Police in Hokkaido have arrested a 68-year-old man for obstruction of business and destruction of property after he caused a train service to be suspended over his refusal to stop smoking.
According to police and JR officials, the incident occurred at around 2:40 p.m. Monday on a limited express train bound for Kushiro from Sapporo.
TV Asahi reported that the man, Yoji Nishimura, began smoking a cigarette inside the train car. When he was asked to stop by a conductor, he became enraged and broke a seat-back table.
The train made an emergency stop at Urahoro Station where it remained for about 90 minutes while police conducted an investigation.
Nishimura was quoted by police as saying he had no recollection of the incident and denied all charges.
© Japan Today
26 Comments
Login to comment
oikawa
Let me guess, drunk?
some14some
1-1/2 hour of investigation? How many passengers were inconvenienced? Fun, if lone traveler (!)
lationz
"No recollection of the incident and denies all charges" - brilliant! Classic excuse here. If you try really hard and pretend it never happened, then maybe, just maybe you'll be right.
Disillusioned
Ah, but you see these old fellas lighting up everywhere. They don't give a poop! I've seen them smoking inside the stations, on platforms and at the entrance of stations. They don't care!
CGB Spender
Poor guy must have thought he is in a movie ... you know ... where everyone can smoke everywhere.
tokyoclambake
90 minutes?!? Cop-What happened? Conductor-He didn't stop smoking when I asked and broke the table (points to table). Cop-Anyone else see this? Other passengers-(raise hands) Cop-Let's go, smoky.
< 1 minute, no?
Wakarimasen
It's his right to smoke. and he is old so entirely plausible that he forgot the whole thing. sounds like an example of over officious conducting and policing to me.
MissingCylonModel
Did he flip the table? (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
clickonthewhatnow
@Wakarimasen - It's NOT his right to smoke on a non-smoking train.
@Tokyoclambake - new to Japan? Each passenger must be questioned three times, to make sure their stories don't change. Triplicate, I say, triplicate!
nath
90 minutes. I bet they drew pictures, got detectives in, and took enormous amount of pictures with little cones with numbers.
bjohnson23
these old guys don't care, I saw one just yesterday inside a Mac light up and puff away, followed by setting up a bad example for the younger generation who were watching and then lighted up too. Mac is a non smoking in and outside business establishment but these ignorant fools choose to not follow the rules until real punitive damages and fines are established and enforced.
kurisupisu
A typical Japanese jiji!
Serrano
"It's his right to smoke. and he is old so entirely plausible that he forgot the whole thing. sounds like an example of over officious conducting and policing to me."
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Sorry, but Nishimura needs to be slapped upside the head and fined for smoking on a train.
Magnet
90 minutes?! Couldn't they tell what happened from the broken seat and the stink?
Nessie
Blue tarps and police tape for everyone!
Vernie Jefferies
Did he still have a lit cigarette in his mouth when he broke the table?
Tahoochi
kurisupisuJan. 06, 2015 - 08:19PM JST
Really? I honestly don't think that "typical" people end up in the crime section of the news but maybe that's just me...
Kittychosen
Wonderful - at least someone still has some spirit in these over-sanitised, OTT PC days. Hope I have as much gumption to go against the grain when I get to his age. Well Done Nishimura san!!
Mocheake
Just those great manners at work again, huh?
602miko
ojiji ne,tsuyoi to mana yokunai lost respect everywhere, kimoi
Bartholomew Harte
Well,I guess with all the Smoke Breaks the J-coppers needed , an hour & a half is about right!
Alex Einz
or..they could just let him be... and nobody would be inconvenienced...
Kabukilover
I see this has been another occasion for senior bashing. Let me tell you cigarette creeps come at all ages. Just the other day I told off a young guy to snuff his cigarette in a clearly marked no smoking area. The good thing was that he snuffed immediately. It used to be that drunk salarymen would smoke regularly on train platforms and quite nasty if you told them to stop. Things have gotten better. The old guy in question is an anomaly. First smoker I ever heard who got arrested.
Alex Einz
if you would tell me that, I would politely ignore you or tell you to not stick your nose in other people business. dont disturb my WA!
AramaTaihenNoYouDidnt
Does JR have smoke detectors on tranis? No witnesses, no cigarette butt found, no finger prints on the damaged property....Hmm. He might beat this case.