Tokyo infested with rapists?

[thomas]

At least according to Mainichi's latest feature article:

Cops call Tokyo a rapist haven, warn women to be wary

=> http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/features/index.html

The cops advise: "Don't put too much faith in security locks," an MPD spokesman said. "And just because it's hot at the moment, we don't want to see women to open the doors or windows to their apartments."

And: "In at least one case, the rapist claimed he knew he could find a young woman in an apartment because of the color of her curtains."

[Shinmeiryu]

Disturbing stuff, but that 97 rape accounts by just 4 guys...wow.

[thomas]

MPD officials said that until 1999, Tokyo witnessed about 120 rapes every year. But, since then, rape cases have skyrocketed, recording 169 in 2000, 168 last year and on track to surpass that figure this year. (Mainichi Shimbun, Aug. 18, 2002)

And these are just the official numbers...

[Anastasia]

thats sad how women have to live in constant fear and cant even have windows open...that is really truely sad

[samuraitora]

It is sad. I always expected the number to be higher though. The way that Japanese society is sooo opressed and introverted, you have to expect outlashings and the things that are suppressed to come out. Not being pesimisstic or anything...lol

I don't look down on the way the Japanese live at all, I admire it. But, there are ramifications though.

[Maciamo]

MPD officials said that until 1999, Tokyo witnessed about 120 rapes every year. But, since then, rape cases have skyrocketed, recording 169 in 2000, 168 last year and on track to surpass that figure this year. (Mainichi Shimbun, Aug. 18, 2002)

Skyrocketed ? Give me a break ! What are 168 rapes compared to a population of 12 millions or more than 30 millions if you take the "greater Tokyo" (with Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa-ken). These figures are way lower to Western ones. I guess there are more murders in just one big American city during the same period. That's really excessive alarmism. What is more preoccupying is what the juridical system actually make with rapists. In macho (chauvinist, if you prefer) Japan, a rapist is unlikely to get a harsh sentence. Most don't even go to jail, just a fine and that's it. That's of course completely different if the rapist is an American GI in Okinawa, even more if he is black (national scandal !). Well that's another issue.

[thomas]

True, that article is slightly sensationalist, but it shows a certain trend - even if numbers are low compared to Western countries.

I don't know which sentences rapists usually face in Japan, but Europe's legal sensibilization in regard to sexual offenses is still a very modern trend. Far too long rape has been treated as peccadillo as well. Anyhow, I took a look at international criminal statistics, comparing the latest numbers (year 2000) of rapes in a few selected countries (other sexual offenses are not included).

Well, these are just 'official' numbers, the actual number of crimes is probably much higher

=> http://forum.japanreference.com/html/rapestats.html

It's interesting to compare.

[Maciamo]

Well, that confirms my first impression. There is only 1,78 rapes/100.000 inhabitants in Japan, twice less than the second in the list, Spain (that might surprises some people). The US has a record 32,05/100.000 inhabitants. That's 20 times more than Japan ! Worse is that the US have a very low rate of cases solved. The funniest thing is that the Mainichi Shimbun's articles are probably written by... Americans !

What I don't understand is that the US have 90.190 cases and Japan 2.260 for half the total population. So the proportion of cases (with attempts ?) are actually 45 times higher in the States (not 20 times). France alone has 4 times more cases of rapes than Japan for less than half the population.

I think the reason of low rape rate in Japan is that men have easy access to payed sex. Just have a walk aroud Shinjuku Kabuki-cho the evening and you'll understand what I mean. There are more soaplands, "massage parlours", etc per sq.m. than in the hottest districts of Bangkok (though Japanese sex trade doesn't usually involved penetration). What's more, Japan has a quite unique phenomenon of free-willing teenage prostitution (called enjo kosai). A salaryman in need just have to contact a terekura (telephone club) and get a blind meeting with a girl. These girls want to make easy money and give themself with a stupefying nonchalance for about 20.000 yen. So are rapes for the poor only ?

Note that in some American States, prostitution is illegal and fought actively by the police. It all seems so easy and candid in Japan. And it might well be the solution for all those men who can't find a outlet to their libido.

[thomas]

These numbers are based on reported cases. The Japanese police are not exactly known as problem solvers nor are the numbers they provide very reliable (that applies to many other countries as well). However, their stats are marginal. Perhaps we should also take a look at the category of "other sexual offenses" (groping and fondling).

Other interesting facts: take a look at Switzerland. A very conservative jurisdiction, qualifiying over 75% of all rapes as "attemped rape". Or former socialist countries: they "solved" over 80% of all cases (Russia only reported 8.000 cases). France has the highest number of juvenile offenders (among the countries listed), followed by Japan. Germany has the highest number of female offenders, uh oh...

Btw, did you know that Sweden too has outlawed prostitution?

[moyashi]

@penetration ... hmmm ... I can't speak from fact. But that's not what my friends tell me. And recently 2 were gaijin ;)

Totally agree. Japan's sex industry is well established and being reasonable and perverted enough most men find outlets somewhat legally since it's actually illegal to penetrate.

Interesting is that the prostitue will not be arrested but yet the Pimp and the buyer will be. .... ???? .... you got me.

@rape
hmmm, those are the cases that are reported. In general I can agree that "dark" rape ... the kind that scare many people are normally not that high what I heard in the states that "dark" (my wording) rape is 10% of all rapes. Date Rape which has been given high media coverage is more the regular case scenerio I bet. Date rape in Japan is still basically a word used only in the States and for only the States I bet if Date Rape were to be actually reported Japan's rates would scare all of us.

The big problem here which has scared me several times is that women love to say "no no no" ... I would stop ... then they would get upset. "why? don't you want to?" ... ughh ... I lost a few chances due to this but I believe strongly if the woman says NO it's NO. I just wish that they wouldn't say no when they mean yes.

[Maciamo]

My wife told m that when a Japanese girl/woman says no it usually means yes. So you have no idea of when it's really know (but you wouldn't be with her anyway then). I found that sexually was also much less complicated in Japan than in "Christian" countries (not Judeo-Christian as Israeli girls are reputedly loose).

I heard of Japanese modesty when I was a teenager, but I don't know what they meant know. There is no such thing in Japan. People in onsen and public bath are affraid of showing themself nude and some are still mixed. Japanese have nothing to hide ; nudity (and sex) is just natural, not shameful. (that might explain the high number of porn mags in combini, but that's another thing).

[moyashi]

ahh, magazines ... that should be split to another thread.

Modesty is a bit different since it doesn't apply in onsens and young girls that look like they've done themselves up with a paint brush. The onsen are a funny situation, the old men, wrangl along with their wranglers swinging back and forth ... it's pretty interesting since I'm the most modest of the group normally.

Sexuality is very free and not very much merit is given to virginity besides being picked on for still having it. Although, I bet that for arranged marriages that it's a different story.

[Maciamo]

Arranged marriage are arranged between the 2 interested more than by the parents. If there is such a marriage, it's because they can't find a (stable) partner at an "advanced age" (like 28 for women ). I don't think they would even consider virginity. If the woman is pretty, the guy is happy ('cause it's not always the case) and shut up whatever her personal history might be (sometime it's better not to ask).

[deborah gormley]

I have to agree that the japanese stats for rape are quite low as opposed to USA, and rape is rape and should be dealth with accordinly!!
@ "no means yes" this shocks me!! I beleived that no meant no in any language and country, and that this was a recognised straight forward reply and was never used as a "hard to get feature" or a "female bargaining tool", This is an unrulely way of life, one which can only spell DANGER!!!
(just my thoughts on this matter)

[Maciamo]

@ "no means yes" this shocks me!! I beleived that no meant no in any language and country, and that this was a recognised straight forward reply and was never used as a "hard to get feature" or a "female bargaining tool"

Hi Debbie,

Justly, Japanese people don't like to say no and avoid it when they can, saying something like "well, I am not sure". Nevertheless, there are several translation for "no" : iie, iya, yada, narimassen (very formal), ikanai/ikemassen, and even hai !

If you ask a question in the negative and answer "no" in English, it becomes "hai" (yes) in Japanese.
Eg. : 食べないの tabenai no　("Don't you eat ?")
はい hai　("Yes", which means : "that's right, I don't eat")

So, don't presume that no has the same value in every country.

Then, believe me that when my wife say no in bed and I stop, after she gets angry !

But, it's rather clear that when a guy ask a girl in the street if she wants to play (Japanese way of asking for sex) and she says no and walk away with a shocked look, it means no. Likewise, if she says no in a low voice, but follow the guy after, it means yes.

Anyway, I always imagine rape as violent. No woman is going to wait passively if she is being raped (should I mention "against her will", not the "rape me, rape me !" kind of girl). The most obvious case of rape is when it happens with a stranger and in a public place. But it might be at work with a colleague or even with a friend a home. In the last case, it's more difficult to judge whose responsibility it is. A woman who follows a man at home or invite her t her home is unlikely to be taken seriously when she says she has been raped (eventhough she said no).

I guess psychologically, it's different if a woman is "raped" non-violently by a long-time friend at home, or by an ugly and unknown ojisan in a backstreet with blows as she tried to escape. You cannot put these rapes in the same category. So, I wonder if the first one really are declared at all in Japan, or if it's only extreme cases (even more if pregnancy follows). American people easily go to court and happily get millions of USD of compensation for a coffee that was too hot at the McDonalds. Japanese people don't like trials and prefer settling things between them, even avoiding to tell anything to the police when it's possible. So, as Thomas said it, the figures are probably much higher in reality than on paper. In any case, I'd like to know the proportion of violent or "dark" rapes, as Moyashi put it, and other rapes.

[moyashi]

It's not just people avoiding a confrontation but lawyers even on the consoltational level will normally advise this as the first step.

[deborah gormley]

@maciamo and moyashi

I'm sorry for my comments, maybe I am just naive to the japanese way and to other ways of life in different countrys, but I'm still quite shocked at these revelations,,, especially when it comes down to a sexual nature,
my language has a very distinct yes or no policy, and it is carried with us till death, thats what is so shocking about your langage I will never claim to understand it, or I will never question it, although I do know that its very very different from mine, maybe its the way I have been raised (or something simular), that has this deep desire to be heard and understood, which brings me to the useage and the interputation of the japanese language, if no can mean yes, then I feel totally heart sorry for the ladies who use these words and mean it, as for the ladies who say no , but mean yes, well I feel equally sorry as they do not have a self worth that they should poccess and this makes me thankfull that I have an outspoken personality which can at times be seen as "forward" and can get me in trouble before I know it , but thats me,,,
but there is no mistaken my intensions, when I say no even to a cup of coffee, it means "no"

[jiminnwa]

I can understand your shock at the Japanese use of no. When I lived there the Western/American attitudes I carried with me also got me in trouble. Finally my girlfriend put it in perspective when she said that most times what is not said is just important as the words that are spoken. In otherwords everything must be taken into a context for the real meaning to be clear. Saying this I also found that to maintain the harmony of the community
many things were just not discussed or even recognized. Thus the low percentage of rape doesn't surprise me as it goes along with the lack of accurate reports on incest or anti-burakumin
activity within the general Japanese population.

[moyashi]

I agree with you Debs. Like maciamo and jiminnwa have stated Japanese people and their language are basically non-confrontational.

Dark Rapes aside, Date Rapes in Japan are very difficult to deal with. Like mentioned above "no" can mean yes and "yes" can mean no at times. Also, at times exteneded sexual harassment also plays part in this.

Sexual harassment has slowly be gaining a voice that is heard and understood enough that men have started to rethink their erotic practices.

So combine erotic old men and young girls who don't forcefully express their opinions you come across the above rape situations.

Some can express themselves but the girls who for the sake of modesty say "no" all time (including wives) make it easy for men with less than saintly ideas to have their time with office staff.

I really wish that more women would speak out and clear up this problem. But of course, a slight change in society is going to be necessary. No small project but with the number of complaints about sekuhara (sexual harassement) being taken seriously hopefully eventually more women will be able to speak out.

[samuraitora]

@ "no means yes"
Here in the states we had a problem with that about 10 to 20 years ago...now, no means NO in no matter what situation

[deborah gormley]

@a non confrontational lanuage

Wow!!!

That must be a very frustrating way of life???
just living day to day ect must be so hard!!! I cant imagion living like that!! but if I ever go to japan I will be so polite and self contained that it might just be the real me, you never know till you try it, and for that reason I cant pass judgement, a change of attitude and personality might do me the world of good, so my husband keeps saying lol

[moyashi]

At first it was, but like anything you get used to it.

@no
I wish that Japan too would learn how to say "no" and mean it!

[samuraitora]

@no
there is one drawback to that...there has been a rise in a aggression over the past 10 or so years. People are trying to be more assertive and take charge of there lives and situations.

So basically, now that they can say no and feel good about it, now they are opening there personal space bubble. Their bubble is growing into other areas of relationships...happiness, sadness, agression, love, etc...

[arnadstephen]

I agree, compared to United States (say Dallas or Houston) this a low crime rate

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Skyrocketed ? Give me a break ! What are 168 rapes compared to a population of 12 millions or more than 30 millions if you take the "greater Tokyo
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stephen-florida

[moyashi]

But those are rapes recorded by the police. And the police are notorious to report only cases that are 200% anything less gets put aside until everybody finishes their ramen.