I have been warned. I have been repeatedly warned by family, friends and peers that Japan was full of perverts, which was why I smuggled peppy spray into my suitcase. At first I was skeptical, what man isn’t a pervert? No matter where I go in this world, there are bound to be perverts and unconventional behaviours alike. It wasn’t until I heard stories of what people experience in Japan, and actually experiencing it firsthand that I want to inform others about this pervert sub-culture.I have been warned. I have been repeatedly warned by family, friends and peers that Japan was full of perverts, which was why I smuggled peppy spray into my suitcase. At first I was skeptical, what man isn’t a pervert? No matter where I go in this world, there are bound to be perverts and unconventional behaviours alike. It wasn’t until I heard stories of what people experience in Japan, and actually experiencing it firsthand that I want to inform others about this pervert sub-culture.
I know that women get groped on the crowded trains in Japan. I know this. I’ve heard of it before I came, and from others who have actually been groped. Men take advantage of the proximity factor: they grind against their neighbouring female counterpart or fondle their buttocks. Absolutely loathsome behaviour. Luckily, some of these issues have been minimized with train cars that carry only female passengers. But not every female board them.
We were walking towards one another when I saw his arm reach out and attempt to grab my buttocks.
Although the majority of train victims are females, males are also victimized. Well, mostly foreign males that is. Japanese men are extremely curious about penis size. A guy friend I met through training was grabbed on the train while he was sitting down by a Japanese male. They really want to know how race affects penis size. Some Japanese men will go to the extent to stare or grab in public washrooms or in public bathes.
I have another friend that I met through training who encountered train-grinding within the first few weeks of settling in. Seeing as how she is Caucasian, it was hard to believe that a Japanese man was bold enough to perform such an act; since most men are either extremely intimidated – ”or in her case – ”intrigued by foreigners. When he started to grind his genitals from behind, she turned around and said: “No! Stop! Don’t do that!” He got embarrassed and went away. When the train started to clear she saw the same old, dirty man grinding against a Japanese woman. This time, the victim did not tell him to stop or go away. In fact, nobody else on the train said a word or acknowledged the situation.
This repulses me. Japanese culture is excessively reserved and taciturn. In fact, people often feel shy and rude if they blow their noses in public. So instead, they hide in bathroom stalls to do this deed. This is one of the reasons why the train phenomenon is a daily reoccurrence to female victims in this nation. There is nobody to stand up for them – ”even the victims seldom stand up for themselves. And people wonder why things haven’t changed. If every female victim begins to stand up for themselves, this phenomenon will eventually be extinct and everyone can feel safe to stand close to one another on the train. Everybody knows that this behaviour is inappropriate, but since the massive population of train victims have been letting the situation slide and proceed, this phenomenon will only continue.
My closest pervert train experience happened while I was walking towards the train station after lessons. It was about eight in the evening and the road was nearly empty. There was no sidewalk, just one road with lines painted on it for pedestrian walkers. I was walking uphill as a saw a man in his twenties or thirties in a loose t-shirt, cargo pants and glasses. He looks like the typical anime worshipper, and he just came out of an Izakaya, which is a Japanese drinking establishment. We were walking towards one another when I saw his arm reach out and attempt to grab my buttocks. My reflex was amazingly sharp that night and I was able to block him. He failed. I was in shock and petrified; all I could do is shout a muffled “Hey!” But he just kept on walking towards his destination, where ever it was. If only I knew how to say sexual harassment in Japanese, or anything similar to let him know it’s inappropriate. Now I walk to and from the train stations with the pepper spray in my hand and turn around every few minutes. Is this the life to live?
I sit down on the carpet and begin my lesson after taking the attendance. Little Kenshin pops forward and touches my breast.
My other pervert experience happened while I was at work. As an English teacher, I teach students ages 2-15. And being able to teach young children, I am able to more fully comprehend why males have grown up in a culture where female-objectification is acceptable.
I sit down on the carpet and begin my lesson after taking the attendance. Little Kenshin pops forward and touches my breast. “Dame!” I yelled in Japanese. (means “bad”) He looked scared at first, and then it turned into a triumphant grin. There was no point in lecturing a three year-old when they cannot understand English. So I let it slide. After awhile, I turn around and he pats my behind with both hands giggling. “DAME!!” Later in the week, I talked to a Japanese staff about his behaviour. Apparently she also experienced the same breast-grab and she had tried to talk to his mom about his inappropriate conduct. According to his mom, he does this with her and to other females – ”and nobody has said a word or scolded. This is why he doesn’t think it’s wrong. And this is how the pervert sub-culture is bred.
I can go on listing all the deviant activities I have witnessed and heard. From the normal grab and grope to drawing nipples at the bottom of my W’s, but the most inappropriate act so far is the feared “Kancho.”
Personally, I have never experienced being kanchoed. I wake up being grateful every day. My students are not that bad, out of my two hundred students, only three stands out as perverts. My co-workers, female and male, have experienced much more terrible deeds.
If you clasp your hands together and stick out your two index fingers, you are ready to kancho someone. Your two index fingers are the weapon, you insert them into someone’s anal area when they are vulnerable and aren’t looking. Horrendous, right? Above all, it is mostly little children doing this to their friends, family, adults, and their teachers.
My co-worker was kanchoed by a little girl. She was the cutest in the class, and the obvious candidate for a kanchoer. They usually are the young, sweet students; and this is why it is easiest to let your guard down, but once you do, you easily become a kancho target. Still, this gives English teachers in Japan a reason to never, and I repeat never, to turn their backs on their students.
Surely not all Japanese are perverts, but a whole lot of them are. Still, Japan is a beautiful place to live and visit. Just be cautious, like you would be anywhere else in the world, and learn key Japanese phrases like sexual harassment in case it ever comes in handy.
26 thoughts on “Angela In Japan: Pervert Sub-culture”
Thanks for your perspective experience Angela. Yes it is inappropriate. You can’t blame the whole society for the bad actions of a few disrespectful ones in public. That male subculture in Japan is probably the prevalance of Japanese porn industry. Yeah I have seen some of that stuff and they have become more explicit. So you might have some horny Japanese dude who may watch some of that stuff and think it is appropriate to act that way in public. You will find that behavior here in the States too with horny and creepy guys with no girlfriends who watches porn and he will do the same inappropriate gestures too. Hang in there.
I appreciate your comment, Don.
I completely agree that there are horny Japanese dudes who watch porn and then act upon what they have seen believing that it is acceptable. I also agree that this case may occur in the states, but also in many other countries as well.
However, it is not just a few horny, girlfriendless creeps. Like I’ve mentioned in the article, this is a national phenomenon. I am not basing my article on only my own experiences but experiences from others as well. Also the nation recognizes this problem, which is why they innovated female-only cars on trains. There are even banners regarding train-grinding on trains warning women.
So, if even Japanese authorities cannot stop these men in such a public situation, it becomes even harder to enforce when the men are out on the streets.
Also, on youtube there are several videos on “the kancho.” So everything that has been mentioned is not biased towards my own experiences. But as is evident, these situations are prevelent and obviously problematic.
Thanks for the encouragement. I am definitely hanging in there as my internship is almost finished!
Thank you for reading!
xox
“Surely not all Japanese are perverts, but a whole lot of them are.”
This is awesome. I’m going to use this format when I want to stereotype in a passive aggressive way.
“Surely not all Asian Americans are retards, but a whole lot of them are.”
Awesome!
You don’t understand, Don. It’s not apart of the culture in the US like it is here. Most people would say it’s wrong in the US. Here it’s laughed at like it’s some kind of funny joke or just awkwardly passed over like it’s not worth mentioning. I’ve encountered it everywhere in Japan and have experienced most of what Angela has. I have been stalked on the internet and in diners by Japanese men. I am still being stalked on the internet by a Japanese man who is obsessed with foreign women with blond hair. I had a friend who was stalked by a Japanese man who started masterbating in front of her in public. Japanese business men who I am in contact with almost daily treat you like some sort of pet for their amusement. It’s not right and people need to wake up to the fact that it’s not okay to treat women this way. Maybe then the Japan government will understand why women aren’t marrying and having children. Why obasans are divorcing at a high rate. I’ve seen what they put up with. Japan needs women and foreigners if it’s going to survive the work shortage. Also…I’ve seen covers of their ‘sport’s magazines’ with 10 to 16 year old girls posing in suggestive ways. The whole culture is one pervert churning out machine.
Bereginy I guess you are validating Angela’s experience in this inappropriate perverted behavior. I would like to visit Japan someday as I only stopped there at the Tokyo Narita Airport going from the US to Indonesia. I thought Japan had a low crime rate as opposed to the US where we have more violent crimes like murder and rate. I guess you Angela don’t mean to prejudge or stereotype all Japanese men, but it sound like it. I am sure there are bad behavior Japanese men as there are in every racial ethnic group and I condemn them as a good law-abiding man.
I know there is a line between unwanted sexual/perverted advances and a simple non contact flirt attraction for the opposite sex. Even I admit to looking at Japanese porn/fetish as they have gotten more graphic, but I would not act inappropriately like that in public. I only look at it for the attractive sexyJapanese/Asian women. My conclusion is I do not want to be stereotype here in America as an Asian male as we have it hard enough in the interracial dating disparity. Angela & Bereginy, I hope you can appropriately defend yourself against this unwanted advances and if you have to call the police. Just remember we have more crime that are worse here in the States. Stay strong.
Is this a really Asian oriented Magazine? You are disgusting in your generalization of Japanese culture. The porn industry is even more prevalent in the US. The sub-culture in the US is even more repulsive.
This magazine is absolutely disgusting in its blunt anti-asian men agenda and its racist, perverted portrayal of asian men. I haven’t seen anything this bad since Breakfast at Tiffany’s simply for this magazine’s SHEER bluntness. Seriously, after “A few good Asian men,” my jaw literally dropped after reading this article. Personal experiences should be written as blogs, not labeled as published articles. This is absolutely shameful and would never be said about any other elasticities. I absolutely agree with Jon that the writer, in her perspective has perverted and insulted Japanese culture as a whole. This sort of “publication” would never be about any other elasticities. I really hope Asian immigration in the US would stop so that Asian Americans would quickly die off (as studies have show). If no one is willing to stand up for injustices, then Asian Americans really do deserve to be wiped off the face of this country. That’s part of this magazine’s agenda btw, to wipe off any traces of asian men.
here folks. I meant ethnicities. stupid spell check. Thanks
A result of two A-Bombs, perhaps? Lulz.
aj you are being disgusting. This article was clearly written based on personal experience and on MANY accounts. Sticking your head in the sand doesn’t make a problem go away.
as a caucasian who has lived in both japan and other asian countries, i can tell you that there are good educated asian men, but a lot MORE of machoistic assholes who treat women like dogs.
on the other hand, the US is a femmenist country that treats MEN like dogs, which is why many americans are leaving. i ahve also seen japanese women walk all over western men. they take being treated equal as the man being weak and evetually tire of him.
so perhaps japanese women DESERVE to be treated like property? i don’t know. i just know nowdays, romance is dead.
and both feminism and machoism are responsible.
Hey. i’m not japanese and i want to say my opinion:
This is not absolutely the first time i heard about this problem.
I saw a documentary, i read articles and pages on internet;
Sure, not all the japanese men are pervert but how can you deny the evidence. (i’m talking to all those people who criticize this article)
Numbers and percentages are facts.
I have a girlfriend, and i think i’ll never let her go alone in public trains without my presence in japan: i’m really scared about this, even if i am a male.
I really like japanese natural landscapes, mangas and a little of music too but i disgusted about this big problem.
Anyway.. i read that someone talked about US as the Biggest industry of porn (losa angeles).
How can you compare Porn and that sort of woman violence.
if you want to be a pornstar, you can do that and you will be paid. it’s a job. The japanese sex “industry” , is a fetish disgusting industry. Sorry if i am so aggressive but this is the reality.
these guys should be arrested -totally gross
In highschools some classmates (girls) would be physical with boobs. I didn’t feel so comforable with it, having been raised in a more conservative culture. But, I felt as though some of my classmates were just curious. It was more like the girls who did this were maybe more comfortable with their bodies then me than a perverted thing. It was more like…hey, are your boobs like mine?
Or, maybe different?
Let me check…oh, hmm, strange…we’re just women…why did you react like that?
I didn’t meant to upset you…:(
~then~
Ooh nice boobs, I’m going to grab them!
And not all girls did it either…just some…^_^`
The little ‘kancho’ thing is probably just that the girl is immature, and she sees it as something funny, more like a fart joke?
Maybe, explain to the kids in your class in a way that they understand that the touching is making you feel upset?
It would be great if adults on trains could be more respectful, though. I think that adults understand the consequences of their actions a bit more and grope for completely different reasons. I found that it wasn’t ~all~ Japanese men doing groping on trains, or even the majority…it seemed like the type of guys who were doing it were more socially outcast in Japan as ‘otaku’. That is, a bit socially inept, tends to read the dirty manga comics…^_^`
~The minority~
It seems to happen regularly, statistically, because there are a lot of people in Japan and because it is the same people from the minority group doing the groping.
If the number of rape cases are higher in a different country then Japan, does that make rape apart of that countries culture?
The word for sexual harassment is something like sekuhara, I think?
But, using ‘yadaaa’ or ‘chikan’ should work fine too ^_^
To those that say “anti-asian”, it should be remembered that Japanese are a special breed. They did things to pov and civilians in WWII that would have made dr mengele kill himself and on top of that the country deny its atrocities, teaching its schoolkids revisionist lies. So Japan just like any other Asian country? No way, they are a people obsessed with perversion and at least to some extent cruelty as well.
whoever wrote this is a complete idiot..It’s their culture, you can’t blame for something you don’t understand. just because it seems perverted to you doesn’t mean it really is
Ummmm…no. Sexual harassment is still sexual harassment wherever you go. Why should Japan be given allowances?? And if it’s part of their culture then that’s just messed up.
And what do you mean “you can’t blame for something you don’t understand.”?? Are you saying that you can’t get mad about people invading your personal space and touching you sexually just because you may not understand their intentions/ culture?
Idiot…
Haha! Japan has the biggest pron industry in the world…. moron.
They even sell used school girl panties in vending machines! WAKE UP!!!
If this happened to me on a visit to Japan Id be kicking the F*****s teeth in. Sick of the ignorance of sexual harrasment in Japan. For gods sake have you seen some of the Hentai games they release? One of them is called “Rapelay” where the objective of the game is to rape girls in a train.
Seriously if some wank tried to grab my hose when im in the john for a slash. The only thing getting slashed in the Japanese blokes face!
Japanese men,women,kids.. they dont know how behave themselves.
They love making sex with diffrent people because they are addicted to its penis or vaginna.
Shmock all japanese they make hentai with categorie.. and i bet most of them were suffering from sexual intercourse diseases..
Yes, many Japanese are perverts. After I accidentally watched this YouTube video, I have no doubt anymore. This video contains the clip from this very popular japanese comedy show. Watch the scene on 2:00 mark. If you don’t find this to be perverted, there’s something wrong with you. remember, this was aired on national TV!!!
I have to warn you…..it’s very very disturbing. It contains child pornography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQOJzgVvc6U
Yaa, most japanese society understand no sexual harasmant, no humanity.
As from my own experience, I agree with Angela. This article is a good warning for those who want to live in Japan. Actually there much much more there
That’s so ignorant man. Japan is no different from other Asian countries. The things they did in WW2 aren’t really any different from other cultures in any war in history. War breeds atrocities. The only reason the Allies got away with the shit they did was because they won.
I disagree with whoever said Japan is like the rest of Asia and how what they did in WWII to China was typical war stuff. I’m deeply offended by this stupid and ignorant comment. Have you seen the true documentaries of Japan’s invasion. i tell you not even the Holocust is as bad. The west keeps pounding on the public to remember the Holocust, but they have no idea how much more bloody and incredibly disgusting the things Japan did to China were. Why? Becuase politicians in the West need to convince their citizens that China is evil communists and hate to revel any truthful information that will stir up compassion on the lives that were tortured and eradicated from earth. The U.S. likes to make China seem like an invasive force to get people to hate China and so it can find excuses to keep China from becoming stronger, therefore a contender for world leader. The U.S. was always looking for ways to dissolve Russia and now it has. I know these things because I have lived in both the U.S, and China. But when I moved here to China I found that what I see here and what they sometimes report in the west is not fair nor objective. I saw the war documentaries of Japan’s troops in China during WWII. And let me tell you if I knew what I would be watching i would definitely have not watched it. The soul-crushing human atrocities kept me crying for hours and haunted me. I could not believe that a human can treat another in such insensate ways. Believe me. They are not just rape and killing. There is a lack of words to discribe the unbelivalbe sins and darkness of the human soul. Everyone viewing were just wordless. In my opinion, if China was really evil like the west likes to project, they would have held their relative silence for so long. They would have bombed Japan without warning. I believe in love and peace. But dude, if someone were to harm my family they tortured these people to death, i would literally loose my sanity and rip them apart! I think the videos have never been fully propagated for this reason. So, for you to say those ignorant words calling all Asian countries similar to Japan shows you have no knowledge of anything and just are making stuff up.
One of my local friends here in China works for a Japanese firm thinking nothing of it. And then one of her Japanese colleagues told her in disdain “I think Chinese people are like animals..” His reasoning? Cause Chinese people don’t have religions while Japanese people believes in their buddist like deists. And the guy lives in China? I don’t know. But does that kind of thinking sound like a normal thinking pattern? I don’t knoe it sounds disproportionally pompous when you are working in someone else’s country knowing that your country has already done these atrocities in the past. My Chinese friend told him some Chinese people have faiths and even offered to give him more info. I don’t know man, of all the Japnese people I’ve met, half are okay. But the other half are very strangely smug and emotionless. All the pieces seem to just fit in. I am convinced Japan is a not country we should trust, at least the unhealthy half.
As a Caucasian male myself I can guarantee you that all men are born perverts. I sure as heck don’t do my male friends any service by saying that but yes it is true, what isn’t true however is that all men are sex obsessed and see every woman they meet as objects. There is a difference between evolution and head on perversion. I have never been to Japan, but there is one thing that always bothered me about it. It’s that Asian countries in general rarely care for reporting what is an obvious crime. Try pulling that off in a western society and you get labeled a sociopath and get jail time. I think this is the big difference Japanese laws rarely get real face time, on top of that its even more impossible to teach a society of people who don’t recognize their own rights. At least that is the image it paints over seas an image that needs serious change. I think it has allot to do with structure, belief and ultimately how someone is raised. There seems to be too much superstition tide to Japanese upbringing, example if I do or don’t do XX then YY could happen. Most Westerners paint this picture internally without even realizing it, perhaps there maybe a certain truth to it? I don’t know!