yudantaiteki Wrote:No, there were few public trash cans before 9/11 too. It's more cultural than anything else -- you take your trash home rather than throwing it away in public areas. Conbini usually have them, though.

There are lots of public bottle and can recycling bins.

I think this is from the sarin attacks back in the '90s. They cleared out trash cans from public places a lot. That's why trash cans are always see-through at stations, too.

rich_f Wrote:Full train, standing room only, yet 50% of the time, an empty seat next to me. Whatever. I shower regularly, so it's not my fault. Jeebus, some people have a complex about the evil foreigners.

That's just you. This has never happened to me.

That happened to me all the time in Tochigi but it doesn't happen in Tokyo.

zigmonty Wrote:

shinsen Wrote:

yudantaiteki Wrote:The lack of soap in many bathrooms.

And no way to dry your hands.

This really bothered me until i watched a drama where the characters pulled out a handkerchief to dry their hands. Then i was like "ah, you're supposed to bring your own method of drying your hands".

That's where those freebie advertisement-laden tissue packs come in handy.

rich_f Wrote:Full train, standing room only, yet 50% of the time, an empty seat next to me. Whatever. I shower regularly, so it's not my fault. Jeebus, some people have a complex about the evil foreigners.

Sometimes Caucasians smell like expired dairy products to Asians.

Sometimes Caucasians just smell like expired dairy products.

Sometimes Caucasians are expired dairy products.

rich_f Wrote:Full train, standing room only, yet 50% of the time, an empty seat next to me. Whatever. I shower regularly, so it's not my fault. Jeebus, some people have a complex about the evil foreigners.

I had the opposite experience. Trains so crowded I couldn't tell which man owned the hand that was groping me. Men who wouldn't stop pressing and rubbing against me...ew... yet would act utterly bewildered when confronted. It wasn't limited to the last trainload of intoxicated suits, either - it happened a few times during my morning commute. (I would have happily applied parfum de expired dairy product.)

I actually fantasized about designing a special skirt that would, if rubbed for too long, let off an electric shock or some nasty acid. Or at least some brightly coloured dye... "Now explain THAT to your boss or wife!"

I heard about a theme bar - a replica of the interior of a train car - where men pay to molest women dressed and acting like regular passengers (OLs, students, moms). I remember wondering if such establishments (outlets?) would make my train ride safer or just exacerbate the problem...

I'd like to think things have improved. That was horrible.

Most girls I've asked (most in early 20s) have been molested in some way on the train/bus/etc, so it's not getting any better.

When gf was a high school student, some guy ran up and spooged on her uniform's skirt while she was doing tachiyomi at a bookstore.

Jarvik7 Wrote:When gf was a high school student, some guy ran up and spooged on her uniform's skirt while she was doing tachiyomi at a bookstore.

Wow. I've seen J-AV in which this happens, but despite the female's face being blurred I assumed it was all fake and setup!

What is it about Japanese culture and/or society that makes sexual assault so common-place / desirable?

Jarvik7 Wrote:Most girls I've asked (most in early 20s) have been molested in some way on the train/bus/etc, so it's not getting any better.

When gf was a high school student, some guy ran up and spooged on her uniform's skirt while she was doing tachiyomi at a bookstore.

...

Wow. That's pretty special.

aphasiac Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:When gf was a high school student, some guy ran up and spooged on her uniform's skirt while she was doing tachiyomi at a bookstore.

Wow. I've seen J-AV in which this happens, but despite the female's face being blurred I assumed it was all fake and setup!

What is it about Japanese culture and/or society that makes sexual assault so common-place / desirable?

I've always wondered about that too, can anyone answer that question?

Thora Wrote:I had the opposite experience. Trains so crowded I couldn't tell which man owned the hand that was groping me. Men who wouldn't stop pressing and rubbing against me...ew... yet would act utterly bewildered when confronted. It wasn't limited to the last trainload of intoxicated suits, either - it happened a few times during my morning commute. (I would have happily applied parfum de expired dairy product.)

I actually fantasized about designing a special skirt that would, if rubbed for too long, let off an electric shock or some nasty acid. Or at least some brightly coloured dye... "Now explain THAT to your boss or wife!"

I heard about a theme bar - a replica of the interior of a train car - where men pay to molest women dressed and acting like regular passengers (OLs, students, moms). I remember wondering if such establishments (outlets?) would make my train ride safer or just exacerbate the problem...

I'd like to think things have improved. That was horrible.

that really sucks!!! did you ever catch anyone & take them to the police or anything?

i don't know if it's got any better, but i read there's womens only carriages now, so at least you could get away from it.

i also think those bars probably don't help. It needs to become totally socially unacceptable to really stop it. Which means anyone who sees it happening standing up to and embarassing the people doing it in any way they can. Especially, other men embarassing those who do it is probably effective. I'm pretty sure that's what would happen in Britain... if anyone saw someone doing that they'd stop them, and look at them with disgust.

Jarvik7 Wrote:Most girls I've asked (most in early 20s) have been molested in some way on the train/bus/etc, so it's not getting any better.

The girl I have been seeing lately either has to work a 9am or noon depending on the day.... and she never stays over at my place when she has to start at 9am the next morning.

If she has her 9am job, she has to take the rush hour trains from my place, and she's been molested so many times that she hates taking them at all (my train line doesn't have women-only cars). She says that it definitely happened to her multiple times a month when she was taking rush hour trains every day for her old job. So it's not just a few-times-in-your-lifetime kinda thing.

I've heard more than one disturbing story from friends about what male teachers try to do to their students too. There's been a recent chain of such incidents in a prefecture that I forget the name of that's causing a lot of public embarrassment.

The chikan stuff seems pretty much a given though. Does anyone not know someone who's had such an experience? If you can get away with groping so easily, I wonder how easy it would be to put your elbow in someone's eyeball without getting caught.

aphasiac Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:When gf was a high school student, some guy ran up and spooged on her uniform's skirt while she was doing tachiyomi at a bookstore.

Wow. I've seen J-AV in which this happens, but despite the female's face being blurred I assumed it was all fake and setup!

I always hope I'll encounter a 露出 AV shooting one day.

Javizy Wrote:There's been a recent chain of such incidents in a prefecture that I forget the name of that's causing a lot of public embarrassment.

That was Shizuoka Prefecture, home of Mt. Fuji.

This is actually one of (if not the) the most (or only?) repulsive things about Japan.

I believe this may elaborate more on the issue, also the "Self-Discipline" Video.

From what I understood is that girls (anybody) don't want to disturb the harmony and make a scene out of it, so they swallow it.
Also he said that it's taken as a childish act, I'm not convinced, I believe men in Japanese society are still more dominant and are believed to be superior to women, and women are still looked down on, not openly but like in everyone's mind.
I hope someone proves me wrong.

undead_saif Wrote:This is actually one of (if not the) the most (or only?) repulsive things about Japan.

There are many other major social problems in Japan. It's a great country to live in, overall, but that's the truth.

Before I address the post. On the chikan stuff. Most Japanese girls are probably too embarrassed to confront or pull a man out. If you are molested on the train you could just grab the hand (TIGHTLY) and scream Chikan. It'd make one hell of a scene, but if you get it just before the train stops you can drag the man out onto the platform and wave down a station employee. Japan may be pretty crappy for women in some cases, but its pretty similar to Western countries when it comes to acqusations by women. In that it favors women heavily.

Men are constantly told if you have to ride trains with women during rush hour. Keep your hands up, say on ring handle and something in your hands like a phone or book. Many men have been accused of molestation and had almost an impossible time denying it because they had no way to show that it would have been impossible.

undead_saif Wrote:From what I understood is that girls (anybody) don't want to disturb the harmony and make a scene out of it, so they swallow it.
Also he said that it's taken as a childish act, I'm not convinced, I believe men in Japanese society are still more dominant and are believed to be superior to women, and women are still looked down on, not openly but like in everyone's mind.
I hope someone proves me wrong.

Japan is still man dominant. But so are many western countries. Men still make way more in wages and salary. More men hold management positions and so on. It seems to me that women get delegated to service tasks quite often when they exist.
I think part of the problem is that women accept it too readily. Like I work in the schools here. As an example, when guests show up and meet the principal for instance. Tea and maybe a snack is served. I have maybe only once seen a man bring the tea and snacks into the room. If the lady that usually does the tea isn't around, one of the other female teachers is asked to do it. I imagine its the same in any company setting as well. Women are servants, and I've never seen any articles which balk at such statuses.

Tzadeck Wrote:There are many other major social problems in Japan. It's a great country to live in, overall, but that's the truth.

I agree, but many people feel these sort of problems paint Japan as a backward thinking country that can't move forward, and so they leave. Honestly though I think Japan's real social problems lie in the work culture more than anything else. Its the work/business culture that WILL destroy Japan.

Tzadeck Wrote:

undead_saif Wrote:This is actually one of (if not the) the most (or only?) repulsive things about Japan.

There are many other major social problems in Japan. It's a great country to live in, overall, but that's the truth.

I said "only" because I didn't want to look like a hater lol.
I'm aware of many social problems there, but I still believe it's a great country to live in, just as you said.

vix86 Wrote:Honestly though I think Japan's real social problems lie in the work culture more than anything else. Its the work/business culture that WILL destroy Japan.

I've always thought this. I mainly hear stories from the creative industry, which seems to be particularly bad, but it seems like it might go a long way towards explaining some of the more severe social problems like declining marriage and birth rates, soaring rates of depression and suicide etc. As far as I'm aware, there are laws in place to prevent unpaid overtime, and a cap on the total number of hours, but the fact that some people take sleeping bags to work shows you how seriously the government takes it. Apparently they still have it a lot easier than Koreans though...

Javizy Wrote:

vix86 Wrote:Honestly though I think Japan's real social problems lie in the work culture more than anything else. Its the work/business culture that WILL destroy Japan.

I've always thought this. I mainly hear stories from the creative industry, which seems to be particularly bad, but it seems like it might go a long way towards explaining some of the more severe social problems like declining marriage and birth rates, soaring rates of depression and suicide etc. As far as I'm aware, there are laws in place to prevent unpaid overtime, and a cap on the total number of hours, but the fact that some people take sleeping bags to work shows you how seriously the government takes it. Apparently they still have it a lot easier than Koreans though...

You have to figure that when you leave for work about 6-7 in the morning and then work 8-10 maybe 4 days out of 6 in a week and then 8-7/8 the rest. (I have no hard articles to back this up, but overtime is exceptionally common and people going home at 5 isn't very common.) The 1 day out of the week that people (might) have off is usually spent sleeping. Its no wonder that most Japanese have don't form relationships and why the marriage/sex/birth rate are so low.

The Japanese govt. has pushed some laws (like the unpaid overtime) and the Keidanren have been pushing companies harder in recent years to provide more free time to employees. But until laws are passed AND _enforced_, you won't see too much done. The way many companies get past the unpaid overtime thing is the employees simply lie about how long they worked. Its not like these employees are being put under a gun and forced to work long hours. Many of them legitimately believe this is how it is and that maybe it has benefit.

I have this armchair theory that this concept of long work days and 6 day work weeks is instilled/brainwashed from compulsory education years. Many Junior highs require students to participate in club activities and those that don't highly encourage it. Toss in group oriented culture, many do it. These clubs often operate 6 days a week and until 5-6pm each day. High school is no different.

It's indeed embedded in they way of thinking, it's part of culture.
But the problem is, imho, the super homogeneity and harmony in which changes are very slow to take place, “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.” no wonder it's a Japanese proverb. Also things always go by the higher in rank or older will, which is usually old school, and it's known that the new brings the changes, so free thinking isn't encouraged at all.
(My writing is a messy I hope you get the idea)

@vix86 Plus jukus, they are training for this since they are 5 years old.

Here is one;
Despite what your friends(who have never been to Japan before) may tell you, Japanese women are NOT easy to get, and NO they will not be hitting on you the whole time.

I was there for 6 weeks, never got hit on once, or any kind of flirting at all. On the contrary I hit on god knows how many women and never got anything. I think it was because I didnt have my hair in a crazy style like so many of the so called *cool* guys there.
The only way you are going to get a woman in Japan is if you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on fashion and hours in the bathroom fixing up your hair.