[/floatr]Japan Times (reg req'd): Less public drunkenness belies spike in imbibing
The number intoxicated people spending the night with the police may be declining but Japan remains a country of drinkers, with overall alcohol consumption on the rise. The Metropolitan Police Department's Toriizaka Protection Center in Minato Ward is the only drunk tank left in the country, where once there were four in Tokyo alone...The center has 15 "tora" (tiger) boxes, each about 4 meters square and furnished with a washable mattress and a clean blanket. Some of their occupants are indeed tigerlike -- tora is also slang for a drunkard -- behaving violently or hurling abusive language at staff before passing out. On average, the center takes in six to seven people every day. When they wake up, the first question many ask is "Where am I?" Many think they are in a hospital because the staff wear white uniforms...The number of intoxicated people taken into protective custody nationwide has fallen by more than half over the past three decades...But Shuta Toshida, director of the Shuai Toshida Clinic in Tokyo's Kita Ward, warns that fewer people passed out on the sidewalk doesn't mean there are fewer problem drinkers in Japan...While drinking outdoors has declined, the number of people consuming large amounts of alcohol or binge-drinking at home is on the rise, including bored and lonely housewives who have become "kitchen drinkers," Toshida said...more...
