Police in Higashi-Osaka said Tuesday they have arrested a 26-year-old man for spitting coffee on a woman on Oct 27.
Police said the suspect, identified as Koichi Arima, has admitted to the charge, Fuji TV reported. Police said Arima is also being questioned about his involvement in 11 similar cases since Oct 20 in which a man on a bicycle rode up behind women pedestrians and either spat liquid on them or threw coffee, juice or tea from a container at them. All the women were aged between 19 and 35, police said.
All the incidents occurred within two kilometers of tracks between Kawachieiwa and Yaenosato stations on the Kintetsu Nara line between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., police said.
In the Oct 27 incident, for which Arima has initially been charged, a 26-year-old woman was walking home at 10:55 p.m. when a man on a bike spat coffee on the back of her head and then rode away. The woman was not injured.
Police said they identified Arima from street surveillance camera footage.
Arima was quoted by police as saying he works as a construction industry assistant and was really annoyed by his female superior at work.
© Japan Today
36 Comments
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Rashadoz
Interesting ! Stress from Work can lead to anything ... I think !
Disillusioned
Here is an example of equality in the workplace. Japan has a long way to go before it can join the modern world.
Kobe White Bar Owner
@ Disillusioned, I Second that mate, pathetic excuse of a male i wont say man.
TheGodfather
Well done to the women for reporting it!!! :-)
Serrano
"Police said they identified Arima from street surveillance camera footage. "
Damn these intrusive, er, I mean, thank God for these geat surveillance cameras!
TheGodfather
mochiron... ;-)
Kabukilover
I'm glad we have strict gun control in Japan. Guns are the weapons of choice of disgruntled employees back in the States. Instead of spitting coffee at innocent women this guy could have filed a complaint before he lost his marbles.
khulifi
This person need acid drop at his eyes to blind him for the rest of his life
HollisBrown
Japan, wake up to mental illness.
misunderstood
This guy is sick!! He was annoyed by his female superior at work so he took his anger out on any women!!!
TheGodfather
Is it safe to assume that the man was BULLIED AT WORK by his female boss who... THREW and SPAT COFFEE at him?? ;-)
nath
No.
turbotsat
"No", based on what evidence?
Wc626
Isn't there a procedure @ HR where he could've complained about his boss? Perhaps he could've saved everyone the trouble by spitting coffee in only in his boss' face, instead of ignoring the problems she might have caused & take it out on society.
So typical of Japanese.
TheGodfather
Don't rattle the cage. Leave the sad loser alone... with his pathetic contradictory opinions!! :-)
Haaa Nemui
Again, no. Hey, you asked and I answered. It's irrelevant anyway. Read what Wc626 said.
@Wc626 - I wouldn't say it's typical of Japanese... the term "going postal" came from America.
Alphaape
I've had annoying male and female bosses, and I didn't take out my frustrations on innocents on the streets. I either looked for a new job, or reminded myself that after quitting time, I didn't have to deal with them and lived my life on my own terms.
Kira Minaki
Finally!
Disillusioned
Creep of the week candidate #1. However, it's only Tuesday. I'm sure there will be more.
nath
Your question makes no sense - I wasn't saying no based on some sort of evidence, I was saying no, based on the lack of any evidence that his boss bullied him, and/or spat coffee at him. Therefore it's not safe to assume that she did so.
Jeff Ogrisseg
It would be nice to state what he was really arrested for: battery, causing a stain?
Miguel Lozano
I dont understand that police get involved in problems of these kind. This kind of problems, like many others minor offenses, should been solved for the people by their own, maybe with the support of their own family and friends.
nath
What a ridiculous comment.
toshiko
I dont understand that police get involved in problems of these kind. This kind of problems, like many others minor offenses, should been solved for the people by their own, maybe with the support of their own family and friends.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
When gun shootings are about null in Japan, your suggestion will make all cops unemployed.
nandakandamanda
Charging him with what?
Spitting coffee at someone is a kind of disgusting assault, in that your own saliva will be mixed in with it. The woman will have felt the insult against all women, especially after the facts came out, so it is an act of insufferable discrimination. This memory may never leave her, even if the creep gets banged away for a few months. He will also have tainted whatever clothing she was wearing at the time and she may have wanted to bin it all.
azukaya
My lecture of this is that something in Japan is happening that is filling men of hatred, and if men continue growing in hate, both women and men will be doomed to misfortune.
TheGodfather
Yes it is... FEMALE BOSS tells subordinate to make coffee... She doesn't like the coffee so THROWS / SPITS it back at him. Humiliated worker then takes it out on RANDOM STRANGERS!!
Welcome to Japan everyone!!! :-D
turbotsat
Defendant's testimony to the cops is some evidence. Google translate says he had 'Mushino anger deep in his belly', or something like that. That's more than just 'annoyed'.
And as for the boss throwing/spitting coffee at him, it could be a case of 'monkey see, monkey do'. Maybe he is reliving the incident over and over in his twisted little head. Not all female bosses are light and sweet. Not so long since JT posted about the boss beating her employee to death.
Alex Einz
good coffee or one of those can things?
Miguel Lozano
@toshiko Not all the problems are easy, some could grow more what is expected, and there is a minimum of rules must be looked after: for example if someone grab your wallet, the less you can expect is that a police help you to recover it, independently of whether there are or there are not some kind of punishment. And there are other cases where they can be useful, for example to calm down quarrels and it doesnt have nothing to do with an arrest.
nath
Nice hypothesis, but that's all it is (unless you have something to show that this happened), which is why it's not 'safe' to assume it.
I'm not sure how you see that as evidence that she spit coffee in his face.
It could be, and maybe his is, but that's all hypothesis. There is nothing so far to suggest this is what actually happened.
MikeRowave
The biggest question is how do the police identify "suspects" from camera footage? Street cameras are notoriously bad for facial recognition unless the picture straight on so how do the cops do it? I smell a rat here. And don't be fooled by the omnipresent "the suspect has admitted comiting the offence/crime".
Commodore Shmidlap (Retired)
It's completely safe from the comfort of your own home to post these assumptions on an Internet board where the worst that will happen is people will comment on how you've revealed your own prejudices or sexism. If that doesn't bother you at all, assume away. However, since it's not based on anything other than your own pre-conceived notions, I wouldn't advise going around making assumptions as a way of making decisions in your life or anything.
nandakandamanda
Not quite sure why I was given minus points above. Merely trying to answer Jeff Ogrisseg's question.
theeastisred
Surely that should be 'Creap of the week'.
turbotsat
Translations of Japanese news reports indicate he was identified by his distinctive hair style.
Also, cameras are getting better. And even if they haven't upgraded the street cameras, they could follow the perp along in their footage, and find better quality vids from CCTV at businesses along the way.