Chikan (Train groping)
In Japan, more than 4000 men are arrested each year for groping on public transport.- In 2001, a survey of two private high-schools in Tokyo revealed that more than 70% had been groped on the train.
- A recent survey of Japanese companies suggested that at least 17% of Japanese women have been groped in public.
Police crackdown
The mid-1990s brought a nationwide police crackdown on train gropers. Plain-clothes police officers were assigned to the worst affected trains during rushhour. Advertising campaigns gave advice to women who thought they were being molested: to thrust the offending hand in the air and yell “Chikan!” (”Groper!”).
Unfortunately, this hasn’t emboldened many Japanese women. Surrounded by strangers, most women would rather pretend nothing unusual is happening than create a scene. Gropers exploit this, and pick their victims carefully.
Some of the “victims” aren’t so innocent, and false accusations of groping are increasing. The shame associated with chikan makes it possible for especially enterprising young women to blackmail fellow train users.
Faced with a hysterically shrieking woman, most men are willing to be led to the nearest ATM and part with large sums of money (US$3000 isn’t uncommon).
Women Only Carriages
An obvious solution to the problem is to introduce a “Gropers Only” carriage, and then the randy little tykes might fondle each other to death.
Instead, “Women Only” carriages have been introduced at peak times on the most crowded lines. A guard is usually present to enforce this, politely telling any man who fails to read the pink sign to get in a different carriage with all the other perverts.
Generally, this has alleviated the problem, but there has been an unexpected side- effect. Any woman who finds herself outside the rosy sanctum of the “Women Only” car is viewed as fair game. After all, if she didn’t want her intimate parts mauled, she wouldn’t be there!
The behaviour of women in the safe zone has also drawn complaints. Momentarily freed from the rigid sexist expectations of Japanese society, a carriage of OLs can adjust their make-up and prattle away on their phones as much as they like, drawing complaints from other passengers.
The Groper’s Brotherhood
Meanwhile, what of the gropers? Who’s thinking about the degenerates? All they ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being. On the buttocks, or maybe on the breasts. Is that a crime?
Fortunately, help is at hand. You need look no further than Shigeru Oohori: “elite salariman”, loving husband/father, and head of “Chikan Tomo-No-Kai” (”The Groper’s Brotherhood”). He has assembled a 40-strong group of deviants from all walks of life, including teachers, government officials and a Buddhist priest (Buddhism seems to have an ambiguous attitude to molesting strangers in public places). Not just any horny freak can join though: a black belt 5th dan groper is expected to cop 100 sleazy feels a month.
According to Oohori, gropers come in two main categories. “Orthodox” gropers, about 80% of the fondling population, get their kicks from the girl’s look of disgust and embarrassment. The “Technician” is a rarer and far more admirable breed. With practiced technique, they subtly titillate their gropees into a state of subconscious arousal.
This chikan elite meet once a month in a Tokyo café to touch base and play with some new ideas. Over the internet, they warn each other of police crack-downs on certain train-lines. They even run practical mauling workshops, hiring girls to be bothered by them on crowded commuter trains, and offering criticism and tips.
There are special ” image clubs” (imekura) catering for chikan, with tailor-made rooms built to look like subway carriages, and prostitutes paid extra to act like unsuspecting commuters.
In the words of their sensei: “Groping was once a solitary activity, but now thanks to the Internet it’s become easy to link up with people who share the same kind of sexual interests.”
- ‘Japanese man publicly fights grope charge’ (The Christian Science Monitor)
- ‘Tokyo trains tackle groping problem’ (BBC News)
- How to Protect Yourself from Chikan
- ‘Minimising molestation’
- ‘Japan Tries Women-Only Train Cars to Stop Groping’ (ABC News)
- The His and Hers Subway
- ‘Women-Only Cars on Commuter Trains Cause Controversy in Japan’ (Kansas City Star)
- ‘Chikan-ery’ (ConbiniBento.com)
- ‘Grope-free commute’ (Salon.com)
- ‘Japan Out To Catch Train Gropers’ (AP)
- Molested girls pay back perverts (MDN WaiWai)
“When Sunday Mainichi interviewed 30 high school girls in Shibuya, every single one admitted to being attacked by these predatory perverts”
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27 Comments, Comment or Ping
Kurow
WTF? Groper brotherhood? Damn this japs are organized for EVERYTHING… Lucky them, ja ja j a
Mar 13th, 2008
@college
My god… Isn’t groping bloody wrong? How the hell do they have the guts to do it, organize clubs, coordinate events and thereby extend their fetish further?
Apr 20th, 2008
asdfafsdaf
Japanese man publicly fights grope charge’ (The Christian Science Monitor) that should read ‘The Garbage Science Monitor’, a news website filled with fannatical two – faced imbeciles.
Apr 22nd, 2008
XD
sick!, 4000 men arrested a year!
according to a firend of mine… this doesn’t happen only trains, but also in buses, libraries, public bathhouses, parking lots, buddhist shrines(during festivals when its so crowded)
what’s japan becoming?
2-5yrs from now?
there’s something definitely wrong with their social morality
Apr 22nd, 2008
tom
thare was 1 article that called for a groppers only carriage now i think this carriage or 2 more likely but we would have no females in thare to grope or a load of promiscuous jail bait so that idea will not work if you ask me but it even with a load of promiscuous jail bait it might be a step forward cause they will not solve this problem with out makeing an even worse problem a new mob outfit trust me the Japaneses do not want to fund organized crime so any wiling participants who get into the groppers only carriage would be doing everyone else a favor as they the gropers wont go to jail for thare deeds and encourage them to do only partake in this dirty pleasure on the groppers only carriage and save all orther females the trauma
but what if we have no willing females then we have a load of foreigners coming to japan for this dirty pleasure and no will females it would only increase the problem so if this is the only solution to this problem they will have analyze the the effects carefully and i say use this solution as a last resort cause it is somewhat of a step backwards acceptance of the problem not a solution in my view it is better to accept a problem as is than to solve it by creating a far more serious problem
May 15th, 2008
dman
i say they are bold to grop girls in public i want to go to japan i ride the train to see if some1 will get groped in public and see is the pasengers on the train will say anny thing
Jul 24th, 2008
Grace
Some Japanese dude tried to grope me when I was walking up from a subway in Shinjiku. I told him to F*** Off so loudly, he ran off like a little schoolboy.
Oct 3rd, 2008
loonbohol
Speaking of “gropers only carriage”. we’ll that statement actually destroys i’ts own purpose. You see there are no women who would wan’t to ride in the first place. Oh! Yeah we’ll I can agree that that could be the place where the Groper’s Brotherhood can meet.
I would also agree that the Japanese substation in one of the 1000 places that you have to see before you die.
Nov 20th, 2008
BLZ
loonbohol : “I would also agree that the Japanese substation in one of the 1000 places that you have to see before you die.”
Me : I’ll make it on the top 5
Nov 27th, 2008
SCRT
LOL, the “chikan” sounds like “chicken”
anyway, i also feel angry to the men what have they done
Dec 17th, 2008
lol
whatever, this is my fetish.
Dec 19th, 2008
...hairyballsack
lol same i wish i lived in japan i seen a vid on youtube with ppl getin jamed in the train u couldn’t even move an inch what kind of desperate person wouldn’t grab sum ass i would BANZAI TO PERVERTS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Jan 31st, 2009
danen
im only 13 but this is sick it’s my dream to go to japan but i dont think want to go now also., im a dude
Feb 3rd, 2009
Love Japanese's pussies
I pretty much have seem a lots of this. But in Japan Society, men are pretty much a sicko.
they are PERVERTED OR “Hentai” in japanese. Chikan are used mostly for the molester bastard. ok back to the hentai part.
These guys fucking love raping. when they see some chick walking alone at night or anywhere. they will just pull the girl in the car or move them to a small hole between the building and rape them. I have seen bunch of these shit. they seem like a fucking scavenger. if u are a girl don’t go to Japan!! if u wanna go, go with a guy or a group of girls with atlease 2 guys. cuz there are always some troublesome people who will just force you to go with them and give you a gang bang. Also forgot to mention “DONT WEAR SKIRT!!” i’ll show you an example. just go to Youtube and type in “Japanese panty raider” just hear the sound of it is quite a chilly already. lol just check it out. i hate Japanese men.
Feb 10th, 2009
Emily
14, female here. I still want to go to Japan… And give any gropers what they deserve.
Feb 23rd, 2009
dfgfdfd
Someone tried to grope me before. Gave him hell but he still kept trying so I punched him hard making him run away since other passengers were telling him to Foff
Feb 27th, 2009
vaxetihirr
if you get some perverted little hentai grabbing your ass on the subway then all you need to do is grab his balls and squeeze really hard. they’ll stop really quickly I think!
Mar 2nd, 2009
John
Despite the groping on crowded trains women in Japan are much safer than in most other countries. My wife is Japanese and I wouldn’t like her to be alone late at night in many places but in Japan it’s generally okay. And at least the crazies in Japan can’t go to the corner store and buy automatic weapons then kill a dozen random people like in some other ‘civilised’ and ‘God fearing’ societies. Now that really is sick!
Apr 16th, 2009
Johnzkee92
godfcking otaku’s who jack off to anime’s are responsible for this, can’t believe it, they can’t control their urge for flesh and even having that brotherhood bullsh!t
May 16th, 2009
LOl15
OMFG I want to so beat the fuck out of those gropers. If you a girl and someone tries to grope just hit in the nut sack REAL HARD and his going to be on his knee begging for his life lol.
Jun 13th, 2009
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