Japanese team suspended over one member's supposed pot use

Oh and I also see the entire team is being required to do community service and submit to drug testing.

No bigee. They have to do that not because of marijuana per se but because the implied PED use would destroy recruiting for Nittai Daigaku for 100 years. Now it will just take 10 years for any hot high school prospect to choose that university because of this incident. The team aspect may seem strance outside Japan but it is ingrained from childhood around middle school. They are particularly disruptive as individuals "children" are forcibly molded into team players. By high school the transition has completed and all you think at about then are girls anyway.

I like the Full Metal Jacket commentary. I think I read something like that happened in December too, where a non-runner on a Japanese university team groped a girl on a subway and the whole team got suspended, the coach had to quit, etc. "Private Pyle has failed because I have failed....."

Any idea how the crime per capita in Japan compares to other nations? Seems like shaming all of your colleagues would be an effective deterent.

Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Studies show that national laws mandating equal per-pupil funding of secondary schools, mandatory residency (within a few Km) for teachers, police, fire, and emergency workers have contributed immensely to an orderly and safe society. These reforms were instituted during the Meiji Restoration (1870) when democracy was established and the feudal system abolished. Japan achieved 100% literacy in 1910, and still remains the only nation in the world to have accomplished total literacy.

That would be "violent crime"As far as gambling, prostitution, graft and corruption go, it is one of the worst in the world...e.g. Organized crime membershipUS - 5-10k members or traditional mafia; other gangs 30-50k hardcore members.Japan - 85k Yakuza at least...This myth that Japan is "safe" is true as long as you are 1) male and 2) economically self-sufficient.

Sociology wrote:

Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Studies show that national laws mandating equal per-pupil funding of secondary schools, mandatory residency (within a few Km) for teachers, police, fire, and emergency workers have contributed immensely to an orderly and safe society. These reforms were instituted during the Meiji Restoration (1870) when democracy was established and the feudal system abolished. Japan achieved 100% literacy in 1910, and still remains the only nation in the world to have accomplished total literacy.

Japan is not puritan and prostitution is for the most part ignored unless minors are involved. Many Russian, Ukranian, Israli, Polish, Hungarian, etc. sex workers abound as well as Filipino, Chinese and Thai. Yet Japan is the only country in the world where women and young girls can safely walk on the streets at night alone virually anywhere in the country. There is no country in the world where women and children are as safe. Japan pays the homeless and poor a handsome monthly stipend, thus economic crimes are very low. Murders are very low, less than 100 per year natioanlly in a typical year. There is no parole, only a minimum sentence, total restitution and studying of the sutras and other remedial subjects must be completed before release.

Off the Grid wrote:

This myth that Japan is "safe" is true as long as you are 1) male and 2) economically self-sufficient.

I just asked my Japanese wife, who lived for several years in both London and NYC, what she thinks about your quote here and she says, "This person is completely wrong. Japanese women can safely walk around alone at midnight almost anywhere." Being groped on the train as someone else mentioned above may be a different story, but in general day to day life it is very safe. I guess if you associate with gangsters and prostitutes it might be different, but I wouldn't know.

Brett in Tokyo wrote:

Off the Grid wrote:

This myth that Japan is "safe" is true as long as you are 1) male and 2) economically self-sufficient.

I just asked my Japanese wife, who lived for several years in both London and NYC, what she thinks about your quote here and she says, "This person is completely wrong. Japanese women can safely walk around alone at midnight almost anywhere." Being groped on the train as someone else mentioned above may be a different story, but in general day to day life it is very safe. I guess if you associate with gangsters and prostitutes it might be different, but I wouldn't know.

Whipped.

Violent - marked by acting w/ great physical force.

women are safe from this type of abuse and manipulation. There are plenty of non-Japanese women who would tell a different story, however.

And what about gambling, extortion and sanctioned corruption at the highest levels of government? Are these not crimes?

I recall being told that one could lose their wallet in a large Japanese City in the early '70s and it was extremely likely that it would be returned owner intact.

The chances of that happening in a US city during that time period was pretty remote.

During that same decade The Japanese National average IQ was the highest in the world.

Very impressive country and people in my opinion.

Yes Japan is a relatively safe country but as mentioned before there is a very large gang population who make their money from drugs, prostitution and faking traffic accidents and extorting their victims.In my neighborhood the motorcycle gangs come through every weekend around 2 in the morning, rev their engines as loud as possible and slowly cruise the neighborhood. They do this every weekend and the police do nothing.

Among my students the percentage of woman who have been molested at some time in their life is quite high. Also rape is not so uncommon but very under-reported because the victim is often blamed. It is not only the foreign women who work here as prostitutes. Many of my students and an incredible number of young Japanese women work in the hostess industry which is quite close to prostitution.

As I said it is relatively safe. I believe the reasons for this are a small lower class. You don't have the giant obvious gap between the rich and the poor. Also there is intense social pressure to basically be the same as everybody else. Obviously committing a crime can bring much unwanted attention to you and your family.

Brett in Tokyo wrote:

I just asked my Japanese wife, who lived for several years in both London and NYC, what she thinks about your quote here and she says, "This person is completely wrong. Japanese women can safely walk around alone at midnight almost anywhere." Being groped on the train as someone else mentioned above may be a different story, but in general day to day life it is very safe. I guess if you associate with gangsters and prostitutes it might be different, but I wouldn't know.

It was also safe in Nazi Germany for women to walk the streets. As it is in Pyongyang, and Singapore.

Japan is incredibly venal and corrupt. The police have immense powers (you can be held for 23 days w/out being charged), and are not at all accountable.

government officials are regularly caught with their hands in the cookie jar - my favorite story was Shin Kanemaru and Recruit in 1989?, where they needed a shopping cart to move the cash to the awaiting limo.

Japanese do not do things out of any "moral" sense. They do it out of a fear of group retribution. Nanking is evidence enough of that. Ask anybody in any other country in Asia if they think the Japanese are a "non-aggressive" people and you will get a very different answer.

The veneer of "safety" in Japan is exceedingly thin.

bump

Japan is by NO means a utopia as many have over characterized the country in the U.S. over the past several decades. Yet a large amount of heretofor unsolvable social problems in the United States have never existed or have been solved by the Japan's 130+ year old socialist democratic society.

Japan does not have the violent gun crimes that the U.S. has each day in every part of the states including remore rural towns. Since the turmoil of the Meiji reforms of the 1870s, the socialist democratic government has spread the wealth across Japan to every remote corner of the west, north, and Okinawa to a remarkable degree. Secondary schools and government facilities are very similar in rich and poor areas. The even spreading of resources is the major reason why the crime rate dropped to very low level nationwide by the 1920's. Prior to Meiji, there was great poverty, periods of famine, rampant murders, theft, burglaries, etc., i.e. crimes associate with personal economic stife.

Yes I agree. Japan has a great PR department. Most of the generally held beliefs about Japan are myths. Unfortunately most Japanese believe these myths too.

Sociolology wrote:

Japan does not have the violent gun crimes that the U.S.

..neither does Canada, Australia, France, The Netherlands etc...this has nothing to do w/ Japan.

If Japan is devoid of crime, then what do the Yakuza do exactly? Help old ladies across the street?

in 1998, a poll of Jr High girls aged 13-14yrs revealed that 43% thought it was ok to be a prostitute to make money. Japan has the highest suicide rate in the developed world. The standard of living (in current yen) has declined steadily since the mid 80s and shows no sign of improving. *THIS* is a good place - a decent civilized society?

Japan propaganda proffers the idea that "The Japanese Way" is best, even though those who buy into it end up w/ nothing compared to their counterparts in other OECD nations.

As stated previously, Japan is NOT a utopia. There are many residual unsolved problems. Japan has simply solved more of the social problems that plague other nations better than any of those other nations have. Japan is not a western nor a Christian country. Less than 1/2 of 1% are Christians. Thus the moral structure is different but not inferior at all to the west. Japan is the safest and most tranquil country from every remote area and bustling city center at all odd hours of the night and early morning that I have been to. Japan is a very comfortble, pleasant place to spend long periods of time. Well except in the summer if you hate heat and humdity and you have to be outside alot ;-]

It keeps growing. Today the regional university track association suspended the whole Nittai track team for 3 months, i.e. the entire season, and took away the ekiden team's spot for next year's Hakone Ekiden.