Man arrested for punching woman on train because ‘she wasn’t wearing mask’

Lock him up and throw away the key. This guy is nuts.

41 years old and hitting an 82 year old woman. I can't think why he may be unemployed.......

Double lessons to be learnt...

Don't forget to wear a mask on train. Unless you want a loony to punch you.

Don't punch people. Unless you want to be arrested for assault.

Perhaps the alleged assailant's mask had reduced the oxygen supply to his brain, resulting in his poor decision-making skills.

Or maybe he was just not very bright in the first place, leading to his belief that masks are effective at stopping the virus' spread and therefore justifying his decision, in his mind, to assault the elderly lady.

Masks do reduce the spread of the virus and no, one should not be assaulting an elderly woman over it.

Funny in a way that the old lady is obviously less concerned about Covid than the tough guy who hits old women. What a mutt! Lock him up!

Police in Fukuoka have arrested a 41-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of assault after he punched an 82-year-old woman aboard a train on the JR Kagoshima Main Line on Sunday, because she wasn’t wearing a face mask. 

Wow what a tough guy. Somehow I dont think he would express his opinion so strongly the non-masker had been a muscular 30-year old.

One would think that simply lecturing an 82 year old woman would have been enough. Even yell at her if it makes you feel better. But adding an arrrest record for assault, assuming he doesn't have one already, is a good way to remain "unemployed". Freaking idiot.

The man should have vented his anger to JT rather than punching old women

So, he punched an 82 year old woman in the back of the head? Please change the headline. He is not a man! He is a coward!

People wear masks mad, people don't wear masks mad. Let's all be friends.

The only folks that get "mad" about people who wear masks, are for the most part, NOT Japanese, and those who comment about things here from "gaikokuland"

Hitting someone, doesnt matter where, is asinine at best. Personally speaking, he should be subject to the same or similar punishment, with a cast iron pan, upside his head!

Trains bring out the worse in people....so do expressways.

Lets travel by boat

Pathetic.

Instead of riding the trains, and beating on old women, how about looking for a job?

Or disappearing.

Or something useful toward society?

Unemployed + Osaka "man"+ travelling fa away on a train = definite trouble.

Pathetic.

Instead of riding the trains, and beating on old women, how about looking for a job?

Or disappearing.

Or something useful toward society?

Yes it could be helpful if guy jumped from bridge...sure he will be not missed...

Of course she should wear a mask but that’s no excuse for his violent behavior. A good attempt would be to give her (or anyone near you who doesn’t have one) a mask and friendly insisting in putting it on while commuting among many people who all don’t want to be infected like him too. And no, it’s not expensive and also an unemployed can do it, because they send you those unused Abe masks to your home for free, even in bigger amounts, it’s a campaign to lower the costs for public entities for their expensive storage. So before punching an old lady, switch on your brain, order some of those free masks and behave like a civilized person.

Someone needs to make this guy a tinfoil hat. If he is paranoid enough to wear a useledd mask probably thinks she was emitting 5G. Delusional people on the trains due to media hysteria unfortunately.

Punching an elderly woman? About as low as it gets.

I hope karma catches up with this lowlife scum.

Lock him up and throw away the key. This guy is nuts.

I agree hitting an old lady on the back of the head is very bad form, but seriously? lock him up and throw away the key...?

I don't wear a mask anywhere, if someone says something or looks agitated I just move to another carriage.

Took a lot of courage to assault an 82 year old woman. Now you can practice on a punching bag in prison.

The moral paradox. Physically abusing the old lady was morally wrong. Yet, her refusing to wear a mask on a train during the pandemic was also morally wrong. How do you resolve this?

Some old (and young) people suffer from anxiety or breathing difficulties when wearing masks. We should never assume why an individual wears or does not wear a mask. I prefer not to but I respect the rights of others to make their own choice.

Yet, her refusing to wear a mask on a train during the pandemic was also morally wrong.

Why? Choosing not to wear a thin ineffective non-medical mask isn't a moral decision. Since when has wearing a mask even actually been required anywhere other than on a commercial flight? Come on, after two and a half years of lockdowns, vaccinations, boosters, etc., one would think that you'd realize masks are nothing more than feel-good measures.

How dare him, punching an Obachan?

These mask freaks need to stop. Just get over it. I don't wear a mask anymore and no one gives me a second look.

yelled and hit her on the back of the head

The back? So this coward is sneak-attacking an 82-year-old woman from behind!?

She probably ignored him and infuriated him provoking a tap to the head.

The moral paradox. Physically abusing the old lady was morally wrong. Yet, her refusing to wear a mask on a train during the pandemic was also morally wrong. How do you resolve this?

There is no paradox.

Punching people for whatever reason, outside of self-defense or consensually is a crime.

A man punching a woman, is even worse. A man punching an old lady, is 20 times worse. A man punching an old lady in the back of the head is 100 times worse.

Not wearing a mask is, if you believe in the infallibility of masking, and somehow we forget that you are still trembling of fear of catching the rona even after being vaccinated and boosted, at worse inconsiderate.

They are not comparable, not even in this upside down covid-only focused crazy world we live since 2020.

Out of all the people not wearing masks he goes after an 82 year old woman? What a big strong man he must be...

a 41-year-old unemployed man on suspicion of assault after he punched an 82-year-old woman

What a hero. Another gutless imbecile in this country. In his case I'd tolerate a delay if he chose to check out in front of the train.

The outrage should be how many men stood by and allowed this to happen.....

Lock him up.... preferably in a place with no masks. See how his frustration goes when it's not an elderly woman he wants to beat.

If no man defended this elderly woman dhame

Nothing to do with her not wearing a mask. He's just a frustrated loser who needed somebody weaker than himself to take his frustrations out on. There's a lot of them around these days so watch your backs JTers!

...shame on them

Nothing to do with her not wearing a mask. He's just a frustrated loser who needed somebody weaker than himself to take his frustrations out on

Agree in a sense, but we have seen since 2020 that these "Mask Police" and "Jishuku Police" have used this as an excuse to justify their actions, and the worst part is that a lot of people, even if say that what they did is wrong, still kind of blame the victims in these situations.

"Just wear a mask to avoid being assaulted". There are even similar comments to this in this comment section.

Since when has wearing a mask even actually been required anywhere other than on a commercial flight?

It is actually not required on commercial flights either, at least in Japan.

They discriminate you greatly if you do not wear a mask (usually, they stop you when you try to get into the plane, then they "recommend you" to change your seat at the back of the plane, or where there are no other people around, even if you already informed beforehand the company that you cannot wear a mask, and they knowing that got you the seat where you wanted), but they cannot refuse you to get into the plane.

The problems that have been happening in planes have to do more with fighting in the plane because of the (lack of) mask, than it is with the fact of not having a mask.

The outrage should be how many men stood by and allowed this to happen.....

How many was that? The article didn't state, and in the one similar experience I saw on the train, the people on the train did step in...

You didn't just assume no one stepped in, did you?

Violence is not the answer!

You win. This is the most disgusting news of the day.

I blame the Government and the railway companies for incidents like these because to date they haven’t given clear instructions on mask wearing! It’s always ambiguous instructions. They need to step up and have the balls to say things clearly, make proper rules and implement these ( Japanese people are good at following rules so it shouldn’t be hard to do so )! Either tell the public that it’s compulsory to wear mask on public transportation or just say it’s not!

It is actually not required on commercial flights either, at least in Japan.

Its required on almost Japanese airlines especially JAL and ANA! Check their website and it’s clearly stated that you can be denied boarding if you don’t wear a mask! Those with medical exemptions are required to wear a face shield. It’s all clearly written on their website.

This person who hit an 82 year old lady is not a man at all. A real man would never hit a women. Although there are times when you want to, but real men walk away and let karma take over.

I dozed off on a train without wearing a mask. An elderly Japanese man tapped me on the shoulder and offered a packaged mask. I didn’t argue and just said thank you. No point in arguing. But why would you hit a old lady? I don’t wear masks anymore but I usually always carry some with me and if someone asks, I will wear one.

They need to step up and have the balls to say things clearly, make proper rules and implement these ( Japanese people are good at following rules so it shouldn’t be hard to do so )! Either tell the public that it’s compulsory to wear mask on public transportation or just say it’s not!

This would be an un-Japanese response, and it badly misunderstands Japanese culture. Nearly all rules in Japan are written vaguely. Even really, really strict rules, like those against drunk driving, are nebulous when you dig into the fine details of the letter of the law. Hard-and-fast rules are simply not the norm in Japanese culture.

The preferred option is to create strong recommendations that are not quite compulsory, but that everyone is expected to follow. The police, if they could enforce it, probably won’t, but maybe they would if there were a criminal that they wanted to take down. Most people can just expect a lot of social pressure if they buck norms. Japan’s masking requirements and quasi-states of emergency have fit very much within this pattern of vague rule-making.

With this Covid still raging and the need for masks and distancing still in effect, then this guy punches her and in order to do that, he had to be within six feet to do so.

Go figure. What a yutz. A total clod. Stupid stupid stupid.

I can't believe I got 2 negative votes. All I said was "Violence is not the answer!" What's this world coming to?

Its required on almost Japanese airlines especially JAL and ANA! Check their website and it’s clearly stated that you can be denied boarding if you don’t wear a mask! Those with medical exemptions are required to wear a face shield. It’s all clearly written on their website.

Those sites usually say something vague like "should wear a mask at all times", and the so called "exceptions" they talk about include things like "Feeling pressure" or "Feeling anxious", meaning, anyone who dislikes how a mask feels can claim this.

Not only that, what those sites say is all for posture, specially to calm down people like the guy of this article so that they do not punch random people in the plane. The law, on the other side, is explicit in this regard, public transportation in general, and commercial planes in particular, are not allowed to be "selective" of their clients, just like with hotels, so they cannot prohibit a passenger to enter without a mask.

They can harass them so they give up, or provoke some type of emotional reaction, so to claim that they are not allowing them in the plane because of "security reasons", but they cannot, at least legally and properly, reject passengers without a mask.

Great to see the elderly standing up for sanity.

Trains bring out the worse in people....so do expressways.

masks bring out the worst in people as well.

Of course she should wear a mask but that’s no excuse for his violent behavior. A good attempt would be to give her (or anyone near you who doesn’t have one) a mask and friendly insisting in putting it on while commuting among many people who all don’t want to be infected like him too. And no, it’s not expensive and also an unemployed can do it, because they send you those unused Abe masks to your home for free, even in bigger amounts, it’s a campaign to lower the costs for public entities for their expensive storage. So before punching an old lady, switch on your brain, order some of those free masks and behave like a civilized person.

”switch on your brain” is rather ironic.

”friendly insisting”- oxymoron

a good attempt, would be mind you own business and you do you.

Violent man. The mask is just an excuse.

Luis David Yanez

"Just wear a mask to avoid being assaulted". There are even similar comments to this in this comment section.

Sadly, so true. My J-wife does the masking cosplay when going outside for exactly the same reason.... she does not want to get assaulted by some random nutcase like this.

It is really sad the media propagand has led us to this place.