Pia comments

I want to add to the first sentence that I meant this in the context of men not being chastised at all for going after prostitutes and making Kabukicho one of the richest areas in Tokyo, while the women re being arrested. I think it would be a cold day in Hell for men to get arrested for going into their favorite lingerie pub...

Japan's respect for women is pretty low. Kabukicho is filled with places for prostitution. The thing is that they're grey zone, because they're supported by the Yakuza, who work with the government to maintain peace. A lot of these red-light district places all also have forced servitude and human trafficking. I personally have known several foreign people who've had their passports taken away. Some of the women (and men) come from other countries and are forced to stay in Japan indefinitely. The reason the women were arrested on the street is because they don't have pimps and aren't working under the heirarchical system. It's the same reason that Bousozoku get arrested; because they're not orderly or working under the strict rules of the Yakuza. Personally, however, I prefer the Yakuza to East LA in California. Because they provide a controlled environment for crime, criminals working alone have a hard time in Japan. It makes crime a lot easier to control. That being said, crime is just that, crime, and it shouldn't be condoned, or it should be recognized as having a role in society. By opening up the conversation, we could begin to see how to improve certain aspects of the situation, tax things, and make certain things illegal (like human trafficking). The Japanese government's involvement with the Yakuza is something that wasn't even touched upon in the article. It's like the elephant in the room.

Geez. It's a nice picture and a nice tree and there's nothing wrong with celebrating music, even if it isn't my favorite kind. The comments have become really unbearable. What the heck is wrong with people these days that they think it's fine to just be completely negative for no reason? Do they get something out of it?? They're obviously sick and lacking brain cells.

I've been living in Japan for 17 years and was only stopped once by the police. They wanted to check my bicycle ownership.

This article is stupid. It's like sliced lotus root, there are so many holes in it.

The survey sounds like it was biased towards a certain group of foreigners. They should have included race. Without that information, it doesn't say enough.

Surveys that are taken because people want to fill them out are biased towards the opinions or experiences of a certain group of people. They say they asked a certain group of people, but they don't tell us who they were. Without that information, the reader doesn't have a good idea of what's going on.

Ask any foreigner why they live in Japan, and either the first or second reason will be that Japan is safe. That's because another countries there are all sorts of crimes that don't generally happen in Japan.

People are the ones that commit crimes. There's nothing stopping the people that commit crimes when they come to Japan from doing them. I'm a foreigner. When I go to Shinjuku, I'm verbally approached by foreign men who are selling drugs, gathering prostitutes, and doing generally illegal things there.

Japanese people know how to be on the down low. Japanese people in general follow the laws. Foreigners can't read Japanese, can't speak Japanese, and might not be interested in following laws considering how much wealth is in this country. So that's another reason they probably search them. Japanese people know how terrifying the police are, but foreigners don't until they are questioned.

Also, it's hard for police to find foreign criminals because foreign criminals work alone or in groups that can't be infiltrated by Japanese spies. Also they speak other languages, so it's harder for them to spy on them through social networks.

The easiest way to prevent crime done by foreigners is to question and search them. I don't see any problem with that.

I like a safe Japan. I hope they keep doing this.

There's no real way of fixing bullying in the workplace because ... It is engrained and encouraged via the education system, I don't see anything the companies can do to really prevent this problem. Japan's public schooling system pretty much systematically pump out bullies.

Agreed, @Blahblahblah222. I worked for 16 years as a teacher from preschool to university in Japan, public and private schools. Basically the same system as China and Korea, creates a lot of stress in JHS and Senior HS. They can't make real friends with their classmates because they need to compete directly with them due to standardized testing and the teachers' favoritism of the top of the test. These psychologically and sociologically formative years create adults who don't know how to work in teams. The only way that they can be is passively aggressive and directly competitive with their teammates. If Japan really wants to get rid of the problem, they have to strike it where it starts and get rid of standardized testing and entrance exams. (Not to mention the fact that the situation inhibits creativity, socialization, and self development.)

My, this is the most horrifying story I have read on Japan since the similar story of the Vietnamese man who was murdered by the Japanese government in northern Japan last year for similar issues. This one is notably worse because of the TIME they had to make the right choice and didn't. When the Japanese government detains people it becomes their responsibility to provide healthcare and keep them alive. These tragedies feel almost as though foreigners who are being detained lose their rights as human beings. Just like the police who don't care about pets at crime scenes, people are being treated as though they are animals, and animals have no rights and are treated pretty badly by the government here. That needs to change.

"...enforcement will rely more on peer pressure and a deep-rooted Japanese tradition of respect for authority."

That was like 100 years ago. It's all tongue-in-cheek now. They do what they want as soon as someone isn't looking or in public if it isn't illegal. Their biggest concern here is work, and companies here don't care about people, as shown by many problems with heirarchy, power harassment, and antiquated business policies. The business leaders of Japan are a bunch of bullying samurai who keep the peasants underfoot, and workers have been trained in their elementary, JHS, and HS days to never go against direct authority, so they go to work without hesitation (if complaining in private). It is a system of abuse. The respect for "authority" in this statement is misplaced.

I have been holed up for over a month now, and take this very seriously. I am not going to crowded places and only go out for groceries.

That being said, I understand why SOME Japanese, definitely not a majority, may not be taking this seriously.

They are young and selfish, since they live in Tokyo far from their elderly family members and think it won't affect them.

Cherry blossoms are an essential aspect of Japanese culture. One earlier poster put it quite well, even though I hope they were being sarcastic, in the cultural psyche that states "they are ephemeral and will be gone soon, so one must enjoy them."

Not that I agree. Seriously. Let's all go to the cherry tree next to our house where no one is and enjoy a picnic alone this year, for cripes sake.

"That’s understandable. Every country has its own embassies in Japan. Instead of putting all the faults in Japan why not contact your embassy first? It’s not only Japan who’s struggling with the situation...this is a worldwide issue!!!"

Well, yes it is a worldwide issue. I would say that other developed countries are doing a better job at communication and direction. Sadly, after 16 years here, I have to agree with those who are complaining. For a government that has so much money and unity to not treat the increasingly new and necessary foreign population with the same respect as their own is not acceptable. Not only that, this is an emergency situation, and they aren't dealing with it very well in general. at first they treated like a joke, and now they are slowly doing the trickle-down effect but it's too late. The knowledge was there at the very beginning that the virus takes 2 to 4 weeks to incubate. They should have shut everything down then. Doing it now is not very effective. Because so many people are having symptoms or concerned that they might have it, they're overloading the national health system. The government isn't prepared to deal with it. Instead of keeping people in the dark, they should give them some good options.

I have lived in Japan for 15 years, and hardly getting sick after I started doing this very common practice (they teach it in many places, but mostly in Japanese language): gargle for 45 seconds and wash your hands for 25 with warm soapy water. Use a mask during flu season.

How to: gargle at minimum with warm to hot water several times a day. If you get a sore throat, you can do two things 1. Get the Iodine gargle at the drug store (try not to use it unless you have a sore throat, because Iodine in large amounts isn't all that good for you.) 2. If you feel like you are going to get sick and have a sore throat, dissolve a packet of Kakkonto (Chinese Traditional Medicine powder for colds. Next time you go, ask your doctor for Tsumura #1) in about a half a cup to a cup of hot water. Gargle and swallow that in little bits. It stings like heck and is kind of strange-sounding, but I NEVER get sick if I do that. I don't know if it brings up my tonsillary immune system or what, but it works. I got sick 11 times the first year, 12 times the 2nd year, and the third year I started gargling during the flu season and it went down to 0-2 colds per year.

If you want to try to keep from getting the virus and you have a western nose, forget the normal masks. All the air comes in around the nose. I got some good masks at the hardware store with a little circular valve in the front, three for about ¥500. It provides real protection without making me look like a freak (I also got one of those serious masks with the replaceable filters, but I think it's overkill and scares the kids.

Finally, I also gently rinse my nose out and clean my eyes and eyelashes with warm water when I get back from being around a lot of people. Those are also mucus membranes, even if they don't actively intake air into our bodies. I would rather be safe than sorry.

Anyway, wash hands, gargle, and get a decent mask (especially if you are riding the train, for pete's sake!) and you will be a lot safer.

Wow. He sounds like a good guy. It seems like he cares about the needs of individuals and families over 'societal rules', which is really new and severely needed for Japanese people to evolve into a modern, globalized society.