Yohan comments

virusrexToday 03:18 pm JST

The fact that anybody under 18 is considered a minor in Japan, and that obscene acts with a minor are still illegal also remains, there is for example zero pornographic material that is legal and includes anyone under 18 years old precisely because of this reason.

However if you read the article again, it is nowhere written that this girl and the man with her did any obscene acts together. Nothing written about pornographic materials etc. From where did you get this?

The only charge this man might face is kidnapping, and this because she is still a minor. She agreed to meet him and got into his car but her parents complained about it.

virusrexToday 11:04 am JST

Age of consent is 16 and the article states the girl is in her late teens.

No it is not, age of consent is 18, and the article clearly says the arrested man knew the girl was a minor, so he is willingly committing an illegal act.

The age of sexual consent is 16, full article see link below

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14934890

June 17, 2023 at 08:30 

Japan's parliament on Friday raised the age of sexual consent to 16 from 13, a limit which had remained unchanged for more than a century and was among the world's lowest, amid calls for greater protection of children and women.

CephusToday 01:54 pm JST

"Yes he is committing a crime, but is it kidnapping?

Yes"

But the girl visited him willingly right?

Not only in Japan, but in many countries worldwide laws regarding minors are badly written, sometimes outdated and contradictory. What might be considered to be a crime in one country might be no crime in another country.

Yes, he invited her to visit him and she was showing up and got into his car. In no way she was forced to do that.

However there is something called statutory rape, maybe there is also something like statutory kidnapping I don't know, but it means the fault is always with the adult and never with the 'child', even if the 'child' is a willing participant - like in this case where the man is 20 and the girl likely around 17.

Usually for dating, men are approaching women and not the other way round, therefore as a man (foreigner OR Japanese does not matter) you are only safe if you make sure that any woman you approach is 18+ or even better 20+, so parents have no right anymore to interfere in her life-style.

virusrexToday 11:47 am JST

https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/child/initialreport/definition.html

This link is outdated.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/child/initialreport/index.html

THE INITIAL REPORT OF JAPAN UNDER ARTICLE 44, PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (May 30, 1996)

Also various other articles in the same link are not valid anymore, for example

Marriage

Under the provisions of the Civil Code, a man may not marry until reaching 18 years of age, nor a woman until reaching 16 years of age. A person under 20 years of age must obtain the consent both of his/her father and mother in order to marry.

After marriage, any person may independently become a party to legal action even if he/she is under 20 years of age.

> Sexual Crime

Under the Penal Code, anyone who performs a sexual act or commits an indecent act with a male or female person under 13 years of age is subject to punishment, whether or not the act is committed by thereof violence or threat. The Child Welfare Law additionally prohibits inducement of a person under 18 years of age to practice obscene acts. The law also prescribes punishment for keeping a child in custody for the purpose of making him/her engage in harmful activities.

リッチToday 02:07 pm JST

so the guy who posted got arrested but the actual guy emailing and harassed her walks free?

I asked myself the same question. This article is poorly written. Not clear who was writing whatever.

Anyway, as a man you are better off to refrain from any private contact with female co-workers.

It is not worth the risk if something is going wrong. You might find yourself in big trouble or at least facing scornful laughter from other co-workers if the woman does not want you.

the woman consulted the police, saying, "I was receiving messages saying 'You're cute'

How are such messages be slanderous or defamatory? Sounds more to be a compliment.

If she is demanding to check his smartphone, he should demand to check her smartphone in return. That is only fair.

As a man if you face any serious problem with a girlfriend the only what you can do without being worried about legal consequences is to leave quickly and look for another girlfriend - try to find somebody else and never go back to her again.

HopeSpringsEternalJune 5 08:27 pm JST

Mandatory Travel Insurance, problem solved!

Not so easy to solve.

Private insurance companies often refuse to insure elderly people 70+.

How much should such an Mandatory Travel Insurance cost? What will such an insurance policy cover, and up to what age?

If not regulated, private insurance companies will likely rip off travellers and will often refuse to pay because of exemptions mentioned within their lengthy complicated contracts which are difficult to understand by ordinary people.

If you are living in Japan and have Japanese National Health insurance you need no travel insurance when travelling abroad up to 60 days. You can claim a partial refund from your ward office after arrival in Japan.

Also credit cards often contain an international travel insurance if you pay the air fare and medical expenses with your credit card.

The car he was driving was registered to someone else

The owner of this car is also responsible to allow him to drive the car without holding a proper driving licence.

girl_in_tokyoMay 23 10:38 am JST

The police need to act BEFORE the stalker actually goes on the attack. The stalking laws right now don't allow for the police to do anything unless the stalker actually harms the person. 

This is correct. However...

What shall police really do in this case? It is mentioned that he had invited her to dinner multiple times via social media but she declined. Is this a crime?

Police can only act DURING or AFTER the person is committing a crime.

This man belongs to a prison for a while. What he did was a rather violent dangerous action.

I don't understand such a man. If a certain woman does not want you, then she does not want you - the only solution is to forget about her and to look for another female who is accepting you.

I understand it is not so easy for a man to approach a female he adores and it is frustrating to be rejected by her many times.

However this is not a justification or excuse for criminal behavior.

A man was living with her and he noticed nothing? Just nothing during her pregnancy and after giving birth?

About her, did she never consult a medical doctor during her pregnancy, never thinking about what she will do with her baby after giving birth? 

I don't understand what is going on in the brain of these people.

I see nothing wrong this what this owner and his wife did.

Smashing the windshield of their getaway vehicle with his golf club so they could not drive away is a pretty good idea. To fend off burglars with a bug spray, why not?

Unfortunately in Japan there are some very serious violent family issues going on and it is not only between husband and wife. Japanese people are often living too near to each other I think. In this case 30 year old son still living with his 58 year old father, and obviously also the grandmother is living in the same house. Not enough space to avoid each other.

Unemployed - seems also to be a major reason for acting in a crazy way.

While Japan is really safe for foreigners like myself, violent disputes with family members or with co-workers are frequently reported in the daily news.

This man is dangerous, a madman. No normal person is doing this. Something must be wrong within his brain. He should never be released, a case for a secure mental ward.

YeahRightToday 08:24 am JST

I'm surprised it isn't higher.

I also think it is higher than 39 percent.

This survey is too small, questioning only 20,000 people in all Japan and receiving a response from 54.4 percent will hardly produce conclusive results.

Such a study should include also the age of those people being questioned and how many of them are men and women.

24.6 percent mentioned 'bereavement of a family member'. This indicates that mostly elderly people were asked for their opinion who likely lost their spouse.

Not much what police can do now. Most of the money is likely gone to somewhere, and after a while in prison they will be deported.

About these people who ordered such fake documents from them, police might try to find and arrest those who are still in Japan, deport them, banned to enter Japan, hopefully for always.

This is an endless job, arrest and deport a few foreign criminals, and others will enter Japan and replace them within a week or so.

Horrible crime, but for what? If you are 45 y/o and you have a dispute with your mother and sister, just stay away from them, live your own life. Best is maybe to move to another city. Enjoy your life somewhere else.

Both are now dead and he will stay in prison for many years. What a crazy man.

wallaceMay 6 10:19 am JST

Many Japanese make fly tipping to isolated locations to dump fridges, washing machines, and even cars. I saw that in isolated mountains in Nagano. Also, long river banks.

In our Hyogo location, such items, except cars, are collected every month for free of charge. When I walk along the river sides, there is always trash. Bento boxes. Drink cans. We do not have tourists.

I can only agree with your comment.

We are living in Okayama-ken, next to Hyogo-ken, outside of the cities. Fly tipping of car tires, furniture, car batteries, fridges, old TV-sets etc. can be seen in many places along streets in the forest area. Garbage like pet-bottles, bento boxes is often thrown away in small parks, or behind shrines etc.

It's done by local Japanese people living within this area, not by foreign tourists.

There are no foreign tourists in the place where I am living and I have never heard of a foreign tourist fly tipping a large fridge, mattresses, futons and broken office chairs in Japan.

I do not understand this really, garbage collection is very good organized in Okayama. About large pieces of trash, just call the ward office, they give you a number and date and tell you how much, you have to buy a 'big trash coupon' in convenient stores (very cheap, mostly yen 200,- to 500 yen) and fix it on the trash item and bring it in front of your home at that date and somebody will come and pick it up.

If you want to bring your trash yourself to the recycling center by car it will be collected free of charge.

A 39-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman, it is sad to read how young people die, for what?

Ex-husband already. If you cannot live together, leave, look around and meet other people, start a new life.

Happy couple, still living together, got into an argument.

Ex-husband 81 y/o stabbed by ex-wife 80 y/o with a sashimi knife (which has a rather long blade) and he survived, as she said, she did not intend to kill him.

How will this case continue? Suspended sentence I guess.

Japan has sometimes really strange and lenient laws regarding sentencing people for committing serious crimes.

Suspended sentences for parents for hiding the decapitated head of a person who was killed by their daughter at their home?

Why did they not call police immediately?

TaiwanIsNotChinaToday 07:26 am JST

I would think you would be charged with being an accomplice if you help hide the evidence of a crime.

In this case surely yes, I think so too.

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14967060

July 27, 2023 

Police also found that the daughter and her father had purchased a saw and a suitcase in Sapporo. They believe these items were used in the incident.

sakurasukiToday 06:58 am JST

He need cross an island to go from Miyasaki to Kagawa that but he made it, somehow.

I was surprised when I read this.

Checking it out this route is doable past midnight but you must drive your own car approx. 180 km from Miyazaki to Oita and use the daily car ferry leaving 07:00 from Saganoseki/Oita to Misaki/Shikoku. You will arrive at Misaki Port already at 08:10. - From there to Kagawa/Takamatsu it is approx. 220 km by car.

Miyazaki Prefectural Police have arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of kidnapping a minor he met on a social networking site.

Providers of social network sites should be obliged to check the age of people signing up.

Adults only 18+, no minors accepted.

I am unsure however as to handle it by internet - by a copy of a driving license, MyNumber card or maybe by a creditcard?

owzerToday 08:51 am JST

I know that technically it’s kidnapping – legally, but chances are she went willingly.

I can only advice men when in private contact (regardless over the internet or personally) with a young female to verify her age. Insist on contacts 18+ only and not only in Japan. As an adult male with a minor female you might find yourself in deep trouble if parents or anybody else objecting this and is reporting it to police.

In case of sex, it might be statutory rape, in case the man moves away with her to another location, it might be statutory kidnapping - regardless if the minor female consents willingly or not.

>

daikakaMay 5 12:39 am JST

...the nature of stalkers, they never stop until they get everything they want. If it is not murder it will be rape or some other grave bodily injury. Warnings have never stopped stalkers and never will. Removal from society is the only way to protect society.

Warnings should be always in written form, not verbally.

However what should police really do - and such cases are not so rare - if the victim is reporting a stalker after a dispute, but when asked to show up for further investigation is refusing to do so - claiming they reconciled...

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/crime-courts/20250505-252813/

It is always good to listen to arguments from both sides.

In this article police explains what happened according to their reports.

It is not really true, that police did 'nothing', however police officers underestimated the danger.

But what should police really do?

In November 2024 the case was closed, as she claimed they reconciled.

Urged to come to the police station for further questioning, but she refused...

A missing bicycle but found again, a broken window glass however more broken glass outside than inside...

The police verbally warned Shirai at that time but closed the case in November, when they confirmed that the couple had reconciled.

> However, after the relationship ended again, Okazaki reported Shirai’s stalking to the police station nine times 

> “We urged Okazaki to come to the police station so we could verify the facts, but she refused,” a prefectural police official said. “We judged that she did not want police intervention.”

> Dec. 10, said, “[Shirai] would not return my bicycle.” The police accepted a report of bicycle theft on Dec. 16. On Jan. 24, the bicycle was found near Shirai’s house, 

> “My granddaughter hasn’t come home. The window was broken, and it might have been done by her former boyfriend to take her away.”

The police reportedly explained to the grandmother that there were more glass fragments outside than inside, suggesting the glass might have been broken from inside. They took photos but did not collect fingerprints.

Good summary. However I miss some information about what will happen in case you are getting ill, or if you need regular medication.

What about medical care while in detention? What about elderly people?

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250504_02/

Somehow more information about this case, in English, with video and pictures of him and her.

It depends on these eight injured students, how this case will continue. Some students did not even know her.

However luckily for them (and her too), no one of these students was really seriously injured. I wonder, if they are willing to show up and to testify against her in the court room. If they do not show up, this case might be considered as closed.

Of course she will be expelled from the university due to her behavior, but otherwise?

According to police, Taiga Horii, an administrative scrivener, met the girl through a social networking site (SNS) last July, Sankei Shimbun reported.

In most similar cases the first contact is related to social networking sites.

I don't know what exactly internet providers could do to ban minors under the age of 18 to sign up with such services.

This girl could never meet this man face to face without signing up using those internet dating sites and their messaging services.

Police said Horii has admitted to the allegation and quoted him as saying, “I did it to satisfy my sexual desire."

This man is an idiot. Whenever you find any contact with a female for sex make sure she is at least 18 year old.

There is no shortage of women everywhere in Japan who are 18+ and will offer sex against some money.

The father of the baby is unknown.

It should be possible to find out who is this person, likely somebody living not far away from her home.