crime

Pub owner busted for serving alcohol to sixth-grader, friends

35 Comments

Kanagawa prefectural police have sent papers to prosecutors concerning a pub operator in Yokohama on suspicion that two of its female staff members violated the Entertainment Business Act by serving beer and other alcoholic drinks to a group of young girls, including a 6th grade elementary school student.

According to police, when questioned about the pub, the girls said “rumors had been spreading about a pub in Yokohama that would even serve alcohol to kids.” The staff admitting to serving the drinks, saying “We kind of knew they were kids, but didn’t bother checking their IDs.”

Police accused the pub, Daiya, located in Yokohama’s Tsurumi Ward, of serving beer and mixed drinks to a group of six girls ranging in age from 12 to 15 on Jan 6.

In the early morning hours of the 7th, a few members of the same group were taken into protective custody after having been caught shoplifting alcohol from a supermarket in Kawasaki’s Saiwai Ward. When question further by police because they were already drunk, details about drinking at the pub came to light.

Source: MSN News

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35 Comments
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Bet their parents are soo proud of them right now.

How much do you want to bet that at least one of these kids parents have no idea that their child was in a pub drinking.

( And probably didnt care either!)

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Aged 12 to 15 and out shoplifting, drunk, in the early hours of the morning? Nasty little tartlets with irresponsible parents.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

"In the early morning hours of the 7th, a few member of the same group were taken into protective custody after having been caught shoplifting alcohol from a supermarket in Kawasaki’s Saiwai Ward. When question further by police because they were already drunk, details about drinking at the pub came to light."

I guess they learn quickly. Even kids can blame their crime on being drunk at the time.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

“We kind of knew they were kids, but didn’t bother checking their IDs.”

Wow... I mean, I know underage drinking happens all the time and goes largely ignored here, but 12?? I hope the pub loses its liquor license. Carding really should be made mandatory here and not just be lip service. I mean, the whole 'push the yes button' at the convenience store register to 'prove' you are of age is as affective as a porn site asking if you're 18.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Hey, look on the bright side. At least they weren't old enough to drive...

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Me thinks some parents out there are in desparate need of parenting skills bigtime!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

We kind of knew they were kids, but didn’t bother checking their IDs.”

Wow, you mean places actually card their customers? Underage drinking in Japan?!?! Really!! Wow, who would have thought.....(That's sarcasm people, sarcasm...)

4 ( +9 / -5 )

More patrolling would help big time too!

By whom and where? It's impossible to cover all the bases. The bigger problem is with the parents here. Kids were out on their last night of winter break and the parents didnt know what or where they were?

Parents should be brought into custody too!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I've come across 16 year olds here drinking in izakaya - but 12 year old girls is beyond the pale! A separate issue is many times the staff serving the grog are minors themselves! I hope someone can sort out these kids before it's too late.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Kids grow up so quickly these days.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Knowing the popularity of teenage girls in Japan, I'm sure having a bunch of them drunk in the pub was good for business.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Bet their parents are soo proud of them right now.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I guess they learn quickly. Even kids can blame their crime on being drunk at the time.

Yeah and it only took the prosecutors 4 months to sort it out too!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Knowing the popularity of teenage girls in Japan, I'm sure having a bunch of them drunk in the pub was good for business.

Yep, in a place where guys salivate over pop groups with girls as young as 14 prancing around in a bikini.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@Magnus

The legal age is twenty. I'd bet more than half of all 18-year-olds drink. A lot of them are at college or university at that age.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Oh, sorry, is it my job to notify the police when people are breaking the law here? If it is, I'd have to give up my job to report all the things I see. Underage drinking, no seat belts, speeding, under age smoking...

Typical "It's not my job to report crimes because I don't want to get involved but still want to be able to complain about criminal activity" response.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

smithinjapanMay. 02, 2013 - 12:51AM JST

Elbuda: "Tmarie, negative people like you is what keeps Japan and the world messed up."

You call the police all the time in various locations? I seriously have my doubts, or at least I have my doubts that anything is done about it if and when you do. I speak from experience, not to undermine what you said. If you truly do, I salute you.

I also call them quite frequently about annoying people bunching up on the streets, cars that are in the way etc. They come pretty quickly.

Not carrying your gaijin card is just stubbornness on your part though, it's common knowledge that missing ID is one sure fire way of getting the blues' panties in a bunch.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I know for a fact that cheap Izakayas in Ikebukuro card students. I've seen groups of college kids rummaging around in their bags for their wallets to show their IDs. One time I was drinking with a Taiwanese friend a couple years ago in Ikebukuro. Granted, he has a "baby face" and absolutely no facial hair, but he was asked for ID even though he was 29 at the time!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

smith / tmarie: what happened when you notified the manager or the police?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Are kids aged 12 allowed into a pub in the "early hours"? That sound just wrong! Serving drinks to minors, the bar tenders should be penalized for that. It is not that I would like to see bartenders in trouble but they would have less to gain and more to loose since their salary would not vary by serving alcohol to kids.

I bet the owner of the pub used that same excuse: I was drunk and did not notice any kids in my pub!!!

More patrolling would help big time too!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

out drinking all night and shoplifting a little eye opener in the early morning hours? ahhh, reminds me of my childhood in New Orleans.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Is underage drinking really common here? I've never noticed much of it, granted it's hard tell how old kids are, but it's my feeling it's much of a taboo than in Europe. We commonly indulged ourselves in binge drinking at age 14-15 in Northern Europe, but at my high school in Japan (a fairly rough public school) there were lots of smokers, but little drinking.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Under age drinking is a HUGE issue here. I was at an izakaya the other week and ended up chatting to some of the yanki kids at the table next to us. They were.... 16. I nearly died. Why are places not checked by the police and shut down/fined for such things? Between this and traffic tickets, Japan could be out of debt in no time!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

brknarm: "smith / tmarie: what happened when you notified the manager or the police?"

Actually, I left the bar almost immediately and without finishing my drink, and have never gone back. Nor do I frequent any such places. As for not contacting the police, have you ever tried doing it? I have twice, for different things, and BOTH times they were ready to write up ME for unrelated matters ("Is that bicycle you rode here with registered"? "Why aren't you carrying your foreign registration card"?) to deflect from the complaints! No lie! Unless there is an incident, they wouldn't do anything about it.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

smith / tmarie: what happened when you notified the manager or the police?

Oh, sorry, is it my job to notify the police when people are breaking the law here? If it is, I'd have to give up my job to report all the things I see. Underage drinking, no seat belts, speeding, under age smoking...

Let's be honest, even if I DID call the cops, nothing would be done.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Like Smith, I left and won't ever be going back.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

All readers back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@brknarm - I believe the onus is completely on the drinking establishment to ensure every patron is over 20 - not the other drinking punters! ID checking should be enforced across-the-board.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Elbuda: "Tmarie, negative people like you is what keeps Japan and the world messed up."

How is she negative? She has stated she is quite strongly against the underage drinking that goes on here.

"I CALL THE POLICE ALL THE TIME in TOKYO etc."

You call the police all the time in various locations? I seriously have my doubts, or at least I have my doubts that anything is done about it if and when you do. I speak from experience, not to undermine what you said. If you truly do, I salute you.

"Hope the scum in Yokohama get busted over and over again, no place for this kind of thing in modern day JAPAN!"

Can agree with you there. But the fact remains they could do a lot better job without having to be called by simply looking around.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

brknarm: To add, there is one izakaya I used to go to often before moving, and knew the owner quite well (still exchange emails). He admitted that he doesn't ask for ID because some customers get extremely upset, and also seriously criticized the law put into effect that holds establishments in part responsible for any drinking and driving accidents after a customer leaves. We disagreed on both, but he ultimately said it was just a matter of business.

I still disagree with him, as it's unethical. I've been carded ONCE in Japan, and it was at a 'gaijin' bar in Osaka, by an Aussie. Granted, I would find it odd (perhaps happy) to be carded these days when it's quite clear I'm not that young. It should be mandatory, and the police should be going around when on patrol and checking in -- it's not unrealistic if they're driving around anyway -- especially if they see heaps of bicycles parked outside (it's also illegal to drink and ride, after all). Seriously, the police could line their coffers for years to come if they cracked down on this and bicycle laws and illegal parking.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Fadamor: "Typical "It's not my job to report crimes because I don't want to get involved but still want to be able to complain about criminal activity" response."

At least we complain about it, instead of the usual after the fact complaints once the crime has been committed. And seriously, it is a rare case when you can get involved, as a foreigner, in a positive light when it comes to crime. As I said, twice I have tried to report crimes and both times I was treated like I was the criminal for some reason until in one case I had to give up the complaint, and in the other one of the police knew me so they decided to do the paperwork in the end. There is nothing wrong with complaining about a system that in many cases does not work well. In this case we have one place caught serving to minors, and it took them getting caught shoplifting to do it. How many more cases do you think are there that go unreported? What do you think the punishment will be for this pub?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Comical. I'm suppose to police Japan? Then I'd be told I'm a foreign who shouldn't try and change Japan.

Yes, it is folks like me that cause all the problems of the world. Please.

And just to note, I HAVE called the cops in DV cases. You know what they did? Not much.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The only reason the pub was busted was because the kids were caught stealing and the cops simply had no choice but to follow up on it. All they really need to do if they want to crack down on this kind of thing is go around bars on highschool graduation, or after big sports events. I could not BELIEVE it at first when I went into an izakaya after seeing a couple dozen bicycles parked outside and saw a big group of highschool grads drinking after their ceremony.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Yokohma is part of Osaka?? Nice old YAKUZA back at work, getting 6th grade girls drunk and most likely drunk off their rockers so scum can rape these kids!!

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

Tmarie, negative people like you is what keeps Japan and the world messed up. I CALL THE POLICE ALL THE TIME in TOKYO etc..and people DO GET ARRESTED, so if you just do not care say it, but others, WE DO CARE!! Hope the scum in Yokohama get busted over and over again, no place for this kind of thing in modern day JAPAN!

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

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