Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Odd

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Criminal collared

In a crime that doesn’t lend itself to the colours blue or white, a 24-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for holding a woman captive for over three months. With, as you’ve probably already guessed by the laboured opening sentence, the use of a collar.

It appears that Yasuyoshi Kobayashi became acquainted with his 19-year-old victim through the internet, and the pair eventually got together in a Tokyo hotel sometime in early March last year. But for the unfortunate young lady things quickly turned sour, as Kobayashi attacked her with repeated punches to the face before confining her in the room.

The unbalanced oppressor (who is alleged to have demanded he be referred to as master) then moved the woman to his home, and with the continued use of a collar kept her there until June 19. A momentous day for the victim, as when her tormentor’s guard briefly dropped, she successfully escaped.

During questioning, Kobayashi unbelievably told the police that despite the long time span he doesn’t remember the incident. An approach he’d be advised to adopt in the future when he finds himself confined for considerably longer than three months.

Categorized: Odd

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Classroom crank

Working in a state-run junior high school, I’m well aware of how difficult some students can be. But that said, a 39-year-old Kagoshima teacher’s approach to discipline and class participation could be described as drastic to say the least.

During an art class on April 13, the teacher in question asked the students what colours they could name. But unfortunately for one boy, by the time it came to his turn most of the colours he knew had already been mentioned. The resultant pause as he desperately tried to think of an unused colour angered his decidedly impatient instructor, and before he knew it the teacher took out a paper cutter and shouted, “I’ll slash you if you can’t answer!”

Presumably the boy did answer, as there was no report of bodily harm, but that didn’t stop a disgruntled parent complaining to the school’s headmaster. And in a bid to diffuse the situation, principle Fukumoto said, “We are sorry for terrifying children.”

After admitting to the allegations, the cutter-wielding teacher apologised to the student and his parents. Bravely justifying his behaviour by claiming, “I did it to speed up the class.”

Categorized: Odd

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Awry archer?

An unfortunate theme park goer in Yamaguchi Prefecture got more than he bargained for on Friday. As whilst waiting for a grass slide ride, the 54-year-old man was hit just above the eye by an arrow. And after narrowly avoiding being blinded by the 73 cm long projectile, the man was nearly hit a second time, as another arrow landed about 10 metres away from him.

The New Zealand Village theme park where the incident occurred does actually boast an archery site (which combined with the aforementioned grass slide must make it a real magnet for excitement seekers). The only problem is, it’s located a lengthy 33 metres from where the arrows landed.

Police are now trying to figure out if someone intentionally fired the arrows at the grassy slide area, or whether their aim was just absolutely bloody awful.

Categorized: Odd

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Digital deviancy

Advancements in digital technology has meant smaller and smaller cameras, which in turn has resulted in sleazier and more surreptitious shooting. With arguably the best-known use of such equipment being upskirt photography. But whereas this particular art form is generally practiced by lone deviants, in other areas of furtive filming, whole industries have developed.

In a recent newspaper report, the DVD “Hidden Camera: Kansai Women’s Bath” was used as a prime example. Secretly filmed, appropriately enough in a women’s bath in Kansai, the voyeuristic video is now widely available for anybody with 8,000 yen (40 pound) to spare. And on the same shelf will be countless other films of a similar nature, the sales of which generate somewhere in the region of 5 billion yen (25 million pound) a year.

But with so much money at stake, filmmakers it seems are prepared to stoop ever lower to get their desired images. With the actions of a consortium in Wakayama Prefecture a couple of years ago amply proving this. As on a piece of vacant land the group built a public toilet, which needless to say wasn’t a benevolent gift to the weak bladdered citizens of Wakayama. No, the public convenience was constructed with only one thing in mind, and as such it was equipped with all the latest digital technology. And in a matter of months, they had enough material for a staggering 60 videos. Netting the organization a cool 50 million yen (250,000 pound).

Whatever next?

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Smoking manner #4

Since the last mention on Tokyo Times of the decidedly relaxed approach to smoking in Japan and the emphasis on manners more than anything else, things have actually changed. A little bit. Many restaurants, coffee shops, and fast-food eateries have actively embraced no-smoking areas, with some of them (well, I’ve seen one) even going smoke-free.

But thankfully this hasn’t stopped Japan Tobacco from continuing its (unintentionally) funny and often-unfathomable smoking manner campaign. And as the nation’s biggest cigarette manufacturer is partly owned by the government, this presumably isn’t about to change anytime soon either.

Yet I shouldn’t let such cynicism get in the way of the smoking related gems below. With the promotion of portable ashtrays being a particularly popular topic of late.

smoking manner

And then there’s this offering, which I’m guessing alludes to the same thing. Or there again, maybe not.

smoking manner

And the last one also seems to be along the same lines. But it is of such a surreal nature that I can’t be completely sure.

smoking manner

In fact you could argue it’s even Zen-like in its approach. The sound of one hand clapping however pales into insignificance when compared to the sound of children scolding adults with paintbrushes. A mystery that would surely challenge even the greatest of minds.

Categorized: Odd

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Public performances

Whilst attempting to clear some junk from my hard drive over the weekend, I came across a story told to me by an ex-colleague that I had stored for posterity about four or five years ago. And with the recent introduction of women only carriages in Tokyo, plus the continued rise of commuter related misdemeanours, it’s relatively topical. Yes, I realise that topical and Tokyo Times aren’t exactly regular bedfellows, but they are today. And what’s more, the tale is a rather shocking one too.

Now before I start it has to be said that none of the unsavoury events about to be recounted were (thankfully) witnessed by me personally. But what I can say is that the woman whose story this is was a trustworthy type, and her distress and discomfort whilst recounting the details of her late night commutes means I didn’t have any reason to disbelieve her.

As a final bit of background information, the unfortunate lady in question lived in Tokyo, but right on the outskirts of the city and at the end of a train line. And as busy as most trains are, when you get towards the end of the line, the number of commuters dwindles enormously. Especially on late night trains during the week.

Ok, with all that out of the way, we can finally get to the meat of the tale. Which I’m afraid to say involves masturbation. Yes, what surprised my ex-coworker most about her late night journey home was the number of sleepy yet noticeably stimulated salary men. Apparently the first time she witnessed such activities, she was more amused (or perhaps bemused is a more accurate description) than anything else. And without going into too much detail, she basically had the decidedly dubious pleasure of seeing the movement of hands shuffling up and down under trousers. With it being very clear that rummaging around for loose change was definitely not the order of the day.

Now obviously such sexual shenanigans aren’t what one expects to see on the way home, but our intrepid traveller was (like I said earlier) initially more amused than appalled. This didn’t last long though, as glancing down an almost deserted carriage one night, she happened upon another bold-faced basher. Only this man wasn’t quite so reserved, and in no way was he respecting the unwritten rules of masturbating manner. No, not by a long shot. As with his trousers undone, there was no mistaking what he was up to.

Anyway, not wanting to see the man get to the end of his journey as it were, she got up and moved down to another carriage. But this turned out to be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, because upon entering the next compartment she was confronted by an old man urinating in the corner! Now arguably the latter is more acceptable (or at least understandable) as beer and bladders aren’t always the best of buddies. Plus it appeared to be a one-off, and an emergency of the kind many of us can probably relate to. Openly masturbating in public however is quite the opposite. Although from the gist of the tale, for some passengers it seemed to be almost mandatory.

In my time here I have heard similar-ish stories, but they have always been along the lines of, “A friend of a friend saw…” But hearing this one straight from the horse’s mouth as it were, means I’m inclined to believe it. And even allowing for a few embellishments, it’s a shocking tale to say the least. Whereas most of us are content to read or listen to music during our daily commute, others it seems have a very different approach to passing the time. I suppose you could say different strokes for different folks. But I won’t.