Strange Happenings

[yukiniku]

I live in Osaka in an apartment building. My neighbour does not use the key lock on the door to lock their apartment. There is an external padlock and mechanism. I have never seen this neighbour. Sometimes I can see their light on at night time. It is obvious that if someone is inside the apartment, they cannot get out because of the padlock!
My guess is that it may be a druglab of some kind. Any advice on what I should do, if anything?

[Uncle Frank]

Maybe a rich man keeps his girlfriend in there to keep her faithful?

Uncle Frank

:?

[Mimmy_08]

Maybe somebody do that to avoid getting out late at night and to avoid visitors at the middle od the night. Maybe for safety purposes.

:(

[Mikawa Ossan]

Have you ever checked to see if the padlock is in place when the lights are on?

[yukiniku]

I havent checked yet. My J gf makes a big fuss if I hear noise and run to the door to look. She doesnt want me to cause trouble incase they are Yakuza!!!

[Miyamoto Mushashi]

Creepy. This remind me the Jap movie "Perfect Education 2"

[Glenski]

Please don't say "Jap". It's offensive.

Ask the landlord if you are really that curious.

[yukiniku]

Why is the shortened word Japanese offensive?

[undrentide]

Why is the shortened word Japanese offensive?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap

If you look up the word in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online, it even says
Jap [countable] taboo
a very offensive word for someone from Japan. Do not use this word.
http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/Jap

[Mike Cash]

What I can surmise from the thread so far:

You wouldn't recognize your neighbor short of him walking up to you with one of those big convention-style adhesive name tags emblazoned Hi! My Name Is your neighbor stuck to his chest.

You really don't know if he uses his normal door lock or not; you just assume he doesn't because of the padlock.

You really don't know if the padlock is locked when anyone is home.

Does that about sum it up?

[yukiniku]

When the light is on, the padlock is also still on the outside of the door.

[Mike Cash]

When the light is on, the padlock is also still on the outside of the door.

But do you know for a fact that the lock is locked and that there is someone inside?

If the answer to both of those is "yes", quit farting about on the internet and contact the police.

[Chirpy9]

..I guess he has gone to contact the police :p
Anyway, I guess its really dangerous if at all such kind of scenario IS there.
But looking at the other angle, contacting police and informing them may lead to the other problems, like he may start getting threat calls if at all goons are there.
Oops....am I thinking too much?? :okashii:

[Mike Cash]

Most likely it is a case of a person wanting extra security while no one is home, and a nosy neighbor who is eager to leap to conclusions.

On the other hand....a person being held captive would not be a first in Japan, so it is very well worth making sure the door is not securely padlocked when someone is inside.

[Toritoribe]

Just my impression, there might be a possibility that the timer-controlled remote control turns the light on.

http://www.hands-net.jp/goods/1620
http://www.tlt.co.jp/tlt/akari/homehome/onoff/onoff.htm

My co-worker, who lives alone, uses this for safety purpose.

[ec_nana]

Why bother? Just leave them to their own business.

[SpikeDaCruz]

Why bother? Just leave them to their own business.

Yep, enough said...leave them alone.

[Kirie_Maiden]

Yeah, I agree. It is a little worrying, but unless there is something really suspicious coming from the room (loud noises in the early hours of the morning... screams... something like that), then just leave it.