Japan: Safe or creepy?
Lindsay Ann Hawker, the 22-year old woman who recently was beaten and suffocated before being buried in a bathtub full of sand, was in Japan because she thought it to be a safe place with a good society.
“Before coming to Japan, she had researched extensively on the Net. We all agreed that Japan was a safe place and a good society,” [Lindsay's father said in a recent press conference], adding that he and his wife and another daughter had visited Lindsay at Christmas and had been proud when they saw where she worked and lived.
According to friends, however, once she got here she quickly found out that Japan may not be the dream world she originally had expected it to be.
A friend revealed that Lindsay was planning to come home next month — as she found Japanese men “creepy”.
Toby Wheeler, 30, who worked with Lindsay in Tokyo, said: “She found Japanese men weird. Some made inappropriate gestures and sexual remarks.
“She got increasingly upset and wanted to come home.”
Another satisfied NOVA employee.
Seriously though, I feel sorry for the family, and Ichihara needs to be found, and if found guilty, hung by his balls.
March 30th, 2007 at 4:55 pmAre Japanese men really that creepy?
March 30th, 2007 at 7:29 pmI guess they have White fever?
March 30th, 2007 at 10:30 pmIt’s possible that Japanese girls have similar feelings when they are around in the West…
March 30th, 2007 at 10:31 pmI lived in Japan for only a year, but I never got the sense that Japanese men were creepier than men from other countries (I’m a guy.) Additionally, I never heard my foreign female friends never complained nor made similar generalizations about Japanese men.
However, this reminds me of a friend’s somewhat similar encounter. When I was in college my roommate, who is a Caucasian male, dated a Japanese girl for a few weeks. When he tried to break it off, she became extremely hostile and stalked him for months afterwards (which coincidentally reminds me of the stories about that Japanese celebrity from the 80s stalking some guy in Las Vegas). Although I had limited exposure to her, I felt that she was fixated on him solely due to his appearance (blond and blue eyes). Of course this was an isolated event, and one can hardly generalize or extrapolate anything from it. However, when I lived in Japan I did encounter my fair share of folks who seemed a little too obsessed with hooking up with others who were of a specific ethnicity (usually Caucasian and African). I also heard many a story about an irate ex. To be fair, the same thing can be found all over Asia, from China to Thailand.
Having heard some creepy stories down the grapevine about over obsessive Japanese girls, it wouldn’t surprise me that in this case the same is true for Japanese guys obsessed with Caucasian women. In this case rejection probably shattered the guy’s delusions. Regardless, he must be one sick individual to have murdered her because he couldn’t live out his fantasy life.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:04 pmI’ve heard similar feedback about ‘creepiness’ but two things need to be considered. Firstly, Japanese men are clumsy when they ask out western women and assume flippancy/directness is somehow appreciated, not least as they feel they can suspend the polite norms they might associate with Japanese women. Secondly, the lack of western women in Japan can also lead to a (natural) curiosity that probably comes across as akin to leering.
As for the comment about Japanese women in the west, I’ve not heard of any chikan on the London Underground, New York subway or Paris metro. You can see why the comment might have been warranted, given other factors in Japanese society.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:21 pmI was talking about Yellow fever in general. Not women getting molested in the New York subways or the Underground for that matter
March 31st, 2007 at 12:13 amAre they creepy? Well among her choice of men, apparently very much so. People new to a culture often befriend the those who nobody else will come within yards of. They don’t have the cultural familiarity to separate the creeps from the chaff.
There are no chikan in London or New York, it’s true, Tokyoid. Perverts, molestors, rapists, but no “chikan.” Frottage is very common in both cities’ transit systems. If it’s less common than Japan, that’s because women are less inclined to be quiet about it, certainly not because the men are more restrained.
Have you ever been to some of the get-togethers that Japan Center in London puts on? Creep Central.
In NY or London, when women show too much skin in a club or a party, men are all over them. In similar situations in Japan, the men are usually very cool about it. So who’s creepier?
Why are there no similar discussions about creepy Westerners when Japanese girls are murdered overseas?
March 31st, 2007 at 8:25 amSpeaking of creepiness, for sure, the suspect is one creepy looking guy.
Going to his place was a very stupid thing to do.
March 31st, 2007 at 8:31 amIs it just me, or does the photo of the suspect look as if he was the product of fetal alcohol syndrome? His blank eyes reveal an empty soul. Like photos of Mohamed Atta. Also reminds me of the photo of the guy who was trying to get into medical school and who killed his sister and chopped up her body a while back.
March 31st, 2007 at 10:08 amWell, I’m not sure about Japan, but there’s plenty of talk of creepy Western guys preying on Korean girls here.
Overall, though, it seems kind of silly—I’m sure Japan is a thousand times safer for a Western female to live than most Western countries.
March 31st, 2007 at 10:23 amHmmm. I hail from New York City and taught English (at NOVA in Tokyo) in the mid-90s, before the Internet was so prevalent. Alas, the only impression of Japan and the Japanese that I had to go on was what I read in William Gibson novels (I went to a reading by him after I got back - he admitted that he had never been to Japan and made it all up. F*cker.)
Anyway. On my second day, I came up on a guy masturbating on an idling scooter. “Oookay,” I thought. “This is going to be interesting.” I soon got an earful about chikan and heard horror stories from fellow gaijin women. I experienced inappropriate comments and leering from both students and strangers. Finally, I too was grabbed by one while walking one night and smashed my knee in the ensuing struggle. I couldn’t bear to stay after that. I didn’t feel like I had any recourse with the police because I kept hearing (from other gaijin) that the police don’t care about what happens to gaijin. True or not, I really had no way of finding out.
But you know what’s strange? All the creeped-out feelings that I had kind of went away. It wasn’t until I got back to NYC that Japan kind of “sunk in.” I’ve been taking Japanese lessons and reading manga and am hoping to get transferred to Tokyo when my firm opens an office there next year. Go figure, right?
I have to admit, though, that this horrible murder has reminded me why I couldn’t wait to leave Japan in the first place. My heart goes out to this poor girl’s family. What a nightmare. I can’t wait till they find that piece of shit.
March 31st, 2007 at 11:36 amI have heard about experiences like gaminette’s in the past from various gajin women living in Tokyo.
The most common M.O. I have heard is that of a gaijin woman going home and opening the door of her apartment. Suddenly she is pushed from behind into her apartment and onto the floor. The guy on top of her gropes, grabs, and beats the woman, and then runs off, leaving her on the floor.
March 31st, 2007 at 12:41 pmghoti,
Firstly I’m in complete agreement about the gaijin clientel at the Japan Centre and the piss-poor Manga Cafe at County Hall. There’s a middle-aged English guy who hangs around Picadilly and speaks perfect Japanese who’s known to many Japanese women in their 20s in London as he approaches them and tells them the food in the Japan Centre is lousy and asks them if they can take him somewhere better. It either works for him some of the time or he’s not giving up as he’s still around by all accounts.
“Why are there no similar discussions about creepy Westerners when Japanese girls are murdered overseas?”
I’m not aware of any high profile murder cases involving Japanese women in either Europe or the US recently.
And we can all tell stories about female acquaintances who’ve had to sit opposite guys on trains stroking raging hard-ons or who’ve discovered semen on their leg while alighting.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:21 amI had to go back a ways to find this, but we did a story here on JAPUNDIT once long ago about a guy that was about as creepy as you can get when it comes to Asian women.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:51 amJP, I have to admit that I’m disappointed that you haven’t discussed the Lindsay Hawker case in more detail in your last few podcasts. You tend to speak your mind on other matters going on Japan (which is appreciated) but not for this tragedy. Any particular reason?
April 20th, 2007 at 12:18 amI wonder what is there left to say at this point about the case, save for decrying police ineptitude?
April 20th, 2007 at 9:07 am