Twentythree

Schoolgirls fight back after man gropes student’s breasts inside train.

Groping is a big problem on Japanese trains, and despite signs, pins, and women-only carriages sending a big message to the public that touching another person without their consent is never okay, cases of sexual harassment still persist.

The victims are often schoolgirls, who are sadly targeted to such an extent that one victim even wrote an entire book about her traumatic near-daily experiences. Thankfully, though, these schoolgirls are becoming more and more vocal at protecting themselves against “chikan”, the Japanese word for a man who gropes women on trains.

Case in point is this new video, showing a couple of schoolgirls running after a suspected chikan on the platform of Akabane Station in Tokyo’s Kita Ward. Helped out by an impressive assist by an older gentleman on the platform, the chikan goes flying, falling face-down on the concrete while the girls continue their pursuit.

痴漢かな？全力で逃走し、コケるガイジ登場。赤羽駅5-6番線ホームにて。 https://t.co/Aji5ShnE5w

—
地球調査団4隊目0番員(宇宙人) (@influencer_com_) May 27, 2019

The video, which was filmed on 28 May, begins as passengers can be seen disembarking from a train on Platform 5 at the station. A girl can be heard shouting “nigeru na!” (“Don’t run away!“) just before a man in a suit runs by, which prompts an older man to stick his foot out, tripping the offender and giving the girls some extra time to catch up to him.

▼ A perfectly timed raise of the foot sends the perpetrator flying.

While it’s disappointing to see that nobody else stepped in to try and help the schoolgirls, their persistence in pursuing the man led to him being arrested by station staff. 

According to a statement by station operators Japan East Rail, the suspect attempted to escape by heading towards another platform, but he was caught and detained by a rail attendant. Police were called, and one of the girls who was chasing him reported the man had groped her breasts while they were inside the train.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police say the man who was arrested was a salaryman in his 30s, who has now been charged with indecent assault against a minor. The suspect has admitted to the charges.

News outlets were quick to pick up on the incident, saying that the person who filmed the video was a male student, who immediately felt that this might likely be a case of chikan after he heard the girls shouting “Don’t run away!”. The male student filmed the incident in case video evidence might be needed to help catch the culprit, and said there were three girls involved at the time, with two giving chase while the other went to look for a station attendant.

Some news media were interested to find out whether the man who tripped the culprit could be charged with assault. However, Japanese lawyers have been quoted as saying that while this could be considered assault under ordinary circumstances–and possibly in cases where the accused may be found innocent–in this case, because it’s a member of the public stepping in to help apprehend a criminal, they would not be held liable for the crime.

Given that the suspect confessed to the crime, he was indeed a criminal, and no assault charges are currently being pursued. And kudos to the girls for standing up to the criminal and helping to reprimand him, which means there’s one less chikan on the rails for people to passive-aggressively post stickers on.

Source: Hachima Kikou
Images: Twitter/@influencer_com_
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她叫Margaret，在1960年代的一个秘密实验里，她跟一只海豚生活了10周的时间。

跟她在一起的，是一只叫Peter的宽吻海豚。 他们当时在一个特殊改造全是水的房间里，一起吃饭，娱乐，洗澡，睡觉，24小时不分离。

在这个实验里，他们要教海豚说话。海豚可以用他们的气孔发声，科学家想做的，就是他们学会用这种发声的能力。

每天早上8点，他们的英语课开始。 逐渐逐渐的，Peter学会了‘one’, ‘we’, ‘triangle’, ‘hello’到了后来，Margaret说 ‘work, work, work’的时候，Peter就会马上回答 ‘play, play, play’.

可是，当实验继续进行下去的时候，一些意想不到的事情发生了。。。。

Peter开始变得越来越想跟她亲近，不好好上课，任何时候都想跟她玩耍。Peter每天用各种方法来吸引Margaret的注意力。他开始每天不停的在镜子里注视他自己的样子。 在Margaret打电话的时候Peter会在旁边对着电话听筒大声叫喊. 显然，他吃醋了。

在实验第四周的时候，Margaret在她自己的日记里写到： “这一周，Peter对着我硬了好几次。。”

“我觉得他的欲望阻碍了我们的这段关系，他开始把他自己挤进我的两腿之间，绕着我游泳，轻咬我身体的各个部分。。。”

“Peter大概在对我求爱，他把他的肚子和丁丁对着我抽动，这是在教我跟他一起玩这个么？”

后来，Margaret承认她当时开始对他有感觉，她享受他们在一起玩耍的时光。 当他不在身边时就会想念他。。甚至到了现在她都无法称他为“海豚”。。他是Peter,在她眼里他永远是Peter。

正当她想跟Peter正要进一步发展关系时。 实验被突然中止了。科学家发现，实验开始向他们不可控的方向发展。

Peter被带离了实验室，被送到了另外一个机构的海豚池里。

几个星期以后，Margaret听到了一个伤心欲碎的消息。。。 Peter死了。

自杀。

他潜在池子底下，拒绝上来呼吸，生生把自己憋死了。

动物学家在后来的报告里说，”Margaret的智力能足以让她理性的思考着一切。可是对于海豚来说，如何能承受这种失去一生至爱的痛呢？“

50年后，这段实验被解密。 在保持了50年的沉默之后，Margaret终于对BBC说出了这一切。 拍成了一部BBC纪录片： The Girl Who Talked To Dolphins

这就是Peter和Margret的故事，一只被训练要学说英语的海豚，也许人类没教好他英语，却深切地教会了他心碎的滋味。。。

Grab your Virtual Boy and ready your quarters, it’s time to knock back a shot of gaming nostalgia!

When you think Shinjuku, you think bars. The two are an easy word association to make, much like sushi and rice, cats and dogs, Pokémon and Pikachu.

But while many of Shinjuku’s numerous bars are branded or part of a nationwide chain, others are…more unique. You can find niche bars themed around specific alcohol offers and targeting specific audiences. And sometimes you hear about something truly wild, like our very own reporter Tasuku Egawa did recently.

The wild bar he heard about is 16 Shots in Shinjuku’s 3-chome district, a stone’s throw from the SoraNews24 editorial headquarters. As Tasuku had business there anyway, he decided to drop in to sample the off-beat atmosphere…and also in hope of ordering the bar’s “bizarre specialty”, which his source had failed to elaborate on.

▼ Just five minutes from the SoraNews24 office!

▼ He also ordered a generous sample of rum, just to amplify the experience.

As Tasuku perused the menu, his eyes glanced past the conventional bar staples like fries and pizza and landed on the 3DO. According to the description it was a mixed dish of chicken, fish and fries, but why 3DO? At 1,500 yen (US$13.70) it was the priciest thing on the menu. So of course, he ordered a 3DO. Wouldn’t you?

He sipped his rum, taking in the luxurious surroundings.

▼ A reassuring stock of alcohol.

▼ The bar itself is littered with ’80s and ’90s gaming apparel and figurines.

▼ A treasure trove of arcade units and old posters

And then, he was served…

A…Panasonic R･E･A･L!

No, wait, the official title of this contraption is in fact a 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (or just 3DO for short.) It was a home entertainment system launched in 1993 to compete with the Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo. As you might have guessed, it wasn’t successful, and sank like a stone. But what was one doing here? And where was the chicken, the fish, the fries?

▼ “I thought you were extinct,” Tasuku gasped.

The 3DO order, in actuality a 3DO console, was too big to fit on the bar counter properly and jutted just a little over the edge. But don’t worry…once it was coaxed open, there was a treasure trove inside. Tasuku couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing.

▼ Why?!

According to the waitress the bar only has the one 3DO, so they would be in a bind if two people ordered it at once.

Now Tasuku had his food, he could soak up more of the atmosphere. While 16 Shots is a game-themed bar, that shouldn’t be confused with a “gaming bar” – the games here aren’t to be played, merely to lend a kind of nostalgic terroir as you drink. The posters, game units and memorabilia make this place seem like a time capsule, with everything from neon signs blaring advertisements for the Virtual Boy:

To beautiful game-themed liqueur bottles:

And 16 Shots had one more surprise: its owner. The bar is run by one Riichiro Abe, a former writer for the old computer magazine MyCom Basic Magazine which ran from 1982 to 2003. He was also a consultant on a TV drama set in an ’80s videogame arcade, No Continue Kid, which explains why posters from the drama are plastered all over any walls not stuffed with game placards.

▼ You can see one of the posters behind this sign for Game Arcade Watanabe, the setting of the drama.

Naturally the clientele who visit 16 Shots are also big gaming buffs, so if you want to drop by a place and pick up some neat gaming buddies this is a great bar to start at! And if your tastes lean into modern gaming as well, you can ride the subway over to Yurakucho to visit the all new Pokémon GO-friendly bar, too.

Bar information
16 SHOTS
Address: Tokyo-to, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 2-3-8
東京都新宿区新宿2-3-8
Open 7:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays)
Closed Sundays
Website

Images © SoraNews24
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Sushi isn’t the only thing worth eating in Tsukiji.

If we’re being totally honest, we’re not really the biggest morning people here at SoraNews24, which means breakfast usually isn’t much of an event for us…unless you classify “cramming a convenience store onigiri rice ball into our mouth while typing at our work desk because we overslept and didn’t have time to eat at home” as an event.

Every now and again, though, we figure we should make time to make the most important meal of the day a little more special, which is how we ended up at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Hongangi temple at a time when we’re often just dragging ourselves out of bed.

Located just down the street from Tsukiji’s still-in-operation outer market, Honganji Temple’s main hall is a rare example of classic Indian-inspired Buddhist architecture in Japan. However, our destination was the cafe that’s housed in one of the courtyard annexes, called Tsumugi.

Tsumugi has quietly become one of the area’s most popular breakfast spots, and often has lines forming before the doors open at 8 a.m. When we showed up at 8:33, all seats were already taken, but we were given a seiriken (a card that acts as your place in line), and just five minutes later were ushered to a counter seat.

It didn’t take us long to decide what to order, either, as we instantly felt the pull of the “Japanese Style Breakfast with 18 kinds of items,” which also comes with your choice of hot or cold green tea.

▼ The menu’s English text makes it easy to order even if you don’t speak/read Japanese.

Since we’d gotten a seat so quickly, we assumed our food would be out soon too. And sure enough, we put in our order at 8:40, and just nine minutes later, a server came walking back over to our seat…

…but it turned out she was just bringing us our tea. Still, it had a rich aroma, tasted just as good, and between the sound of the ice cubes tinkling in the glass, the enchanting green color, and the cool sensation of the chilled beverage on our lips, all five of our senses were satisfied as we spent the next 10 minutes drinking it.

We followed that up with another 10 minutes looking out the window at the courtyard and temple architecture, and when our food still hadn’t come, 30 minutes after ordering, a certain fear began to build in our mind.

Had they forgotten our order?

We’re not ones to complain, though, so we decided to take inspiration from our surroundings and attempt to enter a calm, meditative state to cope with our hunger. But no matter how much we tried to clear our minds of conscious thought, our stomach kept growling and reminding us of the one worldly desire we couldn’t shed: FOOD!

We began to lose hope, with our hunger making us so delirious that we wondered if we’d been forsaken by the gods themselves. Ready to give up, we opened up the menu to confirm the official name of the breakfast we’d ordered, so we could tell the waitress to cancel it and then make another convenience store breakfast run, but within the pages of the menu came a message of divine salvation.

▼ Salvation

Honganji’s patron deity is Amida, and the celestial buddha has a special connection to the breakfast we’d ordered. According to the cafe’s menu:

“The reason for the 18-item breakfast:

The buddha Amida, Honganji’s patron deity, has made 48 vows to protect the lives of all living things. Amida’s 18th vow is ‘Whatever may occur, you will not be forsaken.’ Please taste the essence of that promise through the 18-item breakfast.”

And, like a miracle, moments after we read these words of encouragement, the waitress once again appeared, this time carrying our breakfast, 47 minutes after we’d ordered it!

So let’s run through the complete set. You get…

▼ Okayu (rice porridge), sliced octopus, grilled duck with sansho pepper (left to right, bottom row)…

▼ Umeboshi (pickled plum), ikura (salmon roe) (top row)
Tamagoyaki omelet, grilled eggplant with soybeans (bottom row)

▼ Fish and tofu cake, miso sardines, miso soup

▼ Sliced tomato, sweet kombu seaweed (top row)
Taro with sweet miso, tofu with yuzu citrus fruit (bottom row)

▼ Sliced orange, matcha green tea gelatin (top row)
Seasonal vegetables, spicy cod roe with seaweed (bottom row)

Since rice porridge doesn’t have much flavor by itself, several of the dishes are meant to be mixed into the okayu, such as the umeboshi, kombu, and spicy cod roe.

So what caused the delay? According to the waitress, because of how many customers are waiting to get in before the restaurant opens, they get a huge rush of orders right at the start of the day, which tends to back things up a bit (and the cafe caps its breakfast seating after the first 110 people). Still, we’ve waited longer than 47 minutes in lines outside of restaurants in Japan, and at least this time we had a seat, air conditioning, power outlets, and free Wi-Fi to keep us entertained while we waited for our order.

More importantly, was it worth the wait? Definitely, and as proof, you’ll see that we cleaned all 18 of our plates.

At 1,944 yen (US$17.80), Honganji’s 18-item Japanese breakfast isn’t the cheapest morning meal in Tokyo, and it’s definitely not the quickest either. But it’s one of the most unique, and surprisingly tranquil, provided you’re not in a rush, and if it leaves you craving yet another spiritual food experience, don’t forget that Tsukiji’s sushi shrine is just a short walk away.

Restaurant information
Tsukiji Honganji Cafe Tsumugi / 築地本願寺カフェTsumugi
Address: Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 3-15-1, Tsukiji Honganji Information Building
東京都中央区築地3-15-1 築地本願寺インフォメーション棟
Open 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Push the parasol into a drink bottle and you’ll enjoy a coastal breeze all day long.

If you’ve been to Japan during summer, you’ll know how uncomfortably hot it can get, with temperatures often in the high 30s (around 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity reaching stifling levels above 80 percent, making it hotter than summer in Death Valley.

So it’s understandable when people say they like to hibernate indoors under the air conditioning when the heat arrives. However, there are times when leaving the coolness of our lairs becomes unavoidable, and for those occasions, Japanese company Thanko has us covered – literally – with the new Fanbrella.

The fan-umbrella hybrid works like a new-fangled parasol, shading you from the sun’s rays while keeping you cool with a fan above your head.

While the fan can be used on its own, there’s also an option to add some cooling mist to the experience, by simply shoving the end of the handle into a plastic drink bottle.

Then all you have to do is push the button on the handle to release the cooling mist from above.

Take a look at this video below to see exactly how it works.

We have to admit, it’s a pretty neat gadget, and one we’re keen to try out this summer. We already have plenty of ideas of when and where we’ll use it too, like at high school baseball games, in the queue at Summer Comiket, and if we ever get asked to join Prime Minister Abe on the golf course.

The Fanbrella will get you five hours of fan/mist bliss on four Double A batteries, and can be used with 550-millilitre (18.5-ounce) or even two-litre bottles. Actually, any bottle with an opening of 28 millimetres (1.1 inches) in diameter is compatible, making us wonder how the Fanbrella would taste with a bottle of iced tea attached to it instead.

The Fanbrella can be purchased at the Thanko online shop for 5,980 yen (US$55.42) including tax. If you haven’t been sold on the concept, there are still plenty of other Thanko gadgets that might just catch your eye, like the atamabrella umbrella for your head.

In fact, the mayor of Tokyo just unveiled the umbrella hat concept as recommended headwear for visitors to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, so maybe the Fanbrella will become a hot commodity for the Games too. And one group of people who’ll definitely be needing it will be the thousands of volunteers, who unfortunately won’t be dressing like ninja next summer.

Source, images: Thanko
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