Police in Nagano Prefecture said Thursday they have arrested a 28-year-old elementary school teacher for allegedly using a spy camera to film up the skirts of high school girls in a convenience store.
According to police, the suspect, identified as Masayuki Koyama, was arrested in a store in Komagane City at around 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. NTV reported that Koyama attached a camera that looks like a fountain pen to the grip of his black umbrella and filmed up girls' skirts.
Police said they had received a report from the same convenience store on Tuesday from staff, reporting Koyama's suspicious behavior for the past month. Police staked out the store and apprehended Koyama after he attempted to film up a schoolgirl's skirt on Wednesday.
© Japan Today
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Yubaru
Why does this not surprise me anymore? But what does bother me more than a little is that it took the keystones a month to get their shit together and do something about it.
SauloJpn
What is really concerning is the fact that this perv is an elementary school teacher. I expect they will comb though his computers to look for more evidence and land this creep with a very long prison term.
Yubaru
.Huh? That's a joke, while I agree that the odds are they will find more "evidence" sadly however this will not result in a "very long prison sentence". If he does any time at all, it will be 1 to 3 years at the most I will bet.
What he really needs is hospitalization, in a nice quiet out of the way location, maybe shock therapy?
Tamarama
Another elementary school teacher. Incredible.
Yubaru
Why does this not surprise me anymore? But what does bother me more than a little is that it took the police a month to get their crap together and do something about it."
Scott Johnson
More important things to do Yubaru. Seriously. The crime of the century, this isn't. Probably also not expecting the guy to be so dumb as to keep doing the same thing in the same place.
chikv
The note never says that the police took a month before doing something, it says that the police got a report after a month (and even so, it never says how many times happened during that month).
Yubaru
More important? Oh right, like ticketing people on their bikes, or sitting around deciding where to go on their next cops outing.
I guess pedophiles are not high enough on the list to investigate.
nath
Another education system beast.
Yubaru
What you fail to realize is that there are first off cops that are detailed to this type of crime here in Japan, and this is not what your ordinary beat cop would be investigating. The cops, more appropriately, it's the detectives that would investigate it.
Sex crimes are rampant in Japan, and if you think there are more important things for the detectives to be checking out, like who's smoking a joint or something, I do believe your priorities are out of whack.
Protecting CHILDREN should be number one, or at least close to No 1 on that list of priorities and who knows, if given the chance, this so-called teacher, may have taken it to another level. He is a predator and should have been dealt with as soon as possible and not a MONTH after being first reported.
No, you didn't but you inferred it! The way you wrote it though gives you plausible deniability that's all.
Wakarimasen
To me the part I don't get is the thrill of filming up some random girl's skirt. The fact that he is an elementary school teacher is almost predictable in these stories (or at least some kind of teacher. Or keisatsu. Or fireman.)
tjguy
The police got the report on Tuesday and arrested the guy on Thursday!
Nice work!
CrazyJoe
Why are so many teachers sex offenders? Under the Nagano Prefectural Ordinace, the maximum penalty is 6 months in prison or a fine of 500,000 YEN. (first time offenders)
Moderator
No bickering please.
Scnadal.Lova
I hate perverts! especially old ones that have a thing for young wemon.
Scott Johnson
Because they are expected to live like monks. Smoking and have both been cracked down on. Teachers private dating lives are now open to much scrutiny. And teachers getting busier and busier with far too much busy work for them to have any sort of normal life.
As people expect so much chasteness, not only more teachers, more and more people will turn to lowly and possibly illegal actions such as this to fulfill their sexual imperatives. Society is sometimes its own worst enemy. And not wanting to hear it is why I am being attacked.
Mirai Hayashi
Teachers and cops. But the reality is Japan isn't having enough so sex so there is a lot of pent up frustration going on.
Liam Roberts
i think someone needs to read the report again, police gets the report on Tuesday and arrests suspect on Wednesday morning.I think the police done a good job and should be praised, not slagged off.
wildwest
So glad he was using the pen and not the sword. This is one time the pen may not be miterer
Dennis Bauer
@Scott what has being busy to do with being a perv? you can release stress in other ways that are less detrimental to yourself?
Wakarimasen
Story is he was doing it for a while and so 'satsu "staked out" the shop (i.e. stood at the magazine rack leafing thru the soft porn mags - to put him at his ease that he was in the company of normal blokes). Then when he used the pen/umbrella combo to film, they pounced. Sounds like a brilliant operation all round. As for this being stress related, bit of a lame excuse. I am very stressed but don't feel the need to film up strangers' skirts.....
Scott Johnson
Well Dennis, first you write off being busy, then you claim there are other methods of stress relief. If a man is too busy to do anything but work, how does he apply another method of stress relief?
And while caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine only come as stress relief by learning, sex is a perfectly natural imperative. There is too much of this sort of behavior going on to be explained away by a product of birth. This sexless society is making people loopy. And the typical over-reaction to this and really all sorts of things, such as dating co-workers and even marrying students (which used to be fairly common) its only going to get worse. And that is why I suggest people not over-react.
And part of the over-reaction is seeing this primarily as pedophilia, predatory behavior and something akin to rape, when its more like the core crime here is not the sexual aspect but the harassment and invasion of privacy (the private space under their skirts) to get the shot.
Magnus Roe
Snapping high school girl panties is highly pedophile, even by a hysterical American definition.
Bartholomew Harte
Can ANYONE explain just what this Nimrod expected to capture on film ? I mean.,,jeez he must need a Light to actually pick up the subject the camera would be aimed at!- In any case a Failure on Sooo Many levels! !LOL!
Moondog
Magnus Roe and Yubaru both used the word "pedophile." This crime is not one of pedophilia. If you think I'm wrong, look it up.
Wakarimasen
This may not be a really serious crime, but trying to defend this behaviour is just weird. Obvious form of stress relief (if sexual drive is causing it) is to take oneself in hand......
tjguy
Scott says:
Yes, right now it is harassment and an invasion of privacy as far as the law goes, but it needs to be stopped ASAP. It is not just something to be laughed at. It could easily lead to more serious stuff as well as strengthen his enslavement to his sexual desires. It shows that he has no self-control and also has bad judgment - which I guess could be said of all of us.
Wakarimasen
Also, see the headline below about stress creating false memories. Maybe he just forgot what he was doing?
LFRAgain
Yubaru,
Strictly speaking, having a sexual interest in girls (or boys) aged 16-18 does not constitute pedohilia. And that distinction becomes even more important the closer in age the two subjects happen to be. A 28-year-old male having a sexual fascination with 16-18 year-old girls? Yeah, a bit creepy in modern society in a "why can't you find someone your own age" sort of way. But "pedophilia?" Not even remotely.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV TR (Text Revision)- "The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders Diagnostic criteria for research World". World Health Organization/ICD-10
nath
Creepy behaviour. He should just pop down Akiba and buy professionally shot magazine of this stuff. Unless the thrill consists in the act of taking the photo. weird.
Disillusioned
In Australia this pervert would go on the sex offenders list and end up doing 2-5 years in the big house and, he would be barred from teaching forever. In Japan he gets his name in the paper and a strong talking to. What a great country to be a pervert!
LFRAgain
Which is, quite frankly, asinine.
soldier2
You've got the question the wrong way around. It should be "Why are so many sex offenders teachers?". The answer then becomes more obvious.
nath
Not sure that he would do time for taking pics, not that it would lead to inclusion on sex offenders list.
bgaudry
I know a foreign guy who is into this kind of thing. It's interesting cos he has convinced himself that the girls enjoy it and are consciously trying to flash their kickers at him.
The range of cameras are also amazing: pens, keyrings, etc.
iceshoecream
I just don't understand what's so exciting about under skirt shot. Don't these people know about Internet porn??? And on on top a kid!? Hope he is never allowed close to schools again.
Michael Craig
The man's 28! Shouldn't he have a wife or a lady friend?
nath
MC Quite a few late 20's dudes in Japan are unable to get a lady friend. Meeting and dating in japan is fraught with difficulties, especially if you are a bit loserish.
Lowly
I don't think these guys enjoy the upskirt photos per se, tho I could be wrong,
I think it's the challenge of getting it and then showing it off, ie it's a trophy thing.
Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone with personal experience.
I agree, this is not pedophilia at all. But, he should definitely not go back to his job.
Gaijin Desi
if its not a Teacher, its a Cop, every other day we see such incidents.
Ah_so
Agree with you analysis completely. You see more at the beach - it is the trophy thing. Also in Japan, HS girls are are generally seen as attractive and many are socially conditioned to find them attractive and you can admit that without embarrassment, whereas you would be seen as creepy in the West.
Cortes Elijah
I was shocked at how easy "school" jobs are accessable. I am a kindergarten teacher for example, in Australia you need to pass a test and get a "Blue Card". This card shows your safe to be around children and not some wierdo. When I got my job no questions or checks were asked. I am exposed daily to naked kids, by changing nappies, taking then to toilet, and changing their clothes. When I read this article I realised, yeah what exactly is stopping a pednofile/hentai person from working with kids? The answer is "nothing".
Japan needs to introduce extensive tests to become a teacher.
cramp
suddenly, school teachers and cops in jpn are turning to these chikan stuff...something happening to them?
nath
New generation movie producer!!!
Mark Jozefowicz
Is this really news worthy?
Chantella Jackson
This is disturbing. I'm glad he got caught.
Lowly
Cortes Elijah-
FYI it is not quite so easy to get a teaching job in Japan in a school. You are probably a foreigner hired for a specific area (ie English) working part time, which is why you say you got your job easily. To be a full time teacher with a home room, etc, is a big responsibility here, and yes you need a license. Whether it is "as good" as the Aussie one in terms of "safety" I have no idea (no idea personally if the Aussie one is good either, tho).
The sad fact is, since pedophiles' goal is to be around kids, they will look for jobs with kids on purpose, and I am sure that happens in Australia as well as it does everywhere else. Screening only goes so far, in the end pedophiles who are good at lying will figure out how to get through.
This guy tho, may not be a pedophile. HS girls are not the same as elementary kids.
ChibaChick
And yet on another thread people are complaining about the positive disccrimination shown towards women with women only this that and the other. Is it any wonder all this is necessary? If Japanese men could only learn to control themselves they wouldnt have any need to whine about women-only places.
LFRAgain
Make sweeping generalizations much?