University student arrested for groping high school girl on train

StrangerlandToday 08:08 am JST

your commentary can simply be labeled as misogyny.

Your misandry has been pointed out on several occasions to you, and yet you haven't changed. Why would you expect the misogynists would?

The most common tactic of an abuser is to brainwash the abused into thinking the abuse is their own fault, or that it is in their imagination. A good example of that is men who paint women who call out misogyny as misandrists.

Once and for all, pointing out misogyny is not misandrist.

You need to consider why you attacked my post and not the posts of the men here who are blaming a 17 year old girl for her own sexual assault.

The 17 year old high school student stood routed to the spot, bewildered and possibly traumatized, embarrassed and humiliated, suffering in silence.

The young lady probably travelling the same train, the same carriage, to school day in day out.

If the court judges Katsuki Ichimasa guilty, it is time to throw away the key. Zero tolerance.

I also would like to point out that you have been told this by myself and others on several other occasions. I wonder when you are going to listen. There is a point at which ignorance is no longer an excuse. By now your commentary can simply be labeled as misogyny.

Your misandry has been pointed out on several occasions to you, and yet you haven't changed. Why would you expect the misogynists would?

Jonathan Prin Feb. 4 04:32 pm JST

It is difficult to intervene if you see what seems to you a sexual harassment if cannot see the woman's face wincing.

If a woman is being groped on the train, it is sexual harassment.

One would often intervene in packed train..

If you would only intervene if directly asked, then you would never intervenet. Therefore this comment is moot, and you are never going to be of use to any girl in distress.

Only thing to learn or teach as a parent : speak out if being harassed.

She DID.

In my country, people sometimes fight and 99% of the time no one of them want you to get into their business, it is a risky initiative.

In Japan women who hit the man sexual assaulting them are themselves charged with assault. That is one of the reasons women don't hit back.

Another reason women don't hit back is because men who sexually assulat women have zero compunction about hurting women - women who fight back have been punched, kicked, beaten, stabbed and murdered.

Generally speaking, women who fight men lose the fight. That is why the vast majority of women chose not to fight, but instead to endure. It is a self-defense mechanism.

People will help if they get a clear signal .

Again, if you see a man touching a woman on the train, it is sexual assault - so that in itself is a clear signal.

I also would like to point out that you have been told this by myself and others on several other occasions. I wonder when you are going to listen. There is a point at which ignorance is no longer an excuse. By now your commentary can simply be labeled as misogyny.

Sexism is endemic in society. The idea that women are inferior, or that women have no sexual agency, or that women need to be submissive to men, has permeated society in such a way that many men (#notallmen) see women as sexual conquests or objects for their personal sexual gratification.

This man saw this high school student in this way, and of his own volition made an active decision to sexually assault her. There was no misunderstanding as to her consent; he knew that what he was doing was solely for his own personal gratification, knew that what he was going to do would terrify her, and he knew that she would not fight back because she is far too young and inexperienced to feel empowered enough to do so.

He chose her exactly for those reasons - he purposefully and with foresight chose to pick a girl who was young enough that she lacked the confidence and assertiveness that older women posses; and whom he knew would not protest. That is the modus operandi by which men who commit these types of sexual offenses operate, and this is well-know to both police and psychologists.

This country is a misogynistic society in which women have to continually be on guard, worry about their physical safety, and due to that, they develop coping mechanisms which help them survive. One of those coping mechanisms is demonstrated in this story, wherein the girl froze up in horror and withdrew into herself for self-protection. Only later on, when she felt she was in a safe space, was she able to tell her story to authorities.

Any misrepresentation of her actions with the intent of painting her as compliant and consenting, or to blame her for her own sexual assault, is self-serving misogynistic rhetoric aimed at maintaining this sexist status quo.

@kaimycahl Someone isn't telling the truth and we are left to judge!!

With all due respect, we aren't left to 'judge', there isn't enough evidence here to 'judge'. We are simply left to our own idiosyncratic, developmentally implanted assumptions...as usual, as in life, as in what they give us as 'news', and as in what we choose to believe and to say here. If something is 'true', shouldn't we all see it the same way? For Humans, both unicorns and nonpsychotic (nondelusional) 'reality' missed the cast off of the Ark...a trivial issue to most of us in our little cocoons of perception who value opinion over fact and live in a world constructed of 'influenced' opinions rather than physical substance with absolutely determined constraints in which 'truth' can actually be defined. So-called 'Human Reality', the day-to-day reality of Human opinion and behavior, is made of nothing but fuzz...it's good to understand this. And, in this story, we have little hard evidence and a 'judgement' here is only a wild guess at best. And some of us here might choose to hang that young man from an overhead strap on the basis of what is here alone. Yeah, I'd make a crappy Judge Judy...

Wait! We don't know the character of those involved of course most people will say Oh she was a poor little high school student. Now days these little poor girls can be clever, I am not saying she is not innocent but lets take a look at the alleged groper. He is a young man and because of this he is assumed guilty because most posters read daily about train gropers, but why would a college student jeopardize his character and take a chance of ruining a potential salary man career. As i have said before he didn't say he was drunk he just said he has no recollection of the incident, in her case she allowed it to happen for well 40 minutes. Someone isn't telling the truth and we are left to judge!!

I believe him! Why, because he didn't say he was DRUNK!!! On the real, 40 minutes or 1 minute IF he did commit the act, it is still wrong!!

Most think she should have screamed. But fear is run, freeze or fight mode.

Most comments are from guys. Some comments are redicilous and improper

It is difficult to intervene if you see what seems to you a sexual harassment if cannot see the woman's face wincing.

One would often intervene in packed train...

Only thing to learn or teach as a parent : speak out if being harassed.

In my country, people sometimes fight and 99% of the time no one of them want you to get into their business, it is a risky initiative.

People will help if they get a clear signal .

Sicko, he'll definitely grow older to become a sexual predator if he isn't already. Cut off his little friend down there and a finger or two. That'll teach him real quick.

And as for this girl, she better learn to holler, kick or scratch real soon as well. Speak up kids! The real world is out there!

Seems odd to me that the assailant would be somebody that would take this route on a daily routine.

Not really, this is not a planned out sort of crime, it's a crime of impulse - and a groper obviously has trouble controlling impulses.

That said, I would hope the police investigated thoroughly before arresting him to be fairly sure he was guilty, releasing his name. November? That's quite some time ago, and people are misidentified in much better circumstances. There shouldn't be any victim blaming. Many girls freeze, and gropers tend to go after girls who look timid in the first place.

And on and on it goes, underlying causes are never addressed.

sensei258

Or if you are afraid or too timid to say something get up and change your seat .

You do not know how crowded the train was and if it was even possible to move, let alone "change a seat".

HiroToday

Years ago my sister was frozen in shock when some guy flash himself in front of her. She told me about it when she came home. From that day on she has a scissor in her bag whenever she goes out. I told her to just stab him with it if she ever meet such a pervert again.

So you advise her to carry out a violent, possible deadly assault with a weapon. Do you feel that is solid advice?

Police said Michimasa has denied the allegation and quoted him as saying he has no recollection of the incident.

Okay, I can understand that. I had an experience that during and after, I couldn't quite recall if it actually happened. It was kind of like a dream. It was wrong, perhaps, but it was consensual - she even initiated it. But when it was all done, I started to think I had imagined it. So I can understand there being some kind of mental block. Still, the police need to prove it.

BungleToday  08:58 am JST

That can’t be right. Instinct would have you trying to escape your assailant (or belting him before you do).

To all the people here giving advice and telling victims of sexual assault what to do: I haven't read any personal experiences. So please tell us - What did you do when you were sexually assaulted?

are they sure they have the right guy? Seems odd to me that the assailant would be somebody that would take this route on a daily routine.

On the contrary, one of the pieces of advice they give to women is to not sit/stand in the same spot on the same car every day, exactly because they can become fixations to people who see them every day.

Well, 99% of 17 year olds don’t wanna be molested in the train by a stranger. AND she went to the police, so she didn’t want any of that ( fact ).

and so I think we can all agree and say that she was in fact petrified and didn’t know what to do which was her way of dealing with the situation which probably happened for the first time in her life.

How crowded was the train? When it's wall to wall, packed Humanity, it might be difficult to determine exactly which of the five people packed solidly against you may be 'exploratory'. And, just for balance, while sitting on a Chicago 'L' train, I watched someone fondle a women's posterior for some minutes. I couldn't actually see either person other than through the other bodies but she appeared to be very uncomfortable but never uttered a sound either while the crime was in progress. Chicago. Finally I said "Hey!" out into the air and the hand was snatched away. I add this comment solely for the benefit of the 'only-in-Japaners' who may be yet unaware of a global issue for women in public. Seems ON-TOPIC to me...(?)

Such molesters deserve to be put on a public list of sexual offenders. I have no sympathy for that kind of BS whatsoever.

I am in no way saying it didn't happen, but are they sure they have the right guy? Seems odd to me that the assailant would be somebody that would take this route on a daily routine.

He was going to school, I have to assume he goes this way everyday, as does she. Criminals tend to not commit crimes near their regular/normal travel corridors, or go where they might run across previous victims.

On another note this situation, as it is second hand reported, illuminates a deeper cultural problem. The fact that she didn't stand up for herself during the commision(we all want our girls standing up for themselves), the fact that he was brasin enough to do it on public transportation, in broad daylight, during rush hour, and that nobody if they saw it (somebody did) didn't do anything about it either.

So, just what the hell was going-on on this train for forty minutes?

sensei258

”assumption?”

Well, 99% of 17 year olds don’t wanna be molested in the train by a stranger. AND she went to the police, so she didn’t want any of that ( fact ).

well , this has been common in japan for ages.. it is not new..There is perversion in blood.

This article definitely has many holes in it. It Baits our humane emotions without giving us the real story behind the camera.

@Mr. Kipling

I've seen this happening

What do you mean, "you have seen this happening"

You saw a Girl getting grop for 40 minutes and YOU didn't do anything?

@rcch - Simply put: she was petrified and didn’t know what to do.

That is 100% an asumption on your part and there is no Information in this article to back it up .

Based merely on his own thoughts, he can just keep touching a 17 year old

No one said or implied that it was okay for him to do what he was doing . You're the one who said it so that you could comments against what you said .

The 40 minutes may have started out as a series of "little bumps" and "accidental brushes". Poor girl may not have been sure what was happening. I've seen this happening.

I did not say or imply that sexual assault becomes consensual if there is no reaction . What I said was he may have perceived it as such which is completely different .

“Perceived it as consensual.”

?

Ah everything’s fine then. Based merely on his own thoughts, he can just keep touching a 17 year old ( a stranger(!) btw ) in a TRAIN.

When we read the article correct...it says AROUND 40 minutes.

Let us say it was 5 minutes.

I don't believe that she didn't do anything for 40 minutes.

A 40 minutes train ride is a long time. Many people are going in and out...so somebody would also recognize that.

And she is 17. She is not a 10 or 11...

A 17 year old Girl will not just sit there and let somebody grop her for 40 minutes!

I don't believe that.

You sat there and let him Group you for 40 minutes without saying Anything ? WTH Didn't you yell as soon as he put his hands on you ?

...

40 minutes?

And she didnt say anything? 

That is strange...

Behavioral science tells us that not every human reacts the same way to each particular situation.

Simply put: she was petrified and didn’t know what to do.

Police said Michimasa has denied the allegation and quoted him as saying he has no recollection of the incident.

Ah, the good old classic of temporary amnesia.

Is called being frozen by fear. it happens. She is still a teen. Not many has the courage to even go to the police in some these cases.

Years ago my sister was frozen in shock when some guy flash himself in front of her. She told me about it when she came home. From that day on she has a scissor in her bag whenever she goes out. I told her to just stab him with it if she ever meet such a pervert again.

Or if you are afraid or too timid to say something get up and change your seat . But to sit there and let him do that with no reaction He may have perceived as Consent

40 minutes?

And she didnt say anything?

That is strange...

BTW I don't condone the guys Behavior at all

Time for a spot of victim-blaming. You sat there and let him Group you for 40 minutes without saying Anything ? WTH Didn't you yell as soon as he put his hands on you ?

one cant even have a train trip with out being pursued by perverts these days, such a shame