Did You Just Grope Me? Shall We Tell the Police?
Nov 2nd, 2007 by Neil
Train Grope is rife in Japan but there are methods to reduce the risk of being a victim of the Groping Train epidemic.
That’s the message women are flashing on their cell phones with a popular program designed to ward off wandering hands in Japan’s congested commuter trains.
Living in a city as large as Tokyo there’s bound to be a few scruffy individuals after a cheap feel. Just for the record, Greater Tokyo has about 35 million people, more than the entire population of Canada.
When i first came to Japan in 2002 i noticed signs on the subways depicting 3 things … all illustrated by cartoon; no fighting, no setting the seats on fire and no putting your hand up a school girls dress. Needless to say each picture was as funny as the next, well the picture, not necessarily the issue at hand … pardon the pun.
Fast forward 5 years and the signs are gone but the problems still remain. There`s women only carriages on certain lines between certain hours and there`s well known lines that have the most issues, especially in the area of wandering hands.
I was amused earlier this week to read a story from the Mainichi Daily News covering this very topic of Train Groping.
Did you grope me? Shall we tell the police?
“Anti-Groping Appli” by games developer Takahashi was released in late 2005, but has only recently climbed up popularity rankings, reaching No. 7 in this week’s top-10 cell phone applications list compiled by Web-based publisher Spicy Soft Corp.
The application flashes increasingly threatening messages in bold print on the phone’s screen to show to the offender: “Excuse me, did you just grope me?” “Groping is a crime,” and finally, “Shall we head to the police?”
Users press an “Anger” icon in the program to progress to the next threat. A warning chime accompanies the messages.
The application, which can be downloaded for free on Web-enabled phones, is for women who want to scare away perverts with minimum hassle and without attracting attention, according to Takahashi’s Web site.
“I first downloaded this as a joke,” said Spicy Soft official Michika Izumi. “But I think it could be a lifesaver if I get groped.”
Izumi said more users appeared to have recently discovered Takahashi’s “Anti-Groping Appli” because of a series of new applications unveiled by the creator this year, including a popular number game, horoscope and blogging program.
Offerings of games and applications for mobile phones have surged in Japan. A survey published by Web research company Yahoo Value Insight in July said 61 percent of Japanese cell phone owners use applications almost every day.
According to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, 1,853 people were arrested for groping passengers on trains in Tokyo in 2005. Experts say the incidence of harassment on trains is much higher, but women are often too embarrassed to report it.
Popularity: 11% [?]
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I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get that image of your head out of my own head. Anyway, since you also live in Asia, I thought I’d say hello. Good job with your head.
Word to the wise: if someone wrongly accuses you of being a chikan on a train, vigorously deny it, at best give them your business card, and just walk away. If they call you, only attend a meeting with an attorney present. By no means go to the police unless you want to see the inside of an interrogation center first-hand.
I know it is a very real problem in some places, but the fact that men actually think they have the right to cop a feel in public still makes my head spin. Insane. I would ask, how would they feel if women groped them…, but I imagine I wouldn’t get very many serious answers.
We don’t have much gropers here in Singapore. There are a few who were caught taking upskirt videos though.
[...] Grope offences are on the rise in Japan and i’ve previously written about this in november. The Groping Train behaviour has been around years and now there’s an increased desire to [...]