crime

Five 'adults' arrested for disrupting Coming-of-Age ceremony

39 Comments

Four 20-year-old men and a 19-year-old youth were arrested on Tuesday for disrupting a Coming-of-Age ceremony held on Jan 11 in Akita City, police said Wednesday.

All five males are accused of running around and yelling just after Mayor Motomo Hozumi, 52, had finished his speech, thereby obstructing the ceremony. They have admitted to the allegations and said they did it as they wanted to stand out.

The Akita City Board of Education decided to file a damages claim with police last Wednesday, and a total of 18 "new adults" who took part in the disruption went to the mayor's office in suits to apologize last Saturday.

The mayor did not withdraw the damages claim, saying he wanted them to take responsibility, but added he asked the police for leniency so that the incident would not stain their futures.

Footage of some of the incident and one of the youths being tackled to the floor can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPxtEhCgCnk

© News reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

39 Comments
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What exactly were they charged with? Disrupting a ceremony? Running and >yelling?

dolphingirl- According to the video they were charged with "iryoku gyoumu bougai" which translates to "obstruction of an official function", or something close to that. They ceremony itself was some official prefectural or municipal event.

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Japan is a sinking ship.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIeZkkRMqk4

this one's funnier

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A rather misleading headline. I don't see any adults

Perfect! Could not be stated better. Perhaps it is just my job or where I am, in Kitakyushu, but I just don't see these clowns. There were all around in Hiroshima 15 years ago, but I figured these idiots had just faded away. Too many people trying to get attention just for the sake of attention and NOT doing anything creative to deserve it. Americans just do tattoos now to get that attention. But.....the lack of a real punishment might just lead them to do this again. A child will often think like a child, and that's what these idiots are.

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I haven't seen a haircut like that since I watched Falco's video for "Rock Me Amadeus"...

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Disregard my last post, I saw it. Memo to that stupid "man" who decided to ruin it for those who maybe were actually looking forward to that day, Be a real man and go join the French Foreign Legion ad learn some discipline. I would say the JGSDF or the other branches but I think you really need a dose of training outside of Japan for awhile.

As someone else posted, this nitwit should be glad that there is not some mandatory public military service in Japan. He would never make it.

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can someone post the link up again?

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A rather misleading headline. I don't see any adults.

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screw leniency. throw them in jail for life or hang them.

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Those guys should all send their resume to Ozawa. I am sure he could use them.

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Just watched the clip - hilarious! More comedy than offensive. That kid showed a clean pair of heels, those crusty old officials took forever to catch him! Give the kid a break, you boring old stiffs!

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Japan is a joke! These so called 5 dorks, pretending to be adults are such a joke! If they were in South Korea or any other Asian country they would have mandatory military duty instead of screwing around, not working nor studying, they are just young parasites!

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How dare these little punks insult the Dear Leader of Akita... I believe any adult who shows dissent to political leaders should be locked away and/or executed!

In all seriousness, these "Coming of Age Days" are an outdated nonsense - Japanese kids are all out getting drunk years before they "become an adult" at 20!

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That is too funny! Wonder what their job prospects are going to be.

They have admitted to the allegations and said they did it as they wanted to stand out.

Here's an idea, instead of joining a group to do something to "stand out" try being a man and do it on your own and not follow the pack.

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Law or no law, who cares. If you act like an idiot and decide to be a punk then you deserve to get tackled. The blonde haired skunk punk got served!

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ebisen---lots of people get arrested without breaking laws...those who actually broke the law are charged...I looked at the video, and didn't see where they broke any laws...

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what is the youtube address didnt come up on the article

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Ironic, eh? "Coming of Age Ceremony."

Since they've "come of age" the media should publish their full names and mention their families to bring a bit of shame to them.

Also don't know why their faces are blurred out. They're "adults" (superficially) and there's no doubt as to their guilt.

If I were 20 and in the ceremony, I'd be pissed if they screwed it up like that. A full beat down would be a good deterrence for future ceremonies.

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Why,I see a Great Future in politics for every one involved!!

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The mayor did not withdraw the damages claim, saying he wanted them to take responsibility, but added he asked the police for leniency so that the incident would not stain their futures.

haha, you see that guy who was running and yelling? he doesnt have a future.....such a punk axx kid, end up gettin killed by the yakuza for not even respecting them

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What exactly were they charged with? Disrupting a ceremony? Running and yelling? Failing to listen to long boring speech? Just because they turn 20 it doesn't mean that they are going to suddenly behave like adults. I think the mayor is just being smug and self-righteous.

The real problem behind kids who act out like this is their parents. It's the parents job to help their teens develop into respectful, considerate and responsible adults. Obviously the parents didn't do their job.

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i went to the link and the poor guy got owned!

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They have admitted to the allegations and said they did it as they wanted to stand out.

Good for them! Why not go the whole nine yards and do it naked! What a petty thing to make news about.

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Nice way to start off adulthood. With an arrest record for something really stupid.

Morons but thats Japan for you.

I had no idea only Japan had morons. Thanks for the heads up.

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Great tackle. That chap could get a place in the Japanese Rugby squad.

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ebisen: if they were arrested then definitely they broke some laws.

Please tell me this is sarcasm.

What these unimaginative old men need to do is go with the flow. This happens every stinking year. Rather than stubbornly insist on being a boring old sod, they need to something wild to out-do the crazy new adults and keep their attention.

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This reaffirms that the whole point of "coming of age day" is to mark the behaviourial transition point from child to childish.

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Just saw the take down, AWESOME!

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Morons but thats Japan for you.

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The mayor did not withdraw the damages claim, saying he wanted them to take responsibility, but added he asked the police for leniency so that the incident would not stain their futures

In other words, let's look forward to next year’s disruptions so the tradition never stops. This happens practically every year in Japan, most notably in Okinawa, Osaka and Tokyo. If you want to end it, you must put down a stern foot and hold your ground. Adding that you don’t want to "stain" their future, well I think they are doing a good job of that on their own.

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Nice take down~ Haha

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lol

One week of community service picking up trash is enough of a punishment for this. After all, he did not start the ruckus until after the Mayor finished his speach.

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for too many in Jpn 20yrs old translates to 12yrs old in people years & they get stuck there & only age physically.

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I heard the 5 of them had shared a whole can of beer beforehand, one of those little ones you can fit into a bento box.

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lol, how stupid

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sharky1 - if they were arrested then definitely they broke some laws.

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If I had to sit through a long, boring, dull predictable speech, I might have done the same.

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Were any laws actually broken in this event???

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Stupid bumpkins.

Send them to Guantanamo!

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