So, last week it was a cop stealing 40 odd pairs of undies from a 14 y/o girl's bedroom during an interogation for a stalker. This week it's upskirts during a campaign to prevent upskirts. Is there a pattern here? It seems the cops are the ones the public needs to be protected from.

EXACTLY!!! Hahahahaahahahaahahaha

hahahahahahaha!

The problem is not that women are wearing short skirts. The problem is that men forget that actual human beings are wearing those skirts.

I agree with you "womanforwomen". It's always people saying, "oh, the poor girls, they are totally innocent. Let's all feel sorry for them". But some women wear mini-skirts that barely cover their bums. If they want men to look at their legs and above, then why are they so shocked when men take photos of them. I certainly don't advocate men violating the personal space of these women but come on girls have a bit of modesty, why don't you!!!!

Is why cops want cameras on trains?

I suggest the floor of all trains to be made of polished stainless steel.

Then I expect most women will think twice before putting on too short skirts. Then - problem reduced. In the mean time, let's lower our heads and look down.

While some of you can support the anti-cop anti- upskirt filming camapign, I would like to campaign against the short skirts. Wear the short skirts and show the legs and make the guys curious about what is beyond that. That makes wearing the short skirt interesting. But when you leave nothing for imagination then it is not ionteresting at all. Nothing like the kimono and the beauty of the wearer ascending the stairs!

Altria: No, snapping the phone in half would not be enough to destroy the 'evidence' so long as the pics were saved on his camera. If he shoved the phone in water or something to that end, then yes. The contents should still be easily retrievable, as 'snapping it in half' was probably just a matter of smashing the top of the flip-phone from it's base... ie. rendering the screen unusable.

Anyway, this story is a CLASSIC example of all that's wrong with the J-cops in particular, and society as a macrocosm. Their own ranks can't even follow their campaigns.

J-cops. These clowns are a laugh a minute.

Japan must be the only "developed" country in the world were it doesn't feel safe for us women to wear a skirt.

You can't make this stuff up! The J-Cops never fail to dissapoint.

So why hasn't he been named?

anti-pervert campaign??? Anti-cop campaign would be more appropriate. So, last week it was a cop stealing 40 odd pairs of undies from a 14 y/o girl's bedroom during an interogation for a stalker. This week it's upskirts during a campaign to prevent upskirts. Is there a pattern here? It seems the cops are the ones the public needs to be protected from.

These things will continue to happen as long as girls where those sexy little skirts, and escalators the norm.

Please dont say that the police in japan are any better or worse than anywhere else. Of course they do background checks on police officers here, just as they do elsewhere. They eliminate a lot of the bad apples here in japan too, but you wouldnt write a news story about a policeman NOT taking pictures up a woman's skirt now would you? Just the same as you dont read news stories in the UK or US about police officers NOT being racist. Most of them are good. But good isnt interesting.

prefectural nuisance prevention ordinance

Anyone know if this is the same law that basically makes it a crime to take a picture (any picture) in public, train, bus, walking down the street etc...?

It's one thing, if this law is specific enough to target perverts, but it's quite another to make a blanket policy to keep anyone from taking pictures...

A few months ago, on one of the train lines, a middle-aged oyaji was arrested for taking a picture of a girl seated across from him, with his cell phone, NOT an up-skirt or obscene photo, just a picture of a girl seated across from him...

Stupid shit....

I'd love to see them try to arrest a SOFA sponsored person for taking a "NON-OBSCENE" picture in public, The base commander would tell the JN Cops to go screw themselves...

Yes, common-sense does matter!

What a boob... give me the cell phone I'll get the photos off it.

Lol, dang the hilarity just never stops. Police officers in Japan need to understand that if you're gonna have to go down for something, make sure its WORTH it. Have organized crime syndicate pay you 300000yen a month or something to let them go about their business...

Oh... They do...! But you'll never ever read about this in the JN news. That's why the FBI / JN Police estimated that as much as 90% of normal businesses in Japan, have been not only infiltrated, but are under the control of organized crime. You can Google these stats.

I can't imagine who this guy is defending these cops... Not only are they incompetent, they're corrupt!

Is it the pay...? I can't imagine why these guys are so incorrigible, if not blatantly corrupt and incompetent!

In the U.S. (and most other civilized countries) they do background checks on all potential law enforcement personnel, sure they can't eliminate all the bad apples, but they do a pretty good job.

This being Japan, I have to say this sort of story is par for the course. I expect to see a demented cop story in the news at least once a day.

Police said that the sergeant broke his cell phone in half, destroying the evidence

Is this really enough to destroy the evidence?

This is pretty hilarious.

I sure hope he recycled that phone. "(to)REDUCE(the sentence) REFUSE(to hand over the evidence and) RECYCLE(the phone)!"

Miyaratmosphere at 09:24 AM JST - 27th October From: "To protect and Serve" To: "To Film and Touch"

This should be on the list for the end of year quotable notables. LOL

"dbung10" I agree with you. I've taught English to a lot of Japanese police officers both uniform and plain clothes and I've also had friends who are police officers, but you have to admit that these kinds of stories seem to be happening quite often over the last few years, more than just one or two.

The headline of this article is exactlty like something you would find in The Onion or another satirical newspaper, only its real! I love Japan. I feel sorry for all of the nice police officers in Japan that are just trying to protect the community, as they are all getting tarred with the same brush.

admitting to the charges and saying that he had committed the same act several times in the past.

Register him as a sex offender. Fire him and send a strong message to rest of the Police Department that this type of behavior is not tolerated.

An "anti-pervert campaign"? In Japan? Good luck with that. It's like the US fighting a "war on drugs," or a "war on terror". Unwinnable.

You'd think this guy with all his connections to organized crime would be able to arrange for a private show with a girl dressed like a H.S. student...

Lol, dang the hilarity just never stops. Police officers in Japan need to understand that if you're gonna have to go down for something, make sure its WORTH it. Have organized crime syndicate pay you 300000yen a month or something to let them go about their business... Now thats something a lot more than taking up skirt pictures. yeesh.

And what does the police commissioner (is there one in Japan?) think of all this??? And just like other posts above......why isn't he named???

JT should just tell us the news when a cop HASN'T been caught for doing this.

what?

You couldn't make it up.

Drop the "anti-" part! Putting 3000 cops on trains just increases the number of perverts doing things like this!

Here we go again. JT should just tell us the news when a cop HASN'T been caught for doing this.

If the police catch other police for this, they and the whole country get damned. If the police don't catch other police for this, they and the whole country get damned.

Is it too much ask that you set some clearly defined goals, ascertain if they are even possible, acknowledge the bumps that are going to happen on the way, and give credit where credit is due? Is this too hard?

This crime is not going to disappear for being illegal and having campaigns. Murder has not disappeared either. But its hardly the fault of the Japanese police. A campaign is about all they can do given the state of affairs: trains packed like sardine cans, women insisting on wearing mini-skirts and men feeling like mice looking at a hunk of cheese in a trap. Eliminating any one of those variables would work wonders, but how? A clear plexiglass floor on the trains so a cop can patrol underneath?

Why does this fellow have his name suppressed?

The vast majority of J-cops are good. It's only the tiny percentage of wacko J-cops that make the news here. Just for once, I'd like to see a news story on one of the good cops.

Maybe there needs to be a week long anti-male Japanese cop campaign - where little girls and women are told to stay away from all male cops, and run for the nearest adult if one approaches them? Just a thought.

This really has nothing to do with j-cops or j-pervs or Japanese anything. This is just a sad pervert with no self control. He could have bought some porn ten feet away at any stop where there is a news stand.

From: "To protect and Serve" To: "To Film and Touch"

HAHAHA... man, this is SOO classic!!! Hilarious, I love it.

Short skirts. Japanese policemans kryptonite.

Hahahahahaahaha so true though!! shame on this country, shame on the Japanese Police!!!

This literally makes me sick to my stomach. Terrific example you're setting there, officer!

Police said that the sergeant broke his cell phone in half, destroying the evidence, after he was reprimanded by the officer.

Ugh. Scum.

Short skirts. Japanese policemans kryptonite.

He was in his 50's for gods sake. Hasn't he learned better????

These J-scumbags are really disgusting, filming up girl's skirts, touching children, gang-raping female prisoners on and on... when will it stop once for all?!! shame on this garbage-can of a country where CHILD PORNOGRAPHY is completely LEGAL!!!

Fantastic. Over a month later, we just start to get half-details of what we knew all along - that this campaign was all about being seen to do something about groping rather than any sincere wish to tackle a problem.

All gesture, no action. I'm with BurakuminDes: name him. Or would that involve　doing some reporting?

here we go...(AGAIN!)

It was only a matter of time! Some of these J-Cops just cannot help themselves...why don't they name and shame this disgusting man?