dbr26354 comments

@nedinjapan. She could then go meta and have "ime-ji desu" tattooed next to her hoo-ha. It would be hilarious to watch prosecutors further missing the joke and arguing the validity of the disclaimer.

I know quite a few people who've been the victims of this scam. Typical damages are in the range of USD 10,000, sometimes higher. We think they use something like ruphenol (roofie -the date rape drug). What's scary is that it makes the person completely stoned and incapable of remembering what's happening, but still functional enough to sign a credit card or operate an ATM. The touts and their hooker bait girls really go people who are already drunk.

Credit card companies are completely unhelpful because they see the victim's signature on the receipt and it looks legit. Even if the card holder had never before ordered five bottles of Cristal it doesn't matter.

The J cops are completely useless with this scam. When one of my friends filed a police report and told them he was going to go to the bar to complain, they warned him to be careful "becasuse those people are dangerous". Classic J cop response.

For those wondering, the reason why the J cops don't do anything is because the victims are foreigners. As long as this doesn't happen to a Japanese the cops basically look the other way. The touts know that if they start going after Japanese the cops will come after them, so they stick to chasing foreigners. It's the local cops mentality - keep crime localized within certain districts and let the foreigners prey on other foreigners.

Your honor, my client pleads YOLO.

Were the former girlfriends hot?

Did she get to greet the American singer?

Ahhh, the good ole days in Kansai. I remember Kinki Bank's advertising campaign, "My bank. My Kinki."

Not as good as Fukuppy - a true blessing from the gods of irony if there ever was one - but not bad either.

@DaDude - You do realize this was in the entertainment section, so that's why it's reported as enternainment (industry) news?

In my office building in Marunouchi at the entry way to the office when it hit. Stronger than anything I've ever felt or care to feel again. It started strong and got stronger and went on for what felt like five minutes - probably under a minute. Went to my office, things are generally in disarray. Placed a call to my mom, told her there was a major quake but that I was okay and had to go. Emailed my sister to say the same. Evactuated to the roads in front of Nijubashimae. Major aftershocks. The palace hotel down the road was still under constructions and the very large construction cranes were swinging wildly too and fro. Couldn't get a call out to see if my girlfriend was okay. Started posting on facebook to let everyone know that I was okay (the only time I'd been glad to have a fb account). Walked a scared colleague back to her neighborhood in Akasaka. Hit the bars as soon as they opened and started pounding down the pints. That was when we saw the footage of the tsunamis rolling across the rice fields up north and the place briefly got quiet. Block long line for cabs at Mitsuke. Moved about halfway up the line because people were giving up when the announcers said the ginza line was running. Drunk at that point, said f it and took the subway to Shibuya. Everyone was walking home. It was cold. Supermarket shelves were empty by Monday. On a flight out of Japan with my gf on Tuesday. Last flight out was full of ex-pat momma hens with their chicks. Back in Japan a week later. No foreigners anywhere and all the lights were out in Shibuya at night; everyone was in shades of black and gray.

State secrets! Arrest them, arrest them all!

@CraigHicks - definitely, it probably glows in the dark.

Yikes. If memory serves Tennoji is kind of a rough neighborhood. Hopefully they catch this dirtbag before he hurts anyone else.

My client pleads YOLO! your honor.

I guess the culprits were...

(••) ( ••)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)

...easy to spot.

I wonder what will be on the menu at the on-site cafeteria?

Back in the old days the teachers used to line the kids up and scream at them "shikkari shiro!" and give them a hard smack across the face. These days you take a picture of a kid making a funny (and harmless) cat pose and everyone melts down. I'm not saying the old days are better, but it's clearly swung too far in the other direction.

The purpose of those little punishments is to teach the kid to be responsible and remember to bring their stuff. Also it's supposed to teach them to learn from their mistakes. What happens in a business meeting where the special little snowflake forgets to bring something important? They'll get reprimanded and who'll be there to hold their hand? No one. Except now they're an adult who can't take the shock of being held accountable - so they'll move back in with their parents and never go outside again. Or be another crazy person on the train. Good luck with this.

That's one way to get people to stop eating blue-fin tuna...or any other fish for that matter.

Attempted murder with fruit knife = minor injuries. Lol; fail.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!

Attorneys will probably take a third as a contingency fee (straight hourly rates would be too expensive), so the victim will probably get 1.3m yen. That's not a lot of money, particularly if he missed a year of school. Still, he could take a picture of himself holding all that money folding fan style, caption 'thanks bullies' and post it on reddit. Small victories are still victories. @torosushi - you have a point and that is a risk of awarding damages for bullying. But Japanese judges are pretty conservative and the burden of proof is still on the plaintiff to establish intentional infliction of emotional distress or whatever the Japaense equivalent is under the Civil Code. Nearly all judges would throw out a claim for damages of 10M yen if some kid gets called "baka" at school and runs crying to court. Personally I would have awarded the damages here because the parents should have known. But unless these parents are particularly rich I'm surpised they didn't sue the school and board of education.

I new a girl in the JET program who lived way out in the countryside. She had her panties stolen repeatedly while she was living in a little town of 3000 people. At first she just laughed it off - "what's he gonna do with it? wear it on his head?" - but given that it was such a small town word quickly spread that someone was stealing her undies. Catching the panty thief became a minor cause celebre, so the thief would go quiet and then steal again when things calmed down.

I thought it would be creepy as hell but she always laughed it off and told me she visualized it being her boss, who was kind of a jerk. She left after only one year, so maybe it impacted her decision to renew but on the surface it never seemed to bother her. She always laughed about it and said if she caught him she'd smack his face off. She was a Scottish girl - pretty fearless - though I wondered how in the hell the kids ever understood a word she said. They never caught the panty thief who struck about six times during her stay.

@AKBfan - The drug in the drink scam is pretty common. One of my buddies was an associate dean for a foreign university's study abroad program and it happened to one of his students. Last thing the kid remembered was talking to a hot blonde with an Eastern European accent; the next thing he knows he's waking up next to a canal at dawn the next morning, no wallet or phone and so drugged he could barely stand. He was lucky to be alive.

It's also happened to some friends over the years and to one friend in particular because he refuses to learn. It's not always on the first free drink at a strip club but sometimes it is, especially if the person is already very drunk when they go into the bar/strip club.

There are variations on it, but usually the drug puts the person into such a stupor that they have no memory of what's going on but they can still function enough to say yes to anything they're asked and, most importantly, to sign the credit card receipts. The drug wears off and the person finds themself in an unfamilar neighborhood with no memory or, more dangerously, still in the club and being presented a bill for millions of yen.

The victims I know have complained to the police but the cops shrug, ask for evidence and do nothing. When my friend who won't learn told the cops he was going to the bar to complain, they told him to be careful because the bar owners could be dangerous people. The credit card companies force the victims to pay the bill because their signature was legible on the receipt - despite having minimal/ordinary use to sudden charges of 5 bottles of expensive champagne at a bar or the bar's history of credit card fraud complaints.

The operating theory is that this is allowed because the hustlers don't target Japanese, only foreigners, and it only takes place in Roppongi. It may take place elsewhere but I've only heard of it in Roppongi.

Back to the present case - I think the judge was trying to spread the responsibility and forced the bars to bear the most responsibility because they should have known better. But it would be nice if the law here were enforced equally. In the meantime I go to Roppongi for a few comfort food chain stores and get out of there as soon as I'm done before the walkers come out...

What would be really nice is if the cops went after the credit card fraud industry in Roppongi - i.e., street hustlers pull drunk foreigners into the strip clubs, put a drug in their first free drink that turns the victim into a virtual zombie and then charge as much as possible on the vicitim's credit cards. The victims don't know they've been had until they get their credit card statement. The cops do nothing because it does not involve Japanese.

Nothing will come out of it. What's there to talk about?

JPN: Please tell us what happened to our citizens that you kidnapped? DPRK: You psychopathological renegade!

JPN: Please stop manufacturing and distributing methamphetamines into Japan? DPRK: You anti-socialist aggressor, such a provocation will be regarded as a declaration of war!

JPN: Please stop shooting missles? DPRK: You imperialist lackey, we will resolutely smash your desperate war moves!

JPN: Please stop exporting weapons and nuclear weapons technology? DPRK: You psychopathological bloodsucker, we will mercilessly crush you with the weapon of singlehearted unity!

(All insults courtesy of http://www.nk-news.net/extras/insult_generator.php)

It's a mob state that supports itself by selling drugs, counterfeit currency and weapon and extorting its neighbors. China is the only thing keeping the state from collapsing, mainly because China does not want a US military ally (or presence) next to its border. Understandable as a question of real politique but it also means millions starve and live a life of unbearable repression. It's a disgusting state of affairs. The sooner Korea is unified the better.

Hashimoto's offer has absolutely nothing to do with his future political ambitions!

Well, I'm sure the people of Boston feel better now that they've received this transmission from the Japanese writer in "self-imposed" exile. Seriously, what a db. "Citizen of the World"? Pfffffffft. Just because he's popular doesn't mean he's any good; otherwise Rowling would rank up there with Milton.

Dempsey went on to say that by increasing its surplus of hammers Japan will discover an commensurate increase in the amount of available nails.

Kennichi was gone in a flash; he couldn't stick around.

@Thunderbird2

Of course the parents didn't do the crime but that doesn't excuse the parent's responsibility to riase their kids right to begin with.

Or at least make sure the kids are not out beating down some poor bastard with baseball bats. If you're so scared of your kid you can't kick his worthless ass out of the house you lost (or gave up) some time ago. One way or another society has to pay for the worthless spawn of these parents.

Agreed that some turn into yobs; hence the lashing. But maybe if parents were held more accountable people would make sure they really want to have kids in the first place and take more interest in raising their kids. As they used to say in the dojo - 'nothing gets your attention like an ass beating'. If I knew I could get 10 lashes because my kid was out beating people up, uh, yeah, I'd certainly be interested in making sure my kid didn't pull any crap like that.

Singapore has the answer - give 'em 10 of the best with a rattan cane and send them on their way. I guarantee if Japan followed that model you'd see a precipitous drop in this type of bs punk crime. Or take it a step further and give their parents 10 lashes as well. Family therapy made cheap, brutal and effective.