The Strange , Unexplainable, Down Right Wrong Things Youve Seen In Japan

[akeenan]

Ok firstly this thread is not meant to be a Japan / Japanese bashing / shit talking thread.

please dont post NON strange , unexplainable and or wrong things youve seen in Japan.

EG. there were a lot of vending machines everywhere

Id like to hear and Im sure many other forum users would like to hear (especially from the residents), stories youve heard or that have happened to you which pretty much had you wondering, shocked, disgusted etc etc

Japan is known as a beautiful, weird and wonderful country. But does the world really know what it can be like?

About 3 years ago I was travelling to a friends house by train (using the Ginza line). It was the middle of winter. Outside was cold inside the train was hot.

I was sitting in the closet seat to the door, to my right a middle aged woman, to my left the bar.

Id been sitting there for a while(possibly 5/6 stops). I was waiting patiently for the train to arrive at Shinbashi. Looking around the train, reading the advertisments inside the train etc . .

It was at this time I noticed the man who had been standing diagonally left from where I was sitting on the opposite side of the train next to the bar in the doorway

His face was sweating profusely, he looked a little agitated, however was standing up straight not leaning against the wall or bar. He had been standing there longer than I had been on the train.

I found it strange that he was sweating as much as he was because it was the middle of winter. Anyways I thought nothing of it ....

It was at this point i noticed the bottom of his right leg and the floor. Blood had been dripping from his leg and been dropping onto the floor. So much so that a small pool was starting to form on the floor around his feet. He was losing a lot of blood for some strange and unexplainable reason yet he continued to stand up straight, totally ignoring what was happening, doing nothing but sweating.

Other people on the train had noticed but offered no help, and kept looking/ ignoring this strange man and his bloody leg.

I too kept looking and wondering wtf was going on or had just happened to this man

I got off a couple of stations later with the man still standing at the door

[m3gtr]

That IS wierd.

What do you think was wrong with him>? Was he stabbed or something?

[akeenan]

I have no idea. I felt guilty once I got off the train for not asking if he needed help. But i figure if he needed help he wouldnt have been standing up and maybe would have asked someone.

[Rezz]

This probably isn't so weird because it involves manga/anime otaku, but I'll give it a shot.

I live on Port Island which is a man made island with lots of cargo ship facilities and residential/commercial mixed in.

Anyway, the Kobe international conference hall is on Port Island and once a year they hold some Anime festival which attracts weirdos from all over.

(I walk past the place to get to the supermarket so every Sunday I get to see what events are held there.) As per usual theres about 1,000 geeks dressed up in their costumes with an army of photographers taking pics at random. About 99% of the photographers were well behaved but as I go to walk on the overpass there's this guy with a video camera kneeling behind this chick with the camera right up her skirt! Like, the camera was only just visible under the maids uniform lacey skirt thing. The girl is just standing there with a "ho-hum" look on her face while this sicko is filming. I stopped and looked directly at her but she wouldn't make eye contact. The guy was oblivious to everything and kept it going for another 30 seconds or so. She just sort of reluctantly let the guy do as he pleased... wtf.

With that I thought "F**k this" and went off to buy the groceries.

Edited July 22, 2008 by Rezz

[akeenan]

nice one rezz

ok my next one

last summer

I was on my way to work, transfered in shibuya to the odakyu line. for those who arent in tokyo you have to go up a rather large escalator to get to the ticket gates.

On my way to the escalator I was walking behind a rather attractive young lady in a very short skirt. We were both walking in the same direction obviously she was using the odakyu line as well.

Anyways I am walking a little bit behind her and as I am about to get onto the escalator a guy a little older than myself... maybe 30 cut me off to ride the escalotor as well. He totally changed his walking direction as soon as he saw this girl.

Shes walking up the escalator.. all of a sudden he stops kneels down and is trying to look up his skirt... all the people on the left hand side of the escalator dont say anything.. so I walk up behind him and spoil his party telling him not to do it...(rather rudely)

She has no idea what has just happened and is continuing to walk up the escalator.. the guy moves further up the escalator.... i guess to get away from me and as she was just at the top and about to get off he leans down and does it again... I storm up the escalator, just as he gets off i grab him (in rush hour, people everwhere) yelling "I told you not to do that you bastard" and hit him square in the face. He falls to the ground and I continue on to get my train. Everyone was shocked not knowing what to do and this girl had no idea what had just happened made my day.

my first and only violent inccident in Japan

[hiroshima]

hahaha good 1 mate

ive seen stuff like this going down but hav just been too young

to do anything. would hav loved to see his face after u punched

him. good work!!!!

[m3gtr]

The first and only Akeenan?

Hmmm...

I recall something in my first year here in Japan. A bit long winded but bare with me...

A friend of mine who I met in Oz had returned from his working holiday and we hooked up in Yokohama and had a bit of a chat about whats going on, how life is...the usual.

The subject turns to Matsuri ( festivals ) and he mentions a Mikoshi Matsuri ( shrine festival ) thats being held in Asakusa ( the Sanjya Matsuri ) and its apparently a really big deal in Tokyo. I had little idea except for the really heavy portable shrines they carry around in these events...and that was about it.

It turns out that Tomo has some...how should i put this...seedier than usual connections. I always likened him to a chimpira but it turns out he was a little more than that and i had no idea. Arrangements were made and i met him and one of his buddies at the station and hes got this package for me. Inside is the full kit - a pair of Tabi, a happi and not least of all, a fundoushi. This kit basically consists of a pair of shoes, a robe and a ...*cough* nappy ( bright red by the way )

I strip off in a toilet and Tomos in there getting this crazy nappy wrapped around me and i was thinking "What the f**k is going on with this thing?" On goes the robe and the shoes. That was it apparently. Id forgotten how uncomfortable a nappy can be...

Then he hands me a green bandanna and now im part of the "team"...whatever that team was i didnt know.

I meet the "crew"

- these guys looked hard as f**k and i have to admit i was a little intimidated at first but intros were made and beer soon came and we were chatting - me with very bad Japanese and they with patchy English. Fun enough. One guy had a plaster cast from an...altercation the month before. He participated regardless.

Im wandering around soaking it all up. Theres guys with missing pinky fingers everywhere and im not kidding. Ive never seen so many hands with one digit missing in the same place, ever. I knew i was in deep with guys i wouldnt want to mess with. Being gaijin actually kept me on a different level and away from the trouble that broke out frequently. There were fights going on here, there, everywhere. It was madness. So much energy was buzzing through the 2 square blocks we were located in it was palpable... and it hadnt even started yet!!

Heres an example...

The "event" kicks off with a jostling challenge with some guy standing on a platform screaming at the two teams to go for it and see who is the strongest and worthy of carrying the mikoshi first!! It was crazy i tell you. You have never seen anything like it. It was like this massive brawl broke out and there were people everywhere wrestling and some throwing punches to get "control" of this portable shrine!

There were people EVERYWHERE - body to body and thrashing, writhing, chanting, sweating, screaming, dancing block after block. I was in the middle of this.

SO RE, SO RE, SO RE

There were police but they stuck to the sides of the street and didnt even get in the way. They just stood there and watched! I distinctly remember women coming up to this pulsing throng of people, 3 month old baby in hand dancing around as the mikoshi passed within centimetres of her. Pure madness. So much energy...ive never felt anything like it. It was almost indescribable. On at least 4 occassions i found myself under this 2 tonne mikoshi straining against a massive tide of shifting weight. It was really frightening but the rush of adrenaline quickly made me forget that.

Seriously, you can die at these things. One wrong move and the thing will crush at least a dozen people. Its happened before. I was pressed against a wall a number of times and was too charged up to seriously panic.. The proximity to immovable solid objects and this massive moving bouncing mikoshi was intimidating, to put it lightly.

This went on for an hour at least. I dont recall when it finished but we circulated a couple of blocks and doubled back down one way streets a couple of times. The mikoshi was HEAVY. I cant explain how this crushing weight didnt give me an injury but people are subbing in and out all the time...girls too. You have to ride the flow of the bounce otherwise you get a crushing pile of downward force from the mikoshi meeting your shoulder as its coming up.

Not pleasant. It hurt. A lot.

Heres me in the sandwich. The expressions say it all.

Soon after this, I ended up in a very awkward position. I was moving in the queue right behind one of the craziest tattooed people ive ever seen. The guy directly in front of me was HARDCORE. Full body iruzumi...all colour. Sleeve cut. Left pinkie missing. He had these massive bulges on either side of his neck that looked to me like tennis ball sized mounds of black pus. It turns out these were a by product of his training for das like this!!!

Im behind this guy, cant move, being slightly suffocated by the sheer weight of the proximity to the people around me - the heat was choking and here's this guy, the scariest looking human ive come across and ive got a hand on his back trying to support myself! Its hard to find the words when I reflect on the experience. I was lucky, i suppose.

We had to carry the mikoshi to a certain spot where rituals were performed and under the Mikoshi, we did a couple of circles and then a different chant was thrown out and with that, it was finally put down on the ground. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted.

It was simply a massive orgy of unadulterated, unbridled energy that was channeled somehow into transporting this behemoth of a shrine in weight a few streets but the effort we all expended getting it there was huge. I have never and will never again probably experience anything like it for the rest of my life...and thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Its an experience many have said i was extremely fortunate to experience and one i will never forget.

At the end, were all talking in little pockets, people from green and orange, like nothing had just taken place, like the end of a football game had just been sounded...and the iruzumi man comes over with his mate.

It turns out Tomo knows him and introduces me to him. He speaks English, somewhat broken English and asks my name. I reply and comment on the magnificent tattoo. It truly was a work of art. The price for this type of work he said was incredible and not just anyone can get this done to them. All i was wondering was what i was going to say next in the hope i didn't offend him. I needn't have worried. He asked me where i was from and i replied "Australia."

"Australia?", he said and i wasnt sure if he hated me for being an Australian in Japan...but...

"I like Australia! Nice people. Good food. I visit sometimes. But customs stops me all the time and searches my bags. I dont understand."

Im speechless and let out a sigh of relief that i am in fact safe and will not die today and that he likes Oz. It was a good sign.

[Laurence]

not much of a story... saw a man on a phone on the platform, noticed he was quietly crying... express came past, loud noise... man was gone.

[infamous_t]

not much of a story... saw a man on a phone on the platform, noticed he was quietly crying... express came past, loud noise... man was gone.

damn.

[Rezz]

not much of a story... saw a man on a phone on the platform, noticed he was quietly crying... express came past, loud noise... man was gone.

What station?

[Laurence]

What station?

Sugimotocho... there is a rail the entire length of the platforms on the side the expresses pass now. So they effectively changed it from a 4 platform station to a 2 platform station.

[akeenan]

m3gtr nice story! the ive been to that festival before.

laurence hehe , poor guy. did you get to where you were going on time?

I think 2 years ago in Tokyo a youngish lady was talking on her phone and this annoyed an old lady so the old lady got up and pushed her off the platform onto the tracks ... no train though.

[m3gtr]

Ive also seen a fatality on the lines.

The Nambu line in Tokyo, which runs from Tachikawa to Kawasaki was a line i used for a year while i was transferring for work in 2006.

I remember one day the train suddenly hit the skids and we all jolted forward, the train itself, or at least my carriage, stopping just past the crossing.

People were standing around looking confused until we heard the sound of sirens and sure enough, a guy had walked right into the oncoming path of the train, spraying him all over the place.

The medical crews and police come around to the left hand side of the car i was on and sure enough, there was the mangled body of the dude, down and to the right of where i was looking out the window.

It was the most graphic mutilation ive ever witnessed firsthand.

I spewed when i got to work that day.

[cereal]

One thing that really gets me is the ultra-nationalists. They are an embarrassment to this country and no one does anything to stop them.

They have been going nuts this week due to the anniversary of the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Driving past the US Embassy 3 or 4 times a day.

Earlier this afternoon, the biggest bunch of them I have ever seen were protesting down the street from the Korean Embassy. They were much more aggressive than any I have seen before; Revving their cars at the police and one of them even hit the barricade which the police use to block them from reaching the Embassy.

[akeenan]

jesus. that pisses me off .

[Rezz]

lol @ Chevy van driven by Uyoku... har har, at least be consistent

[m3gtr]

There was an article recently, in the Metropolis, about these muppets.

Theyre the scourge against all things multicultural in Japan.

Apparantly, the whole purpose of these chimps is to f**k things up in the name of the emperor.

Anyone who speaks against teh Emps has either been bashed, stabbed or even capped.

One of the cities mayors spoke against the Emp and he wound up nearly fatally shot...

f**king muppets.

[Rezz]

Retarded drving move #87,568:

Was heading east along the "Harbour Highway" raised tolled expressway which is part of the Osaka wangansen. It's two levels the whole way from Kobe to Osaka so it's 3 lanes either way most of its length. Where it starts in Kobe though it's only two lanes either way, with the left hand lane having exits every 2km or so.

Anyway, I'm in the lower tier two laned section and we're going around 100 - 110km/h (marked as 60km/h lol) when we come up to a straight section. I can see ahead and theres an exit turn off at the end of the straight section before it bend around to go to Rokko Island. LO AND BEHOLD we have to come to an abrupt halt about 100m from the exit. I'm in the righthand lane and I want to go straight ahead dammit! Why are both lanes stopped?

Turns out there's this old guy in a Crown trying to jump the queue to the exit by driving right up to the point where it turns off and tried to do a suicide manuever and cut off a bigass truck. Truck driver thinks "Not on my watch asshole" and doesn't let him in... neither do the next 6 or so trucks behind him!! No shit, a line of 7 trucks (the looong fixed chassis type) are all bumper to bumper not letting this old guy in. So what does old guy do? He *GETS OUT* and flags down the first car following after the trucks and does the bowing "Moushiwakearimasen but can I please hop in front of you" regretful request.

This whole time the old guys car is in the right lane unattended blocking us... I ccouldn't believe it. The whole thing only lasted 5 minutes or so but still, the nerve of that guy to hold up hundreds of cars on account of him not getting in the left lane until the very last second and then getting denied... how long has he been driving? Surely you learn your lesson after the first 63 times you get denied trying to jump queues?

Google street view: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=U...705100077547506

(happened right at that spot, the exit is up a bit on the left)

[sleeper_et]

Haha, good story Rezz.

I am surprised that you haven`t learnt that the older you get, the more you actually have the right to do stupid things.

I mean he has racked up a lot of driving experience in his years so he therefore has more right to use the road`s than everyone else and drive on them anyway he likes.

[cereal]

lol @ Chevy van driven by Uyoku... har har, at least be consistent

One of these pricks just went through a red light and almost ran me over!!

I was crossing at the "Team-Perfect" sign that's in the last couple of pics and two vans were at the barricade. One of them made a beeline straight for me and then stopped next to me with his megaphones blaring. Wouldn't wind the window down though... I'm more than slightly pissed off right now.