Saturday, July 09, 2005
something I NEVER thought I would witness.

mood: x___X with a touch of O_O
listening to: the sound of rain~!
gaijin count: 86 (or something...)

Today I was planning to wake up at 7:50/8:00-ish to go to the Takashimaya Book Store in Nagoya, since they have an English section. It takes, as you may already know, about 35 minutes to get there by subway, so when I woke up at 9:00 this morning at feared I would have no time. I had to be back by 11:30 in order to each lunch before Rei's drum lesson, since I was going to be participating in that once more. But more about that later.

So I stuffed some Corn Frosties down my throat and left. I was determined to get to that bookstore because I was desparate for something to read.

Since the Takashimaya is the same route I take to school in the morning, the way there was pretty routine. I mean, when I go every morning, it seems like my feet just carry me while I sort of daze off into my music that I'm listening to. It was the same way this morning. Well, that is until I boarded the subway at Motoyama bound for Nagoya.

Everything seemed perfectly normal for a Saturday. In fact, everything was perfectly normal. The seats were mainly full with a moderate amount of extra people standing, but it wasn't packed like sardines. Subways are set up in Japan with a set of three seats at the front of the car sitting opposite from each other, then 2 sets of seats that can sit 6 or 7 people, opposite from each other. Then the car ends with three seats opposite from each other like the front. Always in the front of the car there is are 3 seats reserved for elderly/pregnant/crippled people. I was standing by one of those. Opposite from Priority seating is normal. All of the seats were full though, I was sort of floating there in between. In priority seating was an older man with gray hair and a white hat, then a young woman who was slightly on the cubby side with glasses in the middle, and then another young woman by the door.

Everything was fine until Sakae. I was listening to my music when all of the sudden the girl with glasses starts hitting the old man. She stood up so she had the advantage and was literally attacking him. She took off his white hat and started hitting him with it, and then threw it onto the ground. Meanwhile, the older man is resisting and yelling at her, although I didn't really catch what he said. Probably "get the fuck off"or something, but I dunno. I instantly took off my music and stared at the scene in awe. It took me a second to actually process what the hell I was witnessing.

Okay. There is a young woman attacking an older man in priority seating. Less than 3 fucking feet away from me. The woman looks very upset. The man is yelling at her and resisting. And the rest of the FUCKING SUBWAY DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT?!?!?!?!

I then examine the possibilities:
Okay. So the man is older. The woman is younger. Perhaps he is her father, and she got frustrated with him? UH...NO. That is not it.

Okay, so the man is older...the woman is younger. They are sitting in priority seating. AHA. The old bastard is a CHIKAN*. He molested her, she's fighting back, but since she is in priority seating, and the man is acting like he doesn't know why the fuck the girl is hitting him over the head with his white hat, the people cannot take sides against him. Only really skeevy men think up things like this. This is defintely what is going on.

I then react to my conclusion:
HOLY MOTHER OF FUCKING SHIT!!!! THERE IS AN ACTUAL CHIKAN ON THE FUCKING SUBWAY!!!! AND NO ONE IS GIVING A SHIT ABOUT THIS GIRL!!!! HOLY FUCK!!!!

Now, this all happens in a matter of seconds in my brain. The brawl is still going on. I then notice a kind-looking woman who looked to be in her mid to late 40s get up from across priority seating. I then back her up by shouting "Stop! Stop!" in Japanese. I didn't want the girl to get hurt. Not that she could get her ass kicked by an old man or anything. By this time the old man was standing and so was the girl. After I shouted stop, they eventually stopped, and the man sat down. The kind woamn offered the girl with glasses her seat, but she refused. I reasoned that the reason why she refused was because she didn't want to seem weak against the old-man chikan freak. She seemed very strong. Upset, yes. Strong also. She then put her headphones back on. The kind lady sat down, and looked at her with this semi-worried face. Things almost seemed to calm down a little. Only a little. However, it was when this started to happen that the subway started to slow down. It was one stop before Nagoya - Fushimi. The old man then got up and taunted the girl to get off of the subway. She sat there, stoic, with her headphones in. I looked once again to the kind lady, and we exchanged worried looks. The old man kept taunting her until and even after the subway started moving again. There was tension in the air all the way to Nagoya.

It was at Nagoya that the kind lady and I got off. The old man and the girl both did not get off, so I was a bit worried. I still wonder if anything else happened between them.

The kind lady then spoke to me. She said that it made her heart skip a beat, or something like that. That it was pretty scary. She said that things like that are scary. I was like "Yeah, me too. It really scared me." And it kind of did. I mean, you don't see young women totally kicking an old man's chikan ass every day. Especially on Saturdays. My legs were trembling the entire rest of the train ride, and even afterwards. The kind lady and I parted ways. She said "Sayonara" to me. I was so glad she was there. She was the ONLY FUCKING PERSON besides me who even acknowledged the situation. The girl who was sitting next to the girl with glasses didn't even MOVE when she was fighting the old man. No one else seemed to give a shit, since they're so obsessed with maintaining peace. They pretend everything is fine, when in reality, it isn't. I think that's one of the reasons why my legs were trembling so bad.

After I got out of the subway station, I was still thinking about what happened. I quickly walked to Takashimaya and got the elevator to the 11th floor. I checked my watch. I only had 30 minutes before I had to head home. I quickly picked up Harry Potter 1 in English so I could compare it to my Japanese one. I then looked around for some light reading for the week before Half Blood Prince, since it's coming out next Saturday. I also cruised the manga section, but I didn't pick up anything.

I made my way to the cashier. I gave him my two books, and the total came up to ￥2450. I check my wallet. I only had a ￥1000 bill so I was like "Oh what the hell, I'll just give him the traveler's check." My traveler's check was for ￥10000, which is roughly $100. However, the idiot cashier told me they didn't accept traveler's checks. So I was like, "But it's in YEN!" I mean, I could understand why he couldn't take it if it was in dollars. He said I couldn't use it. I sighed and looked to my right by chance. There was a sign that had a travler's check and a big red X through it. Sometimes, I swear to you, someone is sending me signs or something. x_x I was thinking "OH GEEZ. First the chikan incident, and now THIS?!?!" So, I put down the ￥1000 bill and began counting coins. Just to piss him off. I knew I didn't have enough money to buy the books. But it gave me time to think about what to keep. Harry Potter vs. Digital Fortress. After the cashier realized I didn't have enough money, I told him I'd buy Digital Fortress. I then left as quickly as possible. I was already running late as it was.

I got home tired, pissed off, still in a bit of shock, and 10 minutes late. I ate some weird shit that tasted OK while explaining the chikan story. And the fact that the idiot department store doesn't accept it's own fucking currency. Almost everywhere you go you can use traveler's checks as cash! UGH!!

I then went back onto the subway with Rei and my book and I read until we got to the place where we have the drum lesson. It was pretty fun, although I can't read sheet music, so I have to imitate. Everyone has an advantage over me, since they know when the drum riff things come in the song, and I don't, so skip them, even though I can play them. Stupid Xes and lines and dots.

After the drum lesson, the drum-sensei (who I might add, is very hot and nice and unfortunately smokes cigarettes) asked Rei and me to go out to lunch with him and I think the rest of the drum classmates. So I think next Saturday is going to be busy - firstly, I have to get HP6. Bright and early, so I can avoid that cashier, and so LORNE and I can hang in a coffee place while reading silently. Then, I have to go to drum lessons and lunch and then there is some sort of barbeque at Host Madre's sister's house. I wonder if that makes her my Host Tia?

I then read for an hour while Rei had a piano lesson. When we got back home I had a slice of pound cake, and Host Padre told me I was going to a baseball game with a friend. I now have to decide who to go to, since I guess it's not an option to not go. Everyone else in the Host Fam is busy...so who should I call?? Maybe HAL...she lives near me I think. Hmm...

Well, I should go. If there are any more chikan, I'll be sure to tell you.

-Erin

*Chikan - men (usually business men, but also sometimes old men) who molest young girls/women. Often a chikan molests during the morning rush hour, since that is when the trains are most crowded, and full of attractive young high school girl students. However, a chikan can molest at any time and any day, as shown by my story. The molesting in Japan has gotten even more problematic in recent years, so all-women cars have started to be established. They are in effect only on weekdays from when the trains start running to 9:00 AM. However, it seems that molesting still does occur even with these special women-only cars.