Art imitates life, as the aphorism goes, but life also imitates art.
Visitors to Japan are sometimes disappointed that the country doesn’t live up to the stereotypes: Where are the geisha? Where are the robots? Where are the hordes of anime girls?
Where are all the molesters on the trains? Wait, what? Yes, some people are actually expecting to see this.
Japan may be paying the price for being the empire of porn.
It’s overseas reputation is not quite as “cool” as the government might like. Instead, foreigners are seemingly coming to Japan expecting the nation to be like they have experienced it through porn. Naturally this leads to some problems.
A story, which we can’t verify, has been spreading that three Chinese foreigners were recently arrested in separate incidents (the source of the news is Chinese-language media).
They face up to six months in prison, possible 10 years if it is assault, or fines of ¥500,000 (over $4,000). All because they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
What happened?
One suspect tried to snap a photo up a girl’s skirt on an escalator.
The second apparently touched a girl’s ass in an adult good store.
The third lifted up the skirt of a woman while on a train.
So it’s not just the Italians who commit sexual offenses on public transport in Japan!
One of the suspects is alleged to have expressed surprise at his arrest. He told police: “I watched Japanese adult videos and thought the people here were open about sex. I thought gropers were everywhere.”
There is an irony to all this. When US soldiers commit sex crimes in Okinawa, they are usually not even charged by the Japanese police (the jurisdiction instead likes with the US military).
Somehow we doubt the police will be so “generous” with Chinese tourists.
