Chikan….
No not chicken…chikan…
Well yesterday I apoligised for having nothing interesting to write about and then this morning I was touched up on the train (To tell you the truth I would of rathered have a boring day instead of this). I have met with a few weirdos while in Japan, especially on trains, or late at night you might come across a couple of drunk salary men making comments about you but never anything as bold as today. And I have never felt physically worried or scared over anything like this before…
Yamanote-sen is one of the busiest train lines in Tokyo especially early in the morning. Any Aussies out there remember the TV ad where John Eels (I think?) the footballer was seen pushing all those Japanese people onto the train. Well that job actually exists and while you don’t see it every day the train was like that this morning, and when I hopped on at Shinjuku we were all smushed in like sardines. To tell you the truth I am kind of used to that part…
Well a middle aged man, standing quite close to me, kept looking at his watch, and each time would graze my breast. At first I thought it was kind of an accident until he put his hand under my sweater. I looked at him, kind of giving him a death stare but it was impossible to move and I didn’t want to say anything in case it really had just been an accident. Next stop, I try to move away but instead get pushed up against a wall and the guy kind of follows me and then in between that stop and the next one he did it again. I looked at him again and said STOP IT (in japanese) and then by this stage had a little more room so tried to move away a little so that my shoulder was near his chest instead of us facing straight on. Well I honestly thought that would be the end of it but nope…then he groped my bum. By this stage I was so shocked that he had been so bold, especially after I had asked him to stop (One other guy touch my breast once and I grabbed his hand and told him to stop and he ran away and got off the next stop). When this sort of thing happens I have always been told to say “CHIKAN” which mean groper, grab them and pull them off the next stop, because usually there are station hands at almost each train door exit. But I was so shocked I didn’t do any of those things, and then my stop came and he actually had the nerve to grin at me. I felt disgusted. I have heard a lot about this, and I was surprised that I did not act in a different way. I had always thought that if saying stop did not work that I would be the first to yell chikan and cause a scene. But instead I got off my stop and was actually worried that he might of gotten off and followed me…I kind of felt sick….
The girl next to me, saw what was going on, and turned away. I do not know if anybody else noticed.
They are common on busy trains…especially the chou-sen, yamanote-sen and the one that goes to Saitama (saikyo sen?)…usually they are business man in their 50’s dressed in suits and run away or get off as soon as you say something or try to alert somebody else (This is what I have heard, and also talked about with my teachers today) and in recent years there has been an increase in this sort of thing…especially with men touching junior high school and highschool girls who are less likely to say anything.
I hope tomorrow is a normal day in which nothing interesting happens …even if it means my blog is dull!
Any other foreign women living here in Japan have any tips if I am in this situation again?
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Oh My, Lulu! If that happened here (I’d like to think) he’d be arrested!!
I can understand why you didn’t say anything. I can’t explain it, but I would have done the same thing, so your not weird.
What a gross person to do that though, how can he justify doing that? What would he do if someone did that to his own daughter?
Maybe you should carry a little whistle or something, so you don’t have he to shout out but it should be enough to atract a lot of attention your way. How dare he get away with doing that!
OMG!! I can’t believe that just happens, and that people just look away… Thats just awful. I like Jen’s idea of the whistle though. It would be enough to attract attention, and then you could yell out chikan. Do they do it to you more because you’re an Aussie and they think they can get away with it???
Gosh, I still can’t get over it. You must dread getting on the train every moring
Here’s to an uneventful day tomorrow!!!!!!
That’s terrible!
I guess in a way it’s prepared you a bit in case it happens again - he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that, particularly when it’s only a minute or so for him, but can upset you much longer than that.
omg, sorry to hear that lulu. i’ve heard a lot about the chikans but i haven’t experienced it yet (prob because i seem to scare most japanese men). i guess it’s one of those things that you never know how you’ll respond until you’re in the situation. as women, we’re brought up to not cause a scene and possibly give the benefit of the doubt, when in reality what he’s doing is completely wrong and he needs to be stopped. i’ve always thought i’d grab them back, probably their crotch, to see how they liked it and then push them off the train at the next station. but who knows what i’d do if it really happened.
i hope you’re ok as that’s quite a traumatic thing to go through.
OMG, that’s terrible! I hope you’re OK. I’ve been harassed before myself, both in the US & when I travel to foreign countries. Even in a foreign country, I have a hard time not reacting as I typically would if this happened to me in the US.
I would say, cause a scene. If you can yell loudly in Japanese something like: “Shame on you. Does your daugher know you grope women and think you can get away with it?” or “How dare you, dirty man, does your children know that you jerk off on the bus?” If there is an opportunity where you can get away easily, I would even say, kick him in crotch or stomp on his toes with your heel.
I strongly believe that you should fight back, even with just a whistle (particularly if there are people around you). Remember, walk & and appear as confident as you can. Look at everyone straight in the eye. Men usually don’t bother women who appear strongwilled.
Do take care of yourself first! I hope you’re ok! I know this can be pretty traumatic.
oh god i’m so sorry to hear that!!
:( don’t let a weirdo take advantage of you and ruin your day!! next time i suggest you stop cursing like hell in english!!
My friend, a guy, noticed a nice looking girl asleep on the train the other day. Then he noticed a salaryman standing in front of the girl openly masturbating with his bag held up in front of him. He pointed this out to a Japanese guy next to him but the guy just turned away. It was too much for my mate who went up to the wanker and gave him an earful in English and almost ended up decking the guy. None of the other passengers, including the girl who was asleep, did anything and the guy just got off at the next station.
If you stay in Japan long enough you release there are deep differences between Japanese and Western culture, many of which are very disturbing (the whole Japanese salaryman and middle aged guy culture just makes me want to puke). If you want to fight back, which you should do, don’t count on anyone except the station staff coming to your assistance. You should be prepared and think about what you’ll do next time because if you keep riding the Yamonote line in peak hour its bound to happen to you again.
Eww… that’s a horrible experience. I heard that groping was common that’s why they have women only carriages on some trains. Not sure if they run all the time though. And I was told if you yell at the person and draw attention to them, they feel very humiliated and stop. I hope it never happens again!
I’m absolutely astounded at this, lulu!! How the hell can this sort of thing go on and no one does anything about it?!
I’m horrified that this happened to you
Also - if I manage to catch up with you when (if!) I get over there, I’ll be sure to teach you some basic self defence ;o)
it’s a horrible, horrible thing that you’ve had to go through, Lulu. I guess I always thought that if it happened to me in Japan then I’d say “f*** off”…but then when confronted with it, I’m not too sure…
Are there women’s only carriages on the Yamanote line? I remember seeing them on the main lines in Nagoya, especially during peak hour.
When I come to Japan I will hunt that guy down and kick his a**e!! What a horrible experience. I would have slapped him! I’ve been on crowded trains in Melbourne before, but that sounds like a parallel universe!!
All I would suggest is NEVER, EVER think twice about causing a scene if someone does that to you - make as much noise as possible and draw attention to what they’re doing so hopefully they’ll be so humiliated they’ll leave you alone. I know what you mean about being so shocked and stupefied that someone would behave like that that you don’t really do anything…but don’t them the satisfaction of getting away with it!
And maybe it wouldn’t hurt doing a self defence class or something… I’d just hate for someone to follow you off the train or something like that.
Be careful sweetheart
I hope the train is free of perverts today!
xoxox
Oh, Lulu. You poor thing! This really is terrible and sadly happens way too often here in Japan.
I catch the Yamanote-line every morning and evening in peak hour from Shinjuku and passing through some of the more crowed stations like Shibuya and Ebisu. Here are some tips that I find help…
1) Never stand in the open section in front of the doors, move to the aisle between the seats, even if you have to squeeze in behind someone, it is more open and danger spots are sight-level with those sitting down so it is less risky.
2) As someone else mentioned, look assertive and self-confident. I once heard that Japanese women carry English newspapers with them or hanging out of their bag, cos chikan avoid assertive women who are educated in the West…
3) Ask Shun to teach you a phrase in Japanese that sounds abrupt and that you mean business. With the meire-kei of the verb. It doesnt sound lady like but it will show you mean business.
4) As soon as you even suspect that someone is trying to feel you up, I always jolt my head around looking behind me to se what or who is touching. Even if you are not sure that it happened, move. And if this means pushing and shoving the crowds around you, then do it. YOu gotta do what you ahve to do.
5) Avoid the first and last carriges of the trains, that is where chikans gather.
6) Be observant on the platform when you are waiting for the train, if there is some dude looking around or at you, and they wait to get on last or look suspicious, then move to a new carriage.
I once had some 4ft japanese guy poking his index finger insessantly into my butt crack (gosh, that sounds so nasty when i write it!) and I turned around, gave him a death stare and then pointed my elbow (as I held on to the top rail) into his face so close that I was almost hitting him. I kept it there the whole time and made him feel threatened and that I was encrouching on his personal space. Think of things that you can do, that dont necessarily cause a scene cos no one will help you anyway and you get more embarrassed, but that threaten the chikan. Stepping on feet with heels is a good one, elbow jabbing, knee butting!
Hope that helps, and btw Yamanote-line doesnt have women only carriages.
nooh
Oh you poor thing. That makes me feel so sad. I always think that I will be really forthright and powerful in a situation like that, but you just kind of do what you do in the moment right. That could be scream CHIKAN at the top of your voice and embarrass the hell out of someone or it could mean giving them the benefit of the doubt and just realising after that it definitely wasn’t good. Saying ‘Stop it’ might not be good enough, only because Japanese porn usually involves women saying ’stop it’ a lot and ‘no’ and letting the man carry on, so culturally, probs lost on him. Exceptional advice from Nooh - Excpetional!
I on the other hand have never been touched by a middle aged perv.
Two separate middle aged men have however told me I look like Margaret Thatcher on separate occasions. I felt violated.
I am going to link to this entry as I think it is important. Thank you.
The train Well that job actually exists NO WAY!!!
try: http://jo-in-japan.blogspot.com/ she’s a friend of a friend..
Thank you everyone for all you advice and kind words. I think if it ever happens again (although I hope it doesn’t) that I would be more sure about what to do. SO far nothing like that has happened again since, and I am a lot more aware now about people looking at me and try to stay away from weirdos and when I do get on the train I try to move into the aisle where usually a lot of other woman are standing also…
Thanks again everyone, It was all very helpful!
That’s a horrible story and I hope that it never happens again!
Although a disturbing insight into Japanese culture, like Tim said it really does show the difference between western and eastern culture
My previous post might have come across as a bit harsh against Japan. There are good and bad parts to every country. For Sydney people, I’d liken the train experience in Japan as a bit like walking through Kings Cross to get to a nice restaurant in Darlinghurst. You have to be careful and you’ll often see some bizarre things, but necessary if you want to get to the restaurant ( or to work in the case of Japan ).
As the other posters said, spotting and avoiding problem people is better than retaliation. Once I accidently bumped into a Japanese girl’s butt with my bag in a crowded train and she instantly gave me a look that nearly turned me to stone. She then saw it was just my bag and turned back. But the point is she reacted quickly, confidently and wasn’t afraid that she may have misjudged the bump.
Urg…how awful, you poor thing.
I was an exchange student there in 1994 and had something similar happen to me - a guy put his hand down the back of my top and pinned me to him for the entire train trip. I just didn’t know what to do. Luckily he got off at the next stop, and didn’t take me with him.
I also remember being in a department store when an elederly woman came up to me and openly squeezed both my boobs at the same time and squealed “Ookii desu ne!” at the top of her lungs.
I hope you manage to avoid such unsavoury encounters in the future!
Yuck-o-rama. A gross chikan.
Honestly the best thing to do if you can’t confront him is to enlist the help of somebody next to you.. peer pressure is strong against Chikans here - I have seen men come to the rescue of girls who have been groped.. grabbed the guy and dragged him off the train to the station master for arresting. Most likely the guy will lose his job and be shamed by his family but YOU CANNOT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT!!
It is not your fault - they are cretins who need to know they cannot prey on people who are too frightened or shocked to cause a scene.
Next time get a pervert but good and you will feel more empowered. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!
I’m so sorry to hear this happened to you.
A couple of my Japanese friends said that you are perfectly within your rights to haul off and smack this guy. They even shared stories of how when they were in school they used to carry safety pins in their pockets for the purpose of stabbing the hands of any chikan that might grope them. I certainly hope you never have to go through this again, but if it does here are a few phrases that should at least draw attention to him and shame him.
Kono hentai! = You pervert!
Te dokete-yo! = Take you hand off me!
Sawannai-de! = Don’t touch me!
Kono sukebe! = You freak!
Kitanai! = You’re a dirtbag!
These are much more forceful/harsh then asking someone to stop.
I sincerely hope you never have to use them.
This happened to me when I was 15, in a very crowded train a chikan grabbed my bum too. Luckily I had a long umbrella which I proceeded to use to stab him in the foot. He yiped and got away from me very quickly. If someone was as bold as the guy that bothered you I would suggest using the umbrella to stab him elsewhere. Can’t believe this is still happening.
The first thing to do is to yell as loudly as you can: “CHIKAN!”
Then, go on the attack. You are perfectly justified to do so.
1. Stab him hard in the foot with your umbrella. (Had to do this once, he winced and got off at the next stop.)
2. If you don’t have an umbrella, stomp as hard as you can on his foot with your heel or shoe.
3. Bash him on the head with your newspaper, magazine or handbag. Or take off your shoe and bash his head with it - a particularly shameful experience for Japanese men.
4. Swing your elbow hard at his solar plexus - the spot just below the sternum or breastbone. This is a vulnerable spot and he may even crumple onto the floor. Leave him there and move away.
5. Swing your elbow at his jaw, but not too hard. Be careful with this one. Too hard and it may seriously sprain or even break his neck. You don’t want to get sued in their country.
6. Slap his face as hard as you can, several times if you can.
7. Punch him around the eye or mouth, so as to give him a black eye or cut lip.
8. Knee him in the groin.
9. Kick his ankle or knee as hard as you can.
10. Grab his hand firmly and twist his arm or wrist till it hurts.
11. If there is space, push him away as hard as you can, and stare angrily at him. Make it obvious to everyone he did something bad to you.
12. Carry a small sharp instrument. Like a large safety pin - good tip, Jennifer. Or a hairpin, mechanical pencil, a key, or even fingernails. Bring it out and use it to scratch his cheek, hand or arm, or to pierce him through his suit or shirt.
13. Take a shot of his face with your cell phone. Show it to the transport staff or the police. If you have time, follow him and see if you can find out where he works, then send the photo to his company. If none of that helps, post the photo to local community forums and networks - both Japanese and English ones.
I doubt that asking for assistance from the people around would help much. Most would not want to get involved, even if they knew what is going on. And it’s become so common, it’s taken as normal, ‘just one of those things’, something you’re expected to bear with.
The aim should be to embarrass them. Don’t feel embarrassed yourself about retaliating. You are the victim.
Being salarymen, they do have a certain image to upkeep. If you draw the wrong kind of attention to them, and do it publicly, they will stop and think twice. Women in general also need to react in this way consistently in order for any real change to take place.
The problem is that too many women let them get away with it, by being too afraid or embarrassed to do or even say anything. Or by being tolerant, longsuffering, polite, demure or ‘nice’.
Such reactions just make them bolder and encourage this kind of perverted behaviour, which is why it is on the increase.
Ladies, be prepared for such incidents. Train yourself to quickly overcome your shock when it happens. Then, ATTACK!