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Getting arrested in Japan

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Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#191

Post by Ngraph »

Japanese, living here. I'd heard 人質司法 (hostage justice) used in news commentary but never really pictured what it looked like inside. 5-day showers, food slid through a slot, sleeping on the floor with lights on. None of that is what most people here imagine when they hear "detention."

A lot of us live with this background feeling that "if you get arrested here, you're done" even if you didn't do anything. Part of it is the system. But part of it is also a cultural thing where being suspected at all is somehow seen as your fault. The people around you start treating you differently before any verdict.

Whatever the underlying charge actually was, none of this should follow from an arrest before any conviction. You were innocent and they still put you through 35 days. As a Japanese person reading this, I'm just sorry. That shouldn't have happened.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#192

Post by bradchris »

nihonde wrote: post #181
kelnos wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter what her charge was. Even (alleged/suspected) serial murderers and rapists should be treated humanely and not experience psychological torture. And also remember this treatment is at the point where they haven't been charged with anything, haven't been tried in court, and haven't been convicted. The US's justice system is certainly lacking in many, many ways, but wow, this is barbaric. And it's desi…

[flagged]

You clearly have a different view of “innocent until proven guilty” than most US citizens, which is fine, maybe you aren’t one, but that line of rhetoric is going to be anathema to most people on this website.

Not that the US criminal system isn’t its own complete mess, but thank God for the concept of bail (going about your life outside of jail until trial or dismissal, within certain parameters) and right to see a judge within 24 hours, to avoid any kafkaesque nightmares like this.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#193

Post by arcfour »

laughing_man wrote: post #175
metacritic12 wrote: post #14

Seems like it's not pleasant, and the author says in theory it could be as low of a bar as getting into a heated argument; but the author never discloses his actual charge, which I think is critical context. If he stabbed someone and got this treatment, it would be very different than if he had a loud but normal argument you might see in any big box store in the US. That he doesn't go on to protest why he got locked…

In what country is getting arrested pleasant? Japan is probably worse than Northern Europe, but it's still pretty high on "if I had to be arrested, I'd rather it was here" list.

I think there's an enormous difference between an "unpleasant experience" and "active torture."

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#194

Post by arcfour »

Aurornis wrote: post #127
samrus wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If he stabbed someone and got this treatment, it would be very different I dont think so. I think innocent until proven guilty is the right way to go. Because all the police know is that he is accused of stabbing someone. Whether he actually did it or not, a court of law will decide that while he is present to be tried. Until then You cant punish someone like this over an accusation. You can deny bail if the person…

Innocent until proven guilty doesn't mean someone gets to go free until their court date. It depends on the crime, the flight risk, and the supporting evidence that police are able to collect. There are many examples of police letting suspects go due to lack of evidence and then later discovering they let the wrong person go. These stories generate a lot of outrage in cases where there's public interest or a news sto…

Okay, but maybe we can feed them actual food, let them shower daily, and give them bedding? Are you opposed to this?

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#196

Post by iammrpayments »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #126
aftbit wrote: post #116

Absolutely horrifying. I've come to believe that criminal punishment is simply unethical. I wish someone would come up with a better option.

And what do you have to say to teenage girls or even little kid girls getting raped? Being laxist towards criminals is not just being cruel to the victims to me: to me it is downright complicity with the criminals. BTW: Japan happens to be one of the safest country on earth. A friend who's a pilot told me: "Tokyo is the only city in the world where I've women from my team (mostly air hostesses but also female pilot o…

Funny you say that because if you go to shinjuku right now there will be a bunch of scouts harassing high school girls to get into prostitution to the point of even running after them, and the police doesn’t seem to care. This has been going for years.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#197

Post by iamnothere »

tristanj wrote: post #145
kulahan wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan's judicial system has something like a 99% conviction rate. It's "safe" because they swipe up every single criminal they can, plus a bunch of random people in the process. So everyone is naturally going to be on their best behavior.

The claim that Japan is "safe" because it has a high conviction rate is a junk meme. The United States federal conviction rate is essentially identical to the Japanese judicial conviction rate when measured by the same methodology. It's roughly 99.6-99.8% depending on the year. Japan is safe because of other factors, not their conviction rate. > they swipe up every single criminal they can, plus a bunch of random peo…

Exactly. What is it with the weird attacks on Japan here? Chinese sockpuppet accounts maybe?

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#198

Post by [deleted] »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #126
aftbit wrote: post #116

Absolutely horrifying. I've come to believe that criminal punishment is simply unethical. I wish someone would come up with a better option.

And what do you have to say to teenage girls or even little kid girls getting raped? Being laxist towards criminals is not just being cruel to the victims to me: to me it is downright complicity with the criminals. BTW: Japan happens to be one of the safest country on earth. A friend who's a pilot told me: "Tokyo is the only city in the world where I've women from my team (mostly air hostesses but also female pilot o…

[deleted]

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#199

Post by zbentley »

tokkkie wrote: post #195

stealing or overstaying visa is crime everywhere. why surprised about arrest? other countries ignore this? from japan.

The surprise isn't about the arrest. The surprise is about the extremely harsh conditions people are placed in after being arrested--without any proportionality of what they were arrested for, before it is known whether or not they are guilty of the crime that was accused.

Re: Getting arrested in Japan

#200

Post by girvo »

Aurornis wrote: post #121
aloisklink wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author mentions it in a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2epTf2IW1g (at the 2:20 mark). But essentially, somebody else sent her a package with something illegal in it that she didn't ask for. The police took her passport for a few months and searched her house. After a few months, she got her passport returned to her, she left Japan temporarily, but when she came back, they arrested her "to ensure…

> somebody else sent her a package with something illegal in it that she didn't ask for. > She also mentioned it was "the most normal type of thing you can think of"; This doesn't really answer the question, though. It's frustrating to try to interpret these stories with a lot of writing and video describing everything except the crucial detail about what the charges were for. I don't think she's trying to withhold i…

But… it doesn’t matter? Even if it was some very illegal drug, that doesn’t change the fact that this detention system (and Japans justice system in general) is quite inhumane.
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