Police in Tokyo have arrested a 48-year-old man on suspicion of violating public nuisance laws after he allegedly groped a woman on a train.
According to police, the incident occurred at around 10 p.m. Thursday on the Toei Oedo subway line, Sankei Shimbun reported. Police said Makoto Hirano, who is a deputy section chief at commercial broadcaster NTV, has denied the charge and quoted him as saying he had fallen asleep on the train and didn’t touch the woman.
Police said the woman, who is in her 20s, told them Hirano sat down beside her and touched her thigh with his hand. She grabbed his hand and when the train reached Hikarigaoka Station, she took him to the station master’s office to call police.
© Japan Today
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Scorpion
Japan still living in the Shogun Days?
snowymountainhell
He flipped the script. - Last week, one ‘stalker’ did break & enter a young woman’s window then, sexually assaulted her ‘in her sleep’. - This alleged perv claimed HE was asleep.
Must be pretty meek 48yo if a 20yr girl can march him to the station master’s office.
Let’s see the onboard VTR footage for the truth!
Yubaru
She said, he said, no proof either way, but his career is finished because of it.
Middle-aged guys watch out, best advice, dont sit next to females on trains!
Monty
She grabbed his hand and when the train reached Hikarigaoka Station, she took him to the station master’s office
Really???
And the guy didn't resist?
He just sit there, let the woman hold his hand, waiting till they reached Hikarigaoka Station, and walked together with her to the station master's office?
That sounds very unrealistic to me.
Or, he is really innocent and wanted to proof that.
*ShinkansenCaboose
Obviously he did
not social distance
Aly Rustom
Wow. Been a while since I read chikan news. I guess most of them have been social distancing?
Yeah. Shame he doesn't work for NHK. His career probably wouldn't have suffered.
agree
Maybe he was happy to hold hands with her?
purple_depressed_bacon
Can they PLEASE rename this asininely named law to what it really is - sexual assault. Ffs, Japan. Public Nuisance Law? Seriously? Wake up and address this persistent problem your country's got going, Japan.
Danielsan
How can he possibly deny the charge at the same time he says he was asleep at the time of the groping?
He may have been acting out a dream. Sort of a sleep-groper, you might say.
girl_in_tokyo
ubaruToday 07:36 am JST
Right, because women confront men and drag them to the station master's office (risking injury if he fights back by hitting, punching, or shoving her) and reports them for groping (which is truly agonizingly embarrassing) just for kicks and giggles. Wheeeee!
And men groping women on trains in Tokyo is so very very rare that this scenario deserves close scrutiny and overt skepticism.
So we really have NO idea at all which person here is the one more likely to be honest. It's totally he said, she said.
Riiiiiight. Gochta.
girl_in_tokyo
Yubaru Today 07:36 am JST
Yes! Thank you! Please don't!
In fact, maybe stand waaaaaaaaay over there, with all the other men, in a corner of the train, or maybe even in another car. Then all the women will finally feel safe on the train.
Such an amazing idea you have. :) Thanks!
Mr Kipling
girl_in_tokyo....
If you are really so worried, there is usually a special car at the front or back of the train reserved just for women. Or maybe also those who identify as women.
MSweet
girl_in_tokyo
I some cases it really is a he said she said thing, don’t be so quick.
I admit it doesn’t happen as often as the reverse, but many years ago while riding the Yamanote line home after a night out a young female stood close behind me and grabbed my bottom. May not happen often but it did happen and I doubt that it was an isolated case with the number of people riding the trains daily.
I think a bit of investigation is in order before presuming guilt though.
Ingvar
He touched her thigh????? is that "grouping"?
Ingvar
This is frightening. One can get arrested for "touching a woman's thigh" on a train?
Ingvar
If the guy purposely touched her breasts or nether regions, he deserves to be punished severely. Personally I've never grabbed breasts or anywhere else on a train to a stranger but numerous times I have breasts pushed up against me on a train or bus. When trying to pivot to get off myself or allow someone else to get off, I've maneuvered so the upper part of my arm was touching breasts. I'm always paranoid to keep my arms firmly by my side, hands facing inward in case I inadvertently "touch a woman's thigh".
Mable
If he did grope her, then he should be punished without any doubt. Chikan is still a big problem in Japan and these creeps must be taken into custody.
However, information about this particular case are not very concrete and it has not been ultimately proven that he did it intentionally. It is merely statement vs statement up until this point.
goldeneagle
@girl_in_tokyo
I have known at least two cases where men were accused by women wrongly. Once by a student who didn’t get good grades by a professor, the guy chose to fight and had his career destroyed, few years later the witness who was the accuser’s friend and a co conspirator had a change of heart, came forward and told the truth.
In second case one of my co-workers was accused by a group of high schoolers, he was arrested and held at police station for a day, lucky for him the same group had been doing this and the lead detective figured it out so he could get free.
So yes it’s pretty much he said, she said at the moment. Neither you or anyone with a different opinion has any proof for either side.
CKAI
Si senōr! Said it yourself- get saucy with the ladies, you get what you got coming to you. And you, one of the good guys… you telling me it never happens to you. So all clear right?
Except for all those breasts…pushing you around. Sounds like your trying to say they deserve to be punished severely too. All sides. GMFB
girl_in_tokyo
goldeneagle Today 12:29 pm JST
Let's weigh this up.
a. Are men more likely to grope women, or are women more likely to lie about being groped.
b. Are men more likely to deny groping, or are they more likely to admit it.
I notice that the only time JT commenters call for more proof or to give benefit of the doubt to someone accused of a crime is when the crime is sexual assault.
I wonder why that is. It sure is a mystery!
Strangerland
I've been wrongly accused. I'm still traumatized by it.
Strangerland
In my case, the woman did lie about being groped. And I didn't.
You can prosecute based on generalities. I'll stick to courts of law myself. People deserve the right to be presumed innocent.
CKAI
How it started…
How it ends
Strangerland
Those two statements aren't in opposition to each other.
Johansawada
@girl_in_tokyo - likelihood or probability should not matter.. it’s all about evidence !
even if something has no historical occurrences, it does not mean it may never happen … let’s see some evidence first !
snowymountainhell
Where was he going to go? Let the police sort it out. -0 Recall one previous poster here, claiming ‘on an attorney’s advice’, IF you a wrongfully accused, it’s best to just flee the station at all costs. - Or, as in a couple of stories earlier this year, flee directly down the opposing train tracks? One ‘suspect’ even threw himself over a rail to flee his accusers and almost into an oncoming train. Many now reflect upon how ‘innocent’ they possibly were.
goldeneagle
Let's weigh this up.
a. Are men more likely to grope women, or are women more likely to lie about being groped.
b. Are men more likely to deny groping, or are they more likely to admit it
if I answer subjectively like you have based your question, women have more incentive in lying about groping while as a man I don’t see any pleasure in groping a woman, so no pleasure versus monetary benefits, I will say monetary benefit will be a winner.
I don’t think you are giving a chance to a man to admit or deny because in your previous comments, you have already declared him guilty.
GBR48
Why is his employer in the headline? He was not acting on behalf of his employer. He was not at his workplace. I doubt his employer has a pro-groping policy for staff, or sends them on courses to teach them how to grope women more effectively. It's not really fair to drag them into it. His rank within the company would have been enough.
Rick.H
People falling asleep on a train or subway in Japan a pet peeve.
I can't count the times I've had someone -- male or female makes mo difference -- nod off and end up leaning on me. I push them off, and sometimes they come right back. On a few occasions I've had to get up and stand. Now, that leaning on you IS a public nuisance. Groping, when that's true, is FAR WORSE than a public nuisance. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be a woman and have to ride on public transport here.
In Osaka a few years ago I actually saw a scrawny little middle-aged guy goose a young woman on a subway coach. Couldn't believe it! She squealed, turned on him and grabbed him by the arm, hauled him off the car at the next stop. Incidentally having to get off at that stop, I followed silently along till she got him to the police box upstairs. He went meekly, I guess trying to avoid more public embarrassment.
Weird what some guys think they can get away with -- and what pleasure do they get out of it?
Pacific Saury
How would one be able to even collect data to answer such silly questions? How do you measure the likelihood of a man to grope a woman? Follow him around his entire life?
How can you judge the likelihood of a woman lying about being groped? The answer would literally be 0%!! It's like the two doors where one always tells the truth and the other always lies.
Strangerland
The Japan Today themselves posted an article with this advice:
And:
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/guilty-and-never-proven-innocent-every-male-train-riders-nightmare-in-japan?comment-order=latest
Strangerland
This is an article about Japan, on a Japanese news site, and that's how news is reported in Japan. The way they learn history etc is to look at the entire scenario surrounding a historical event, the players, what they did in life, their job, their allegiances etc. The news reflects this - Japanese people want to know the employment status of the accused/perpetrator. If this was left out, they'd be asking the opposite question - what does he do for work?
didou
It is actually better to sit next to females as there is more space . You know, they are thin here.
Jay
This is so stupid! She could easily be lying, and even if she isn't how is "touching the thigh" sexual assault!?
Yet you wonder why the birthrate is so low. Men can't even be near women without their livelihood being threatened. If a man complained about someone touching his thigh, he'd be a laughingstock, and so should she.
Chikan is only the issue it is because people overreact to something that ISN'T a big deal at all.
No. It's insulting to victims of REAL sexual assault to have their situations lumped in with a guy MAYBE touching a woman's leg on a train. This kind of stuff wouldn't even be talked about in the US. People are more concerned about being robbed at gunpoint or shot! "Chikan" is an artificially created issue by feminists. It's an over-exaggerated issue. Over a mundane offense that should be addressed on a personal level, if at all, and certainly not on a legal level. Grow some thicker skin. That man probably deals with more stress and hardships than that woman has faced her whole life.