Below is an essay written by a fellow ALT in Himeji who became a victim of a favorite pasttime among perverted idiots in Japan: groping women and getting away with it. This is a disturbing look into just how very little respect women get in Japan, particularly foreign women who try to do something about their situation. Basically, she was groped in a convenience store. When she tried to pursue justice, she was lied to and harassed by the Himeji police department because she dared to inconvenience them with her problems. (In case you don't know this yet, the police in Japan don't really do much real police-type work.) I have included her essay unaltered. Please note that this is not my writing, so therefore it is not my personal opinions. If you want to read my potentially abrasive thoughts on this matter, I have written a bit below the following essay.
As a disclaimer, the purpose of this chapter of "Greg's Life" is to spread awareness of the horrible treatment of my friend. However, this is not meant to put the Himeji ALT program nor our supervisor in a bad light at all. I think he did his best to help her in this no-win situation. I have had a happy two years on the program and I would recommend it to anybody who has an interest in Japan, even women. Just keep in mind that neither foreign men nor women will have the same rights in Japan that we enjoy back home.
I'm writing this to inform you of a situation which concerns all of us in Japan. Despite the campaign of the last few years in Japan that "Touching Women's Bodies Is a Crime", many of us know from friends, relatives or our own experience that sexual crimes happen shockingly often in this country with an otherwise relatively low crime rate. Before my recent experience, I had no reason to believe that such a crime would be treated with anything other than propriety. But, I've been disillusioned.
On April 24th, in a Sunkus convenience store across the street from my house in Shirasagi Residence in Okamachi, Himeji, Hyogo-ken, while making color photo copies for my teacher, I was the victim of a sexual crime. The events that followed as I tried to deal with the police have left me shocked and dumbfounded at what I believe has been gross injustice and a mishandling of what could have been a simple report and investigation. I will take you through the events briefly, highlighting the weeks of meetings, phone calls, faxes, and extreme psychological stress the mishandling of this case created for me.
I reported the crime at the main Himeji Police Station immediately after work on the day of the crime. I described the man, his vehicle and the crime. An important detail in my report was that he went to the register and paid for his items after the crime. I was told I could follow up with an officer in a few days to find out the results of questioning the clerk (i.e. if the clerk remembers me, if the man was a regular customer, etc.) The next day, April 25th, an Okamachi police officer went to the store and asked two uninvolved part-time clerks about the incident. Having not been on duty during the crime they knew nothing. The police left and never returned or followed up in any substantial way until I wrote a formal letter of complaint to the Mayor of Himeji weeks later. There had been no substantial police activity despite the fact that there were at least 6 video cameras inside the store where the crime took place, along with my detailed description of the perpetrator's distinct physical features and vehicle.
I wrote the letter of protest to the Mayor of Himeji on May 16th, three weeks after the crime, after trying three separate times to get an update on the case from the Himeji Police Department. Two of the phone calls were even made by my supervisor at the Board of Education, Mr. Iizuka. The response from the police was always "No new information." The third phone call to the police station, the police seemed unaware of the case at all, so my friend who called for me in Japanese made another report in its entirety. Despite my phone calls, I was never contacted by the police or given one scrap of information.
The attitude of the police began to disturb me. I became suspicious that nothing had been done. Personally, I don't think that is acceptable from an agency paid to protect the public. I became concerned for my rights as a resident and a female. I carbon copied the letter to Mayor Horakawa to the US Consulate, the Police Department, my JET Prefectural Advisor and my Himeji Board of Education supervisor, Mr. Iizuka.
There were many resulting phone calls, meetings and upset people. Although I never heard from the Mayor, a series of meetings occurred between the police and my supervisor at the Board of Education. Two of the meetings I attended were May 27th and 28th with Mr. Iizuka in my home with a witness present to discuss the matter of my letter to the Mayor. At that time, five weeks had passed since the crime occurred. The second meeting May 28th was unpleasant. There was a pressured tone and implications made to problems I was causing for the police. I was questioned repeatedly by Mr. Iizuka as to why I felt the investigation had not been handled properly. I did not feel like I was being treated as the victim in the crime. I thought it was curious to be asked if I had returned to Sunkus to speak to the clerk. The "mediation" on behalf of the police did not go well. I made a request to Mr. Iizuka, my Board of Education supervisor that he no longer contact me regarding anything to do with my police report, as it was a conflict of interest. I sought guidance from the US Consulate by phone due to what I feel has amounted to harassment.
I am still upset about the case and it's mishandling, and even asked JET about my options to go home. However, JET was unable to release me without penalizing me financially, taking away my last paychecks if I left, and I would only be eligible for half of my pension refund. I reluctantly decide to stay and asked JET to help me get the facts of the investigation on my case from the police. My JET Prefectural Advisor, Mark Wuebbels, and Supervisor, Mr. Iizuka, met on my behalf with Vice-Commissioner Hirose of the Himeji Police Department and several other police representatives on June 3rd. In the resulting report written and explained to me by my Prefectural Advisor, a report in which Mr. Iizuka, a native Japanese speaker, read and approved as correctly reflecting the contents of the meeting, the following information was released:
The police stated that they sent police to reinvestigate the crime after my letter to the Mayor was written. They obtained the register tape from the date and time of the crime in order to create a purchasing "profile" of the criminal. The video system at the store was not useful because the video on the registers is a "live feed" and therefore did not record. The video system that did tape, did not record the area near the copy machine where the crime took place. The clerk did not remember my scream.
I thought this information particularly fishy and almost ridiculous. I had spoken to the clerk immediately following the crime, and felt he had to remember me. I went and spoke with the manager of the Sunkus myself. My close friend who is bilingual went with me. We confirmed with the manager of the store that the police had not returned after their initial stop by the store, nor were there any "live feed" video systems at the Sunkus. All cameras record, and they include the area by the copy machine. They do however, record over themselves after 7 days. No police ever requested to view the tapes.
Try as they might to distort the facts at hand, the chain of events, and to draw attention to the language barrier to explain discrepancies in the case, the truth cannot be changed even by the Himeji Police. Yet after another attempt to dissuade me from pursuing the truth of the investigation and with the knowledge of the police's deliberate fabrication, I became very concerned about my rights. I sought the advice of an attorney. My attorney was able to obtain statements almost immediately from the store manager about the timeline of the investigation and the store's video system. The clerk on duty during the crime was, in fact, first interviewed by the police June 1, 2002, approximately five and a half weeks after the crime took place.
Amazingly, once I retained an attorney, a somewhat more cooperative attitude and several instances of miraculous new investigative activities that "took place soon after the crime" began to surface. I decided to meet with the Police Vice-Commissioner, in the presence of my attorney and JET Prefectural Advisor. On June 18th, a picture of the "proper police procedure" was painted for us. Although dates that went along with the important components of the police activity timeline are not available to us, nor was I or any in my party ever permitted to see or obtain the police report. Furthermore, once my attorney was able to interview the manager of the Sunkus store regarding the video systems and timeline of police activity, the police Vice Commissioner, just two weeks after the meeting with Mr. Iizuka and my JET Prefectural Advisor, denied that they reported in that meeting June 3rd, that there were: "Two camera systems at the store…The camera on the registers was a live feed so no tape exists while the others cameras which do have a recording system don't record the area near the copy machine" (where the crime occurred). When asked to confirm what they heard, my Prefectural Advisor stands by his report as accurately reflecting contents of the meeting, while Mr. Iizuka states that he no longer remembers.
At every step of this process, I have been persuaded in one form or another to let this issue drop. I have been denied information from day one. Until I wrote a letter of protest to the Mayor of the City of Himeji, I believe no serious attention was given to this case at all. After I made someone in the public eye aware of their lack of competent response to the crime the facts were misrepresented not only to me but to my Prefectural Advisor and Supervisor so I would be persuaded to give up my inquiry into the police's investigation. If there was no evidence to gather, what could they have been expected to do?
But I believe there was evidence. The perpetrator stood in front of the cash register and paid for goods before leaving the store. What happened to me was real and was a crime. It's unfortunate that the police believed that it was not important enough to follow up on, and then later felt they had to create fabrications in order to cover their tracks. It's a sad reflection of police ethics, professionalism and attitudes to crime in Himeji.
Why am I making such a big deal? I believe crimes, those things perpetrated on people which violate their rights as human beings to live happily and healthily, should be taken seriously by organizations paid by the public to investigate them. I believe all nations, especially industrialized, democratic ones should guard their people's rights. And, I believe that residents should be able to question authorities without fear of repercussions of either non-protection, harassment, or injury to their reputation or themselves.
Although I don't have much of a case in a court of law in Japan, I certainly have a right and responsibility to notify as many people as I can about this situation. I think fear of scandal may be the only motivation for some deep rooted, institutionalized problems to come into the light and take a positive step towards reform in this country.
I believe you have a right to know what has been happening. If I were to continue to live here I would want to be informed of events like this. What I haven't addressed is the reason I believe the investigation was neglected. I have my own, very definite ideas, but I'm sure you are capable of forming your own opinions. Perhaps the Hell I've raised will do someone some good. As for me, I'm just all the more glad to go home to the United States, where while it's not a perfect place, at least I know my rights and those who violate them will be held accountable.
If you'd like to read more about other documented instances of this kind in Japan, please visit the Victim's Rights Abuse Protest page on the web at www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Denei/3053/home.html (the capitals must be typed exactly as they appear here to bring the page up). Web page available in English and Japanese.
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