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"Of course when night falls it is very dark," said Shoji Yoshiaki, a councillor, who is overseeing the shelter. "I'm worried about the tension. People are stressed out. "We got hit very badly and the recovery effort is lagging. A kilometre or two away, they have electricity, food, water, gas – everything – but here there is nothing." Several evacuees, as well as people still living in the rubble of their homes, reported that a burglar had been stabbed during a robbery. There were also reports of a sexual assault. Their accounts could not be confirmed as the local police post has been destroyed. But the sense of fear is real. Suzuki was burgled while he was in the house. The barber had gone back to pick up some belongings and check on the family shrine. In the short time he was there, a thief climbed up the ladder through which Suzuki entered his home and made off with his bank card and cheque book. "I totally lost trust in everyone," Suzuki said. "My sense of trust is as badly destroyed as this landscape." He is convinced, though, that the thieves had to be from outside the neighbourhood. "I was born and raised here and grew up here," he said. "I know everyone here." Those bonds are what have sustained people since the tsunami: sharing food and water, and whatever warm clothes they can salvage from their homes. But as time goes on, those bonds are becoming more fragile and they only stretch so far. "In this school everybody helps each other and it is great, but when we go outside that is when I am afraid," Matsumi said. Matsumi's home – or what remains of it – is just across the street from the shelter, but she is afraid to go there alone to try to salvage her belongings. "When I have to go to my house, I get somebody to watch me from the window. Even then I run to get what I need. I don't want to stay there for too long," she said. "I survived this earthquake and tsunami and I'm still alive. I can't die now because of some criminal out there."
However, Midnight Mess Maya has a very important rape warning to women stuck on the streets. There have been reports of men approaching single women, pretending to be police officers who will take them to a safe place. Some are knocking on doors and pretending to be from aid organizations. In fact, these men are potential rapists, trying to take advantage of women stranded during the earthquake crisis. It’s not a myth; a friend of Maya even saved a girl in Nakano. A guy was grabbing her arm and trying to take her somewhere… Another Tokyo friend confirmed the rape warning: men in Shibuya followed her as she was walking, and pulled her arm. She RAN. Please help keep these women safe by spreading this rape warning via Tweeting, Facebooking, blogging, etc. Women in Japan, please don’t go into toilets or anywhere with strangers alone. Stick together on the streets. There’s a women-only safety shelter in Shibuya: AJWRC, 211 Sakuraoka Cho, 14-10 Shibuya-ku Tokyo, tel: 0337805245
From a website of Kyodo News, Japan’s version of CNN, headlined, in Japanese: “In Miyagi, police report 40 robberies by those taking advantage of the earthquake.” The text, translated, reads: “According to police on the night of the 13th the morning of the 14, approximately 1 million yen in cash was taken from the Miyagi City Home Center. There were robberies at a convenience store and a food store, and robberies at approximately 40 other stores by those taking advantage of the earthquake amounting to 1.65 million yen.” A City Home Center is a store like a Target. And, at 80 yen to the dollar, the loss isn’t great — $12,500 in cash; $20,000 in theft. In this one report. But here was some looting, and there is no reason to think there wasn’t a lot more.
Originally posted by WeBrooklyn
We obviously dont trust the government in Japan or the U.S. They have a problem reporting the FACTS, when it comes to pretty much...EVERYTHING. Of course the majority of people in Japan are peaceful and more into helping than hurting each other, but I wanted to see if looting and crime was actually a problem there thats not being reported here.
Originally posted by squandered
I understood that a major crime gang like Yakuza had the whole area sewn up. They have a lot of political sway and of course the police keep their distance. Japan just have a different way of handling things and of course shame is such a powerful force they hide anything they don't want people to see.
Don't confuse editorial commentary by the US media with official Japanese reports - government, media, or other. I've always found the western media - in particular the US media - has a strong desire to phrase any story coming out of Japan to fit one of the following: a) Heartless, untrustworthy killers b) Honorable, duty-bound individuals c) Otaku. These are the stereotypes. Stories are bent to fit them. Japanese TV showed quite a bit of footage of looted shops. On a couple of occasions, I can remember watching that footage and switching over to a US based stream and immediately hearing how there was no looting. The only conclusion I can draw is that the western media is reluctant - for some reason - to drop their comfortable stereotypes of Japan. It's certainly not anyone on this side of the ocean responsible. If you look at my three criteria above, you can sometimes see the first two (contradictory as they are) represented in the same article fairly often. The only ones I've seen with all three have been articles wondering why Robot-Obsessed Japan didn't send an Army of Robots in to clean up Fukushima, and instead relied on heroic, honorable workers to sacrifice their lives for the good of all people at the demand of the evil bloodthirsty TEPCO and Japanese Government.
I understood that a major crime gang like Yakuza had the whole area sewn up. They have a lot of political sway and of course the police keep their distance. Japan just have a different way of handling things and of course shame is such a powerful force they hide anything they don't want people to see.
Originally posted by squandered
I understood that a major crime gang like Yakuza had the whole area sewn up. They have a lot of political sway and of course the police keep their distance. Japan just have a different way of handling things and of course shame is such a powerful force they hide anything they don't want people to see.