Is 'groping' the new lingua franca? An Indonesian woman’s first-hand experience with groping in Japan - Source text from Ruri Koumarunagi, Translator: Ana Badica

Translated from: https://shueisha.online/articles/-/252258

Article:

As inbound tourism continues to garner popularity, visitors from Canada and England are being warned against the rising threat of groping (also known as chikan in Japanese) on Japan’s nationwide railway service. This article delves into the impact that this shameful act can have on tourists who come to Japan.

 Is groping becoming the new normal?

According to a survey conducted by the Cabinet Office in July 2024, 1 in 10 Japanese young fall victim to groping on trains or other public places.

Groping or molestation are known to be serious social issues in Japan, but it seems that the foreign public is also becoming increasingly aware of the problems Japanese society has been facing.

In France, a book titled TCHIKAN, recounting a Japanese woman's harrowing experiences of enduring daily sexual harassment from her middle school years for six years, has sparked significant attention. At last, stigma is being attached to the word “chikan” (i.e. the Japanese translation for ‘groping’ or ‘molestation’).

I was able to speak with an Indonesian woman about her story about becoming the victim of groping while taking a train.

The 'revolting' experience suffered by a young woman 

An Indonesian woman’s experience with being molested in a country she held deep admiration for. Sari (this name is a pseudonym given to protect the identity of the young victim) is a 24-year old Indonesian woman who arrived in Japan in June of last year after obtaining a skilled worker visa, designed to allow foreign nationals to work in the Japan in industries experiencing labour shortages. She now works at a restaurant in Tokyo.

Sari said she has loved Japanese anime and manga since she was a student, and was "really excited about" her visit to Japan. She shared with me not only the raw details of the harrowing experience she endured in a country she “held deep admiration for”, but also explained the circumstances in which it occurred.

“I became a victim around March of this year. I was sightseeing in Tokyo with some of my friends, who were also from Indonesia. It must have been around 9am and our train to Akihabara, which is well known to be the best place to find anime merch, had become quite crowded. It wasn’t incredibly crammed, but people were huddled quite closely. Japanese trains are still equipped with straphangers, and I was gripping the one in front of me and trying not to get separated from my friends when I suddenly felt someone touch the areas around my bottom and my chest. At first I thought I was imagining it, so I didn’t pay that much attention, but my friends noticed what was going on and became increasingly uncomfortable.”

Sari continued: “This entire situation lasted about two minutes as we got off at the next stop, but as it turns out, both we and the perpetrator exited the train at the same time. My friends, who had seen the entire thing, decided to pay some quid pro quo and stepped on the perpetrator’s feet in retaliation. The perpetrator didn’t pay them too much attention and just took their leave silently... After that, my friends pointed out what had actually happened, so that is when I realized that I had been molested. I think my brain just shut down with the shock of that realization and so I acted as if nothing had happened. When I look back upon the entire situation, my body reacts as if I am feeling the perpetrator’s rough breath on the skin of my back, and my body freezes with panic. It was truly revolting.”

Sari smiled to me as if to hide her feelings despite the painful situation she endured. This vile practice extends its insidious reach, preying most on those with a deep passion for Japanese culture who arrive in Japan full of curiosity and enthusiasm.

I spoke with Takayuki Harada, a professor at the University of Tsukuba who is an expert on criminal psychology, including the issue of molestation, about its causes and the reality of molestation overseas. “The word chikan has definitely become more well-known in recent years and the problem of molestation in Japan has also grown in severity and I believe one of the main causes is purely the physical aspect of an abnormally crammed train - which has become the normality in Japan. In particular, trains in urban areas of Japan are some of the most crowded in the world. I used to live in Los Angeles in the US, where cars are the main means of transportation, so incidents of sexual harassment were unheard of there, and many people were surprised to hear that sexual harassment is so common in Japan.

Moreover, one could argue that the book in France created such uproar because molestation doesn’t happen that often there in the first place. But groping does not happen only in Japan anymore; both in Asia and Europe, you hear of more and more victims coming out to tell their story. Molestation doesn’t happen just in trains anymore either, but has begun to happen in other crowded places as well, such as music festivals or nightclubs.” - Takayuki Harada

As numbers of foreign tourists coming to Japan continue to soar, so does awareness of molestation-related incidents occurring in crowded trains and it continues to shock foreigners who weren’t familiar with this pervasive issue taking place in Japanese society.

It’s also important to understand the psychology of a perpetrator and what triggers their behaviour.

Professor Takayuki Harada explained: “Of course, the crowded train is not the only cause that triggers this behaviour. What also allows them to act in this way is because a large portion of the victims feel ashamed or afraid and they end up not calling the police on the perpetrator. The perpetrator takes advantage of the victim’s overwhelming fear because they know there is little risk for them to be exposed. But in the case of tourists, since they come from very different cultures, the perpetrator cannot know how they will react, so it seems that most perpetrators try to target Japanese people and not foreigners as they have a better understanding of how the minds of their victims work.”

In an online survey conducted in March of 2024 by the Cabinet Office, the three most common reactions of the victims are listed as follows: 42.7% reported that “it happened in the span of a moment so I couldn’t do anything”, 32.5% reported that “I was so scared that my body simply refused to move” and 30.3% reported that “I muscled through it.”

When asked about how an Indonesian might react to groping, Sari said: “I think a lot of people would be so shocked and afraid that their body would freeze up and they wouldn’t be able to move.”

In some countries, there may be a greater tendency for victims to raise their voices and seek help from those around them. However, there is no doubt that groping is a serious crime that can cause significant trauma to the victim.

The issue of groping in Japan, which many Japanese people fall victim to on a daily basis, cannot be ignored. If left unchecked, not only will it damage Japan's image internationally, but it could also lead to an increase in victims like Sari-san, who genuinely love Japan and Japanese culture.