For those of you I know who have not traveled to Japan, here are a sampling of today's (April 17 and 18) headlines which you might have missed in the North American press...I have paraphased some of this so click the link below to get all the facts as they were seen in print.


Man arrested for using mirror to look up 15-year old girl's skirt.
A 43 year old peeper was spotted by a JR employee and caught him in the act, using a hand mirror.

In Japan, some JR (Japan Raiway) trains have "women-only" train carraiges for rush hour times, to discourage groping. There is a picture one of these train boarding platforms on my webshots page.


2 of 3 freed Iraq hostages want to return to Iraq soon.
Although the Japanese who were freed this week are back on Japanese soil, two made public a request to return to the turmoil to assist everyday Iraquis with reconstruction efforts.

The Japanese government however said something to the effect of 18 year old high school graduates should not, however well intentioned they ma be, travel to war zones. This was an indirect reference to one of the three freed hostages, a freelance writer.

North Korean Sailors caught with drugs

I would have to say par for the course there, until the North Korean economy produces something the world wants, they will have to stick to trade in herion, pot and possibly nuclear arms. The sailors in question were detained at a port of call on the western coast of Honshu port in Japan, and were taken into custody by local authorities. The volume of illegal drugs both carried, however was not significant.

Daily Mainichi:

12 year-old allegedly entices 7-year old to jump off 14-storey building.
The 12-year-old in question was detained by police for "guidance," and subsequently handed over to the juvenile court authorities. In Japan, minors 13 and under cannot be held legally responsible for their crimes.

The myth of a safe Japan has long been shattered, but seldom do these type of stories make it to the international media. While Japan is certainly safer than other regions of the globe, certain evils are now making headlines domestically that were formerlly taboo to report upon, including child abuse, sexual crimes, lack of parental discipline and childhood obesity.

Japan sufferes domestically with problems not noticed my international media, whom mainly choose to focus on Japan as a mystical Oriental oasis. The Japan model of business and capitalism has been mentioned in countless articles and books, but some of the uglies have been overlooked.

The myth of Japan as archepeligo of green isles, a quaint nation filled with temples and passive kind folk needs to be balanced with the realities of Modern Japan: paving of rivers, filling cities with noisy gambling(pachinko) halls, rampant governmental corrutption and raising and over-testing children whom, as a generation exhibit limited interpersonal skills, compared with their elders.