crime

Man arrested for kissing woman during overnight bus trip in Shimane

43 Comments

A 25-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for forcibly kissing a female passenger who was seated next to him during an overnight bus trip in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. The victim typed a help message on her cell phone and handed the phone to a passenger seated behind her, who was able to help restrain the man.

Tadafumi Watanabe was arrested for allegedly kissing the woman in her 30s who was sleeping around 5 a.m., while the bus was heading for Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, from Osaka.

According to police, the victim woke up after Watanabe kissed her. Instead of protesting out loud, she typed the message, “The guy next to me is a groper. Please report it to the driver,” on her mobile phone and handed the phone to the passenger behind her. The driver called police when the bus arrived at Matsue station and Watanabe was arrested.

Watanabe was on his way home in Matsue, police said.

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43 Comments
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Another only in Japan story. Why couldn't the woman yell out? How did she know the passenger behind her would be awake or even do anything about it? She should have yelled at the guy: "Keep to your seat or I'll kick you in the balls!"

Honestly, a lifetime of mollycoddling has turned a generation of Japanese men and women into wimps.

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Instead of protesting out loud, she typed the message, “The guy next to me is a groper. Please report it to the driver,” on her mobile phone and handed the phone to the passenger behind her.

I'm amazed that she even managed to write quite a long text message and then handed the phone to a stranger. In my case, I would have just pushed the man away, jumped out of my seat and run to the Driver....gosh..I guess it's just the cultural difference. Whatever it is I'm glad she's safe.....

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Why all the critism of how she handled it? She got him busted and that's what counts, way-to-go 30 something! Kissed her while she was sleeping and probably stopped molesting her as soon as she woke up.

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It would be nice if Japanese men started to respect women and it would be nice if Japanese women started to empower themselves.

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Maybe he really did that, and maybe not. I find it scary that now you can be arrested on the basis of a cellphone message. Be careful on the trains, folks. You don´t know what the person next to you is texting.

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Brainiac maybe because she had the guys tongue near her tonsels?

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an another perspective:

g: "you can touch me but you have to pay"

m: "no I don't want to"

g: "you gonna pay anyway". Write a novel on the cell phone and pass it behind her to a "stranger"

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does the law in japan recognise self-defence? seems anyone who is assailed in public is far too terrified of the repercussions of actually defending their personal safety

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Why didn't she cry out?? perhaps she thought he might be a Vince Li type (guy who attacked and beheaded a random stranger on a bus in Canada last year) For all she knew he could have been such a psychopath and it could have come unstuck for her in a hurry. Kudos to her for keeping a level head.

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that's a long message...

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Not long at all.

"tonari ha chikan. untennsan he." 隣は置換 運転さん呼んへ

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good thing i wasn't there, if she passed the phone to me i'd probably think she wanted me to take their pic.

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we gotta be very careful on this. Sometimes it just happens that the woman might have been dreaming of being gropped. This is very possible. If the guy wasn't good looking and was seated next to her those kinds of night mares can't be ruled out. And then there is also a possibility that the guy actually gropped her. That also can't be ruled out. But because he is a man (and Japanese), he is (and will always) be guilty until proven innocent. So many weird things happen in this country. Someone can bring gropping allegations on you and your whole life will be basically ruined. Gropping or rape allegations are the worst allegations on men. Winning legal cases is almost impossible irrespective of the circumstances. I just pray that a fare and thorough investigation is done before anyone is convicted. We should treat the guy as a suspect and not a criminal until the police conclude their investigations. I wish some cute lady could grop me when I'm asleep, anyway

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I wish some cute lady could grop me when I'm asleep, anyway

don't be cheeky...:)

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We've heard; 'kudos for keeping a level head'. The guy got what he deserved' etc. Bollix. Honestly, if she had the wherewithal to type out a text message what the hell stopped her from telling the idiot to grow up and behave? No siree, get a scalp fer yerself girl ... Another classic example of nutty Japanese behavior by both accuser and accused.

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A witness-less crime is a tough one. if there is no evidence at all, and only someones word to go on, its hard to know one way or the other.

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That is funny. Why she didn't slap him immediately? Very strange story this is. Taking time to type message on her mobile Very long process for one kiss this story is a crap and hasn't got any sense but humor. Is JT trying to say that while he was kissing her she was writing message, and that other passenger... was able to help restrain the man?' Was accused violent?

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xample1-are you suggesting that a woman finds it acceptable to be groped as long as the groper is "good looking"?your post is slightly difficult to follow with its dreamworld/reality confusion.

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Sorry, there is a lot of room for doubt here. If you were woken by someone kissing or groping you, you then find your phone and take time to type a message? Surely your reaction would be stronger than that?

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This incident is pretty ... strange, in my opinion. Did the lady type the message while the men was kissing her (it would be a long kiss)? Okay if she typed the message in her seat, or in the washroom, she could simply sent the message to police. Why she needed to pass her phone to another passenger ? What would happen if this passenger gave a cold shoulder to her ? I understand why she didn't shouted out loud (because it would wake up the other passengers, as modesty is the norm for Japanese society), but I simply can not understand the texting and phone part....

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Bento-san What I'm saying is this: just sitting next to weird figure makes anyone unconfortable and this leads to all kinds of nightmares. Scientifically proven. Gropping in not acceptable even if the gropper is miss earth (assuming the "gropee" is male). The woman in question (here after refered to as "victim" to be fair enough) was asleep when the alledged gropping took place. She could have been dreaming of being gropped.... Anyway, I'm not supporting the man in question (let me refer to him as "gropper" to accomodate your point of view) but what I'm saying is that don't call him a criminal before we hear his side of the story. There's a saying that "the first person to speak in court will always appear to have won the case already. It is not until his opponent has spoken that a fair enough judgement can be made".

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actually, IF she were to type it your way, it's 隣が痴漢、運転さんを呼んで。 but again, unlikely.

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Everyone tells her off "she should have yelled out" etc. She did the right thing. He could have been armed and stabbed her. She was clever with what she did.

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Most gaijins here do not understand the Japanese nor their culture. This poor Japanese woman may have been scared for her life. She tried to keep her cool, sent her cellphone with HELP written on it, and she got help while the scum bag sitting next to her was being set up to get arrested withought giving the scumbag groper time to pull out a knife etc..and hold her hostage on this bus. These horrible incidents have already happenend, so my kudos to this young woman for having a good head on her shoulders! I hope the idiot groper has time to learn a good lesson while in jail.

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I was refused a seat on an overnight bus because I was male and the only seat left was next to a female!!!! WTF!!! That pretty much soured me on Japanese sexist etiquette....

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It has nothing to do with "unique culture" rubbish etc, the bloke is alledgly a sexual offender.

However , i don't trust the J police with their interrogation techniques, and strong armways of gaining dubious confessions.

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Time to recall the recent incidents of "groping" that have been through lengthy and costly legal processes from defendants, shown to be fabrications for whatever reasons. I come from a different age and a quick slap would have remedied the situation. But no, here goes some idiot to a prison and for what? Not a crotch or tittie grab but a 'kiss'? OK, it's offensive and unwanted. Worthy of a prison sentence? Which it will probably be? Modern times indeed. Give me a break ...

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look for the ladies service night bus or a movable rope to separate boys and girls in the future. well done to the lady for keeping her cool.

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Shouldn't the title read: "sexually assaulting"?

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If this guy gets busted based only on her testimony, somethign ain't right. if he confesses, it's a different story. I always wonder what happens of I'm on a long local train ride and i fall asleep and my hand accidently brushes some lady. Will I get busted?

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I just pray that a fare and thorough investigation is done before anyone is convicted.

Nothing was mentioned about not paying the transportation cost.

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Is it possible the woman was too terrified to move quickly in case this loon had a kilo of nerve gas strapped to his chest. I think she handled the situation well by staying calm. Who knows what you could wake up next to on a bus.

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I think the woman's nonconfrontational attitude is very typically female, rather than a culture thing. I think that some women are naturally more aggressive than other females but its not as common. Some cultures do, however, encourage women to be more confrontational, despite their nature. And a lot of people freeze in these types of situations. Women are hardly alone in that, but its usually safer for a woman do that.

The only Japanese culture thing I see here is her use of the cell phone.

How could she pull it off? Well, she says he kissed her while she was sleeping. When she awoke, he stopped. She whipped out her cell (like an enormous amount of Japanese do at any time and probably even more after waking up on a bus, so no surprise to the dude). It was easy to type the message as he had stopped kissing her. Turning to another passenger might have raised an eyebrow.

And her move was HUGELY clever. If she opened her mouth, the guy would have heard it. And he would have been first to react, guaranteed, piting her against a male no doubt much stronger and more aggressive than she is. Everybody else would have hesitated, possibly while he either berated her or beat the crap out of her. By typing the message, only the passenger and the driver know she complained, and they have time to absorb the situation and think of how to react appropriately. Thus, when the guy first hears of her accusation from the driver, her protectors are already right there.

I can't say if her chief motive was genius or just a reactionary reliance on the cell phone in a moment of panic. But I can say it was the absolute best move she could have made. Those of you suggesting she slap him, etc. watch way too many movies, such as Tombraider. Women are three times weaker in the upper body than males. Fact. Males are far more likely to meet any violence, even verbal, with completely disproportionate violence that women are usually ill equipped to handle. Fact.

But yes, it is also possible that she is lying or dreamed it.

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" "But yes, it is also possible that she is lying or dreamed it." "

Indeed! So how do you feel about being accused of something by cellphone message and then dragged out of a bus and into the police station?!

I find this story scary as hell. If this sort of thing escalates, we need male-only trains where we are safe from such stealth accusations.

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Just wondering how she knew he was kissing her if she was asleep ?

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Just wondering how she knew he was kissing her if she was asleep ?

She woke up because of it. It might have taken time for the guy to realize she woke up and stop kissing her. There is an after-effect from being touched, and its clear enough to know if it was a kiss or not. Moisture might have been left as well. Her lipstick might have been on his lips. All sorts of ways.

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I find this story scary as hell. If this sort of thing escalates, we need male-only trains where we are safe from such stealth accusations.

I do too, but I am at a loss as to what to do about it.

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I stayed the night at my cousin's once and her boyfriend was kissing me in my sleep - I thought the dog was licking me - I woke up and said "What's going on?!" - he jumped back and said "Sorry! Sorry!" - I tried to pretend that nothing happened - but he kept trying to get closer to me - it was weird - I didn't know someone could get arrested for that sort of thing, good to know

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Something similar happened at my house, too. A very good friend from way back was staying with us and early in the morning she was woken by what she thought was my husband lying on top of her and kissing her passionately. She opened her eyes to find the dobie giving her an enthusiastic good-morning kiss. Neither tried to pretend nothing had happened, and neither was in the least bit sorry.

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and in the meantime the driver did nothing until he reached his destination...

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I agree Likeitis. This woman handled the situation very well. I had a Japanese man grope me on a flight once and I was terrified about what to do. This was before cell phones, but I did manage to excuse myself and tell a flight attendent to immediately ushered me away from the passanger to the front of the plane (first class) so I would not have to confront the man. He was taken in to custody in Los Angeles where he confessed and apologized, claiming he had "a few drinks too many." I never heard what became of him. But you really do not know what these people are capable of. With all of the stabbings and murder going on recently, you just never know what could happen.

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Orangeporange:

" I agree Likeitis. This woman handled the situation very well. "

You assume there was "situation". What about the situation of being accused of something in secret and then hauled in by the cops on the basis of a cellphone message? How about we turn that around and try it on you?

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The actual text message was「隣の人は痴漢です。運転手に連絡して下さい」

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