A Chikan or Not a Chikan: Molesting with Consent?

So there's this man who "molested" a woman on a train because they agreed to do it. This is one of the weirdest news I've read so I'm sharing... 

Reference: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-arrested-for-molesting-woman-after-being-invited-to-do-so-online

Man arrested for molesting woman after being invited to do so online

CRIME MAY. 13, 2013 - 06:55AM JST ( 44 )

TOKYO —

Wakayama police have arrested 26-year-old Masaya Ogawa for the indecent assault of a 23-year-old woman aboard a commuter train. Adding a bizarre twist to the story, Ogawa claims that she was asking for it.

He doesn’t mean that in the lame wearing-a-mini-skirt-is-asking-for-it way that other sex offenders use. Ogawa says that this was a prearranged session of “molester-play” set up online between him and the woman.

The incident occurred on April 30 at around 7 p.m. on a train running from Kokawa Station to Wakayama Station. Ogawa was sitting next to the woman who was in the window seat when his hand began to creep toward her skirt. Eventually his hand began squeezing her stomach and thigh without restraint.

Photo Credit: http://iwasben.com/category/japan/

At this point, a second, unidentified man who was standing near the door began groping the woman from behind grabbing her breasts. The woman had said “please stop” and the standing man disembarked at the next stop. However, Ogawa continued to grab at the woman’s body. The entire train ride lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes with the groping ongoing throughout. When the train came to its final stop at Wakayama Station, the pair got up to leave. However, as they got off the train, the woman suddenly grabbed the man by the arm and took him to the station workers. They then delivered Ogawa to police.

After his arrest on May 8, Ogawa made a statement saying, “I was looking on a website for people who want to molest to meet people who want to be molested. I got the time and train car information from a woman on that website.” The woman, however, flatly denies ever using that website. Police investigated the “molester-play” website where Ogawa claimed to have met the woman and found postings such as “is there someone to molest on the Wakayama Line?” along with train times and seat locations. They were also able to find the second man who got off the train partway through the site.

The investigation is still ongoing. The woman had said that she always sat in the same seat during her commute, so police are looking into the possibility that Ogawa was catfished, meaning that someone pretending to be the woman online set him up to “molester-play” her.

The world seems to be getting stranger by the minute. 

I am Sick, Call the Doctor Very Quick!: Going to the Hospital in Japan

In the midst of the night revelry during the Hamamatsu Festival, I rushed a friend to the hospital. This is my first time to accompany a friend to a Japanese hospital. It's my first time (and hopefully my last)  in Japan. The experience was both funny and scary.

Just before I entered my apartment gate, my friend sent me a message telling me she's thinking of calling an ambulance. She has been having back pains the whole day. She can walk and sit but she cannot bend without feeling any pain. She had a hard time getting up from the bed. (The doctor later said that she has lumbargo or severe lower back pains.) 

I was honestly not in the mood to help anyone at that time (it was so late already and I was just so tired from partying) but I realized how difficult it must be for anyone to be sick alone and in a different country. Also, she was considering to call an ambulance so I thought it must be serious. 

So after a few minutes, I walked in her apartment. She called the ambulance. What should have been a less-than-five-minute call was longer because she couldn't speak Japanese. Thankfully, the person on the other side tried his best to understand her. All the while, we were looking funnily at each other. She was scared but she also doesn't know what to say. I didn't know either. I was just a comforting presence there.

Within 10 minutes after the call, the ambulance was there. The funny part was when the paramedic was trying to act out. First, the paramedic asked if my friend bumped her head. Because he cannot speak English, he pointed to his head and bump it on the wall. We simultaneously said "No! No!" while crossing our arms in an X fashion.

Japanese ambulance on the rescue!
photo credit: http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/picture/number2270.asp

Then, the paramedic acted again as if he slipped on the floor. We said "No!" again quelling our giggles. He looked funny and it felt like we were watching a pantomime. 

He acted one more time which we didn't understand. So, it was turn to explain that my friend cannot bend. I acted as I was in pain while I bend. My friend laughed along with the other two paramedics. 

After a few minutes, we gave up and called a friend who knows how to speak in Japanese. I don't know why we thought of her only at the last minute. She could have spared us from those moments. On the other hand, I was also thankful that I experienced it (without me being the sick person) because it made me realize the gravity of being sick in a foreign country.

(More on health-related articles in Japan, here.) 

After our Japanese-speaking friend talked to the paramedic, my friend-in-pain was placed in the ambulance.The paramedic who was with us kept on browsing an English book translator so he can check other symptoms. If I were alone, I would feel more depressed. I am already sick then I also have to find ways to explain my sickness. I wouldn't be surprised if I'll just break down and cry. More so, what if my friend's case was really an emergency like a serious injury and serious accident. It would be more difficult to explain. 

Inside an Ambulance
photo credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ambulance-interior.jpg

I guess the best way to avoid this complication is to keep in check of one's health and safety. This is especially true in a foreign country. In a way, we were glad we're in Japan where people seemed to take their jobs seriously. We were grateful to the three paramedics who did their best to help us, act out and brought us to the hospital. 

PS: Just in case you can't avoid getting sick the ambulance hotline in Japan is 119.  

Happiness in Hamamatsu; The Hamamatsu Festival

The past three days have been crazily busy. It was the Golden Week last week- a week-long holiday in Japan. In Hamamatsu, it was not just a simple holiday. From Friday to Sunday, Hamamatsu has been cloaked with the spirit of revelry because of the Hamamatsu Festival.

The Hamamatsu Festival is a 3-day celebration of... Hamamatsu! In the morning, the festivities were at Nakatajima Sand Dunes. Hundreds of kites battled on the park grounds of Nakatajima from 10 am to 3 pm. While watching the kites, people also tasted the various food, roamed around the grounds and just simply took part of the constant shouting. 

kids marching with their big kite 

side show at Zaza City 

"experiencing" the lamp of these two festival participants

cheering on for the babies! Risho! Risho!

one of the floats during the festival nights

At 3 pm, the people moved their celebration to the station. For several hours, they paraded the streets around Hamamatsu Station with their floats and lamps on hand. 

(More on Hamamatsu here)

For three days, I kept on hearing the same thumping festival sound from morning to night. It wasn't annoying though cause I can also hear how happy the people were. For these usually quiet Japanese, it was a great change to see them so loose and carefree, even just for three days. Their enthusiasm and energy were infectious that one couldn't  help but also rejoice with them. 

(More Celebrations in Japan, here.)

A Disney Parade capped off the three day celebration.(Sadly with so many people, I wasn't able to take pictures of Mickey Mouse and the Disney gang.) Being in the midst of these people was so much fun. It made me feel I belong and that I can celebrate with them even if I am a foreigner. Looking forward to more festivals!