A man of aged 58 beat another man (aged 61) to death after being warned for speaking on the phone while on the bus.
The worse thing is that there were 30 passengers on the bus who all just watched without doing a thing.
If somebody was being beaten up in your region, what would you do? What would folks in general do?
Via Itai News where there are currently 1480 comments for this news post.
Posted on 2008/03/31 07:08
Director/代表取締役
Registered on 2006/12/11 11:06
Meimi132 in Back end of nowhere, aka Norfolk, England
Student and Mcdonalds Grease monkey.
Registered on 2007/12/04 04:17
Damn... evil old people are getting more violent...
director/editor
Registered on 2008/02/08 19:12
Freelance Artist
Registered on 2007/09/05 10:37
I don't know. It does get really annoying when somebody's yapping on their cell phone right next to you.
Meimi132 in Back end of nowhere, aka Norfolk, England
Student and Mcdonalds Grease monkey.
Registered on 2007/12/04 04:17
It might be annoying, but generally its not worth killing over. Not even attacking... its just stupid...
Non-profit org. volunteering work addict
Registered on 2006/12/31 22:48
Definitely not a motive for sheer violence... This was no less than the equivalent of a murder.
That's insane. Simply horrible.
Student
Registered on 2007/08/09 05:36
Maybe the attacker had a terrible day, and the cellphone guy wouldn't stop being annoying and when the attacker asked him to keep it down the cellphone guy responded in a terribly rude way and he just sparked him up and "it" happened.
Non-profit org. volunteering work addict
Registered on 2006/12/31 22:48
Who knows, but it is plausible for a theory. The other one I'm thinking about is gratuitous violence.
My definition of luck is simply to be there at the right moment, under the right circumstances and doing the right thing...
Un-luck is exactly the inverse, and this man really was unlucky then.
*Shakes head in consternation*
Student
Registered on 2008/01/17 18:19
that doesn't mean you can beat someone til he bleeds all over the place and make yourself a criminal..
Mind Navigator
Registered on 2007/09/04 11:37
Equivalent? It WAS murder.
Non-profit org. volunteering work addict
Registered on 2006/12/31 22:48
Ah, I tend to see murder as in one stroke, not one with torture... Guess you're right.
Student
Registered on 2007/08/09 05:36
In what specific area did this happen?
I'm not sure what would happen over here where I live if that happened... But that is just terrible. I don't want to go to a place where you get killed just by speaking on a phone, f*** that.
qingy in center of the galaxy
SMS
Registered on 2007/10/06 05:09
chun in home feeling sleepy LOL
part time illustrationist, doll clothing seamstress
Registered on 2007/01/09 14:33
chun in home feeling sleepy LOL
part time illustrationist, doll clothing seamstress
Registered on 2007/01/09 14:33
ETA: not trying to make light of the situation here tho =_=; blah
Student
Registered on 2007/11/25 06:34
same thought when I read this. very similar but no one got hurt in this case.
Registered on 2007/10/04 19:01
university student
Registered on 2008/03/24 22:59
Too much daily stress nowadays lool.. XP
ケヴィン in Sacramento California, USA
High School student
Registered on 2007/11/13 15:04
i always hear in japan about people not wanting to get involved, as you seen densha otoko no one was willing to stand up but i forgot his name already. In America, people do stand up for what is right, if that was happening some kids or young males would stand up and tackle that man. But like most places alot of people wont get involved, but we have alot of heros out there that are willing to stand up like me. For example i stood up for some retarded kid that was getting beaten up. Thats because i can say im really healthy but still it takes the will of a single person to stand up that many others will join in the fight. Id hate to stay it can go the other way around too though.
Web Designer
Registered on 2008/03/01 00:48
Only in Japan eh?
Here, people help people.
"student"
Registered on 2008/03/27 06:19
here too. but sometimes they dont do nothing
Student
Registered on 2008/02/10 07:04
oh noes....
no old people have other methods of murder besides driving lol....
I feel sorry for that person though. Seriously there are so many people that talk on the phone all the time when theyre out. It shouldn't be that unbearable enough to kill the guy.
student
Registered on 2008/01/09 00:24
Horrible, but I guess if something similar happens over here most people won't help either. This shouldn't be surprising because current society teaches us to be greedy and selfish. I mean.. even people that should be some sort of role model are (e.g. high-ranking politicians) usually like that.
Student
Registered on 2007/11/07 06:56
True. I think some people here are scared and I can understand that because rowdies always walk around in huge groups, it can be difficult to help. Just think about the terrible incident in the subway in Munich a few months ago :/
McMaster Engineering Student Fall 08
Registered on 2007/11/18 11:58
I'd have restrained him and called the police. Jeeze, of all those people on the bus, you'd have thought at least one of them would have stood up for the guy. Really annoying, people are such pushovers, even when the moment counts the most :/
Registered on 2007/09/14 14:06
Yea I would probably do the same thing. But really 30 people and not even one is brave enough. geez -o-;
Meimi132 in Back end of nowhere, aka Norfolk, England
Student and Mcdonalds Grease monkey.
Registered on 2007/12/04 04:17
It's terrible that none of them helped... they can't all have been eldery women, pregnant women and children can they??!! (Just examples of weaker people who probably couldnt stop them...)
Your local Otaku Cashier.
Registered on 2007/11/04 12:31
If I was on that bus, I would get up and hold down the guy at least. It's seriously a problem when nobody even did anything about it.
Registered on 2007/11/10 14:24
When i was a kid in Canada i was beatin up by some thugs for my bicycle. After the beat me i ran into a convienience store tears comeing down my face, the lady at the counter said "You can't stay in here". So i have no problem beliving people do nothing.
Student
Registered on 2008/01/17 18:19
...ok? you sound like a seriously sad person... almost a sadist...lol
Art/Media Student (Wannabe Illustrator)
Registered on 2006/12/28 05:39
30 people, not one stood up to the poor guy?
Well, for one, no one would expect that a old guy would kill another...
If was on that bus, I'd wait and see, if it gets bad... I'd stand up and beat the attacker silly.
When ever I'm on a bus, I'm at the back or at the front, luggage fall, I pick it up because no one would. >.>
Game Development Student
Registered on 2007/12/11 19:26
What would I have done? Tried to restrain or subdue the attacker. That's the kind of thing martial arts training is for. The average person in most areas is unlikely to help someone else unless someone else tries to help first, it is people's instinct to go along with other people in situations like that, kind of like peer pressure. Learned about it in psychology class.
Polytechnic Freshman. Mmm... fresh.
Registered on 2007/01/25 21:20
I would probably try to stop the violent one if it had happened in Singapore. The way it's going, human life seems worth less than a phone bill.
In Insanity Hell
Registered on 2008/03/13 03:33
This is getting out of hand...instead of killing why don't he move to another seat or just snatch the phone and smash to bit and then pay for the damage...
Hikikomori
Registered on 2007/08/22 05:30
It all depends on the bus... the reactions could be:
1. People helping the guy to beat the cellphone user;
2. People trying to stop the beating;
3. Same as Japan.
But something like that probably wouldn't happen here... cellphones are not forbidden inside buses.
Buses are noisy as hell here, and roads are all irregular and bumpy, so people don't care that much.
Finally, people flash cellphones a lot here.. unless they want to be robbed or something.
Super-Duper Student
Registered on 2007/02/19 10:18
Considering I took Psych 101 and 102, it seems the impetus to not get involved is universal. Unless it is part of your job, most people tend not to want to be part of something, especially if that requires a major investment putting your body into harm's way, energy, and time. Why risk it all when there's a chance of harming yourself, thereby complicating the situation? I've heard a story that in a housing complex, a woman was audibly being raped and could be heard throughout the grounds, but no one in the complex dared call the police or intervened. They all assumed someone else would do it.
Then again, the bus is a tight area and it could be easy to subdue the assailant since he had little room to maneuver. It's appalling that in the bus case and the example case that something of little effort, such as restraining someone or calling the police had not been done all because people do not want to take responsibility.
I'll shut up now ^^;;
オタク by moonlight, Graphic Designer by daylight
Registered on 2007/11/08 03:37
Oh man, can't believe it. He is 58 already and still can't control himself? that's sad. =(
RIP
Registered on 2008/03/10 12:48
Diffusion of responsibility...
I have some firsthand experience of people on the bus not doing anything to help, but the incident was not as serious as this.
大学生徒
Registered on 2007/07/27 12:01
I was actually reading Haruki Murakami's only non-fiction book -- which is about the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 -- not so long ago. Actually, it's almost all interviews with survivors and some cultists, former and current (well current to 1997 or so whenever the book was written). And actually quite a few accounts include the detail that people on the street just stood idly by when the victims came running up from the subway terminals choking and passing out. Generally I agree with the poster above that people don't really want to get involved unless they're obligated to, but to watch someone get killed and not do anything, you would think one person out of 30 would have jumped in and intervened. I've honestly never been in or near a situation like that in public, so I wonder how people in my neck of the woods would handle it. Judging by the way people are around here, it'd all depend on if the people in the altercation knew each other or not. If it's "domestic", sometimes the police won't even get involved (had a bad childhood, I know this firsthand), but if the two people don't know each other as in the case in this article, I'm fairly certain someone would've tried to play hero.
Stigmata Martyr
Registered on 2007/04/22 12:13
the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for men to do nothing about it...
Student/Daemonhunter
Registered on 2007/01/22 06:09
If there are no weapons involved, I'd step in and try to put a stop to it, if there are weapons, then I'd make sure I have a scarier weapon to make sure they dont try anything funny with me.
Chef, Full fledged Otaku, Full time Observer.....
Registered on 2008/02/02 00:26
japan has been well known for their people being conservative but this is getting more and more ridiculous...
30 people in the bus and not 1 person stood up of the poor guy...
kinda reminds me of the case sometime back when a 72 year old lady was attacked by a guy with a box cutter...
but that was far worst, if i'm not wrong it was in a shopping mall and i'm sure there's lots more people there and the same thing happen...
they just stood there and not lift a finger to help the victim...
man i just wonder is this what they call being selfish cuz i'm sure that this has nothing to do with being conservative...
Student
Registered on 2008/03/14 23:39
I tend to prevent myself from getting involve with those kinds of stuns, but then again their old mans so I might actually do something.
Student
Registered on 2007/11/25 01:28
NOBODY DID NOTHING?!Just sitting there ...what were the passengers thinking =___=ll
gear
Registered on 2008/02/10 09:45
Terrible injustice occur when you stand idly. I'm sure someone will standup for him/her or it doesn't involve me, I shouldn't get involve. Such mentality is not justifiable when someone is being beaten to death. In most cases...all you need to do is use that cell phone you carry all the times. I have yet to run into or heard of a instigator(s) who would purposely stick around for the police to arrive.
Student
Registered on 2008/01/17 18:19
Wow that's really creepy... It makes it more amazing that no one ever bothered to stop these guys... What creepy and cold world...
Student
Registered on 2007/12/06 15:31
Well I think it's understandable that you wouldn't want to get involved with the fight...
However, in this case, I would probably intervene guessing that the 58 year old is probably not very strong in comparison to a teen like me.
Evil King in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, Earth
Student and full-time otaku
Registered on 2007/12/19 00:24
Damn, WTF man? I guess (hope) that over here, someone would jump in, but not until after some time....
Part human, part student, 100% loser
Registered on 2007/10/22 02:10
I think in Singapore if such an incident were to occur a situation like this will happen...
I think Singaporeans would first ask the person to stop hitting the man, if that doesn't work, we can always start beating him up!~
Student, Gamer, Part-time EFSF Pilot
Registered on 2007/02/19 03:24
2 Guys, leave 'em be;
2 Chicks, separate 'em;
Guy-beating-Chick, separate and kick guys ass;
Chick-beating-Guy, watch and laugh :-)
Now, two old guys... That would be weird LoL...
NEET
Registered on 2008/02/17 09:28
Ouh, I'm suprised. I thought the elders of Japan were more .. um mature? Killing someone over that is plain stupid and lame.
I would probably not involve myself in something that stupid, if it wasn't anybody I knew of course.
R-1 in the "Hagane" docking bay
Personal Trooper
Registered on 2007/07/05 20:49
Tragic, but not the worse I'd read...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese
This is a pretty tame account of it. Apathy's a horrible trait we humans have. All one can do now is pray for this man's soul. I hope Japan's judicial system is not as corrupt as my home country's is.
Sound Man
Registered on 2008/02/05 11:46
Wow who do he think he is??
collecting figures ;)
Registered on 2008/03/20 12:43
man, this reminds me of Gantz! the first episode started like this - at the station where a homeless drunk guy had fallen on the track and no-one was ready to help him to the platform.
Art student
Registered on 2007/10/29 21:08
Horrible. 30 f*cking people to afraid to do somthing when a fellow human gets killed! I hate some things about Japan and this is one of the biggest thing I hate.
They are to scared to do anything!
Excuse me, but I´m so angry right now...
Art student
Registered on 2007/10/29 21:08
In my region people help people.
Humans help humans.
Visualizer, Advertising
Registered on 2007/08/26 02:35
helping other people in trouble is a good thing. getting in trouble for helping other people is not a good thing. and i assume the other 30 people on the bus didnt expect somebody that old could take other people lives.
university student
Registered on 2008/03/01 11:33
i am pretty sure the passengers on the bus did not care at first and probably grew worried when the fight proceeded longer than they have assumed
what makes me angry is that the bus driver did not do anything, he really does have a responsibility to stop fights like that (well at least the ones in canada would)
but i guess, if we REALLY were in that situation, it is difficult to predict rather we would help out. i am sure some of them wanted to, but if it involves risking our own lives, it's difficult to say if we would step in or not...
Registered on 2008/01/07 04:35
First of all, it is important to know that it is impolite to use mobile phones in public transportations, especially in older people's point of view (it was one of the very few things that kept my sister from the idea of living in Japan): http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070321202720AAe3nvh
A lot of people said they would stand up for this kind of thing, but would you really walk the walk when such thing happened all of a sudden? People wouldn't help them but instead would observe or ignore the situation, because they do not want to get themselve into deep water. In a way that's how things are like in high-stress working environments. Asia is a pretty stressful world. Pressure is something that is nearly always present in those people (something I've referred to in Danny's anti-suicide campaign entry). Stress built up from work, money, or being scold from boss (and trying to backfire against them don't usually work in Asia) can eventually cause unwanted outburst. Bus Uncle is a good example that did not ended with violence.
宅男 Otaku/ 工程师 Engineer
Registered on 2007/06/11 14:57
same thing over here i guess. maybe 1 or 2 passengers will step in to stop the fight but i believe most will just watch. >.<
student and おたく
Registered on 2007/09/02 00:51
That's senseless. He reminds me of 'Bus Uncle', though that incident didn't end anything like this.
Interactive Media Design and Graphic Design
Registered on 2006/12/26 00:12
thats horrible :'( how evil this world can be. The word are those people who did nothing. I hope that people in my are would stop something like this from happening not to mention bus driver.
Registered on 2007/05/27 12:46
well the old man could have been alive if he apparently kept his mouth shut and stop the anoying nagging.the fella probably got pissed that he was being nagged at by an old man or either felt that the old man had no respect for him and decided to beat him up so as to shut him up.anyway it very common to see brawls in buses especially during rush hours and its also very easy to start a brawl in buses when everyone on the bus fight for territorial space.So it not suprising that a fight broke out and a man end up getting killed.
ひきこもり/Hikikomori. Suits my current state more than a 大学生/University Student. ^^
Registered on 2007/12/04 23:16
I can't help but thinking that this is somehow in contradiction with the text book definition of Japan as a collective society. In reality there is deviation, indeed.
Scientist, unemployed.
Registered on 2008/01/20 06:57
Well, I have this laser here, and a really good targeting suite....
Seriously, I probably would get involved if it went past shouting. And even thing I might seriously consider it. But I suspect most people would just watch, or at most call the cops.
dyne46 in Philippines, Antipolo
Customer Service Representative
Registered on 2008/03/14 01:54
Diffusion of responsibility is what it is. People expect one another to step in but no one will. How sad. An unnecessary loss.
Technichal Support
Registered on 2008/04/05 18:25
Such a sad story. But I do agree with some of the points made, someone could have stepped in to save him, or even to diffuse the situation before it evolved into the tragety that it ended up becoming. Who knows, he may have been a nice old man that was trying to talk to his grandchild, imagie the horror tat the child would have gone through to hear grandpa get beaten to death while they were on the phone with him? Just sad :(
大学生
Registered on 2007/04/12 04:09
People talking loudly on the phone in buses is the norm here.
IT Project Administrator
Registered on 2007/11/23 01:44
Kinda reminds me of the train scene in the first episode of Gantz... but anyway, the people here in my country gets pretty much involved in these situations... I mean, some of them would try to speak down the attacker and some others may just tackle him...
The issue here is when the tables are turned, for example, if a robber/rapist/murderer gets caught by an enraged crowd he/she gets beaten up to a pulp (if lucky) or even lynched... I guess that's what happens when authorities do nothing about crime and people just get "justice by their own hands"... and I'm not proud of that...
IT Expert / System, Network, Security Administrator
Registered on 2008/07/08 04:56
WOW 30 of them did nothing?!?!? MURDERS! Of course there're a limit for everything, if you see someone getting beaten that bad, I'm sure (good) ppl would reach on instant.
