Dumbest Newbie Reporter Ever

[Samurai_Jerk]

This one takes the cake.

The Bicycle Thief

I’ve been living in Japan for two years, and I pretty much know all the rules. Laws, customs, etiquette, that kind of thing.

Stealing is wrong, of course, same as it is everywhere, but somehow it’s more wrong here. In Kyoto, for example, people often leave their shopping in their bicycle basket, sometimes even their handbags, when they go into a store. Their belongings are always there when they come back. This seems unthinkable, but it’s the norm in Japan.

People do sometimes take bicycles — not new ones, but the bashed-in things around the entrance of subway stations. They’re often in big piles, covered in rust, abandoned for whatever reason.

Someone told me that it was O.K. to pick these up and use them. My friend intimated to me that it wasn’t quite legal, but everyone seemed to do it, including the Japanese, so I thought it was fine.

Like the way that, twice a year, when everyone receives their bonasu, or seasonal bonus, families put furniture and TVs out on the street. Lots of foreigners I know get stuff that way.

What year is it?

Anyway, last December, I decided to pick one up.

Exploring the usual mountain of bikes near my subway station, I saw that some were little more than rotting metal skeletons; others were bent or missing saddles. But then I found a nice shiny red one with beige handlebars and a basket. It looked brand-new. Even the key was there in the open lock. I could hardly believe that someone didn’t want it. I took the bike and rode away.

I cycled around on it for a couple of weeks. One afternoon when I came out of the subway, a Japanese man was standing near the bike. Thinking nothing of it, I bent to unlock it and the man started shouting and taking photos of me with his cellphone. He was talking so fast that I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Finally he began shouting an English word that I understood well enough: ‘‘Thief!’’

Suddenly, the police were there. The man spoke to them and gestured toward the bike. I was ushered into a police car and taken to the station.

For the record:

Sarah Lewis, 29, lives in Kyoto and teaches English in Osaka. She is originally from London.

My God she is beyond dumb. How the fuck did she survive till age 29?

[yanpa]

Like the way that, twice a year, when everyone receives their bonasu, or seasonal bonus, families put furniture and TVs out on the street. Lots of foreigners I know get stuff that way.

What year is it?

The bubble era called and wanted its apocryphal sodai gomi stories back.

In the next episode, Sarah Lewis is arrested for mailing herself US-style hard prescription drugs because a friend intimated to her that it wasn’t quite legal, but everyone seemed to do it, including the Japanese, so she thought it was fine.

[Takechanpoo]

its a universal law that womans stupidity or insanity is bottomless.

[Coligny]

its a universal law that womans stupidity or insanity is bottomless.

Sooo... you weren't born a male ?

was the operation painfull ?

[matsuki]

Wow...and that garbage was published?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Like the way that, twice a year, when everyone receives their bonasu, or seasonal bonus, families put furniture and TVs out on the street. Lots of foreigners I know get stuff that way.

What year is it?

The bubble era called and wanted its apocryphal sodai gomi stories back.

In the next episode, Sarah Lewis is arrested for mailing herself US-style hard prescription drugs because a friend intimated to her that it wasn’t quite legal, but everyone seemed to do it, including the Japanese, so she thought it was fine.

When I first arrived here 17 years ago I heard stories about the good old days of the bubble when you could fully furnish your apartment with with sodai gomi. I always figured there was some truth to it but it was greatly exaggerated. Either way the point is that in the late 90's those days were already over. I'm surprised that story has survived.

The idea of getting usable appliance and furniture off the streets isn't unique to Japan. It's pretty common (or at least it was at one time) for people in NYC to do that. I guess the people who are surprised by this are those who've never lived in an urban environment with centralized points for garbage collection.

[Grumpy Gramps]

including the Japanese

Nice to see that there are still people around, who have a heart for and include the outcasts and minorities.

Still quite nice stuff to snatch here on sodai gomi day...

[Yokohammer]

I was under the impression that it had been made illegal to take sodai gomi many years ago.


~ Tapatalking ~

[wagyl]

I was under the impression that it had been made illegal to take sodai gomi many years ago.

I don't think anyone, ever, suggested it was legal to take sodai gomi. It is one of those "if nobody complains, nobody gets charged" situations where there was always a risk, but very small.

[Yokohammer]

I was under the impression that it had been made illegal to take sodai gomi many years ago.

I don't think anyone, ever, suggested it was legal to take sodai gomi. It is one of those "if nobody complains, nobody gets charged" situations where there was always a risk, but very small.

At one time there was no law against it. But then at some point a number of years ago it was specifically made illegal, and I remember a few cases where people were actually prosecuted. I think that was after they figured out that they could make money from it.

Before it was made illegal the recycle guys used come around with their own trucks before the official sodai gomi people showed up.

So it was not illegal, and then it was.

[yanpa]

Like the way that, twice a year, when everyone receives their bonasu, or seasonal bonus, families put furniture and TVs out on the street. Lots of foreigners I know get stuff that way.

What year is it?

The bubble era called and wanted its apocryphal sodai gomi stories back.

In the next episode, Sarah Lewis is arrested for mailing herself US-style hard prescription drugs because a friend intimated to her that it wasn’t quite legal, but everyone seemed to do it, including the Japanese, so she thought it was fine.

When I first arrived here 17 years ago I heard stories about the good old days of the bubble when you could fully furnish your apartment with with sodai gomi. I always figured there was some truth to it but it was greatly exaggerated. Either way the point is that in the late 90's those days were already over. I'm surprised that story has survived.

Quite. I first heard it at university in the early 90's. I think it's one of those long-lasting legends like the $10 cups of coffee and $100 melons.

The idea of getting usable appliance and furniture off the streets isn't unique to Japan. It's pretty common (or at least it was at one time) for people in NYC to do that. I guess the people who are surprised by this are those who've never lived in an urban environment with centralized points for garbage collection.

I furnished my first apartment in 1991 in the former East Berlin with GDR-era stuff people were throwing out left, right and centre to replace with western imports. It wasn't very fashionable but perfectly serviceable. I still feel the urge to eyeball the occasional piles of be-stickered sodai gomi one sees around, but unless you're really really poor, pickings are slim.

[Wage Slave]

I still see a few bits and pieces that I want but not much. A Panasonic portable CD player here, an Onkyo midi HiFi there but invariably these days if it's a decent model there's something wrong with it. That's fine with me because I want the challenge first and foremost. We also get the Brazilian guys arriving in a truck on metal rubbish day before the City turn up and they take pretty much everything of any conceivable value.

[matsuki]

Like the way that, twice a year, when everyone receives their bonasu, or seasonal bonus, families put furniture and TVs out on the street. Lots of foreigners I know get stuff that way.

What year is it?

The bubble era called and wanted its apocryphal sodai gomi stories back.

In the next episode, Sarah Lewis is arrested for mailing herself US-style hard prescription drugs because a friend intimated to her that it wasn’t quite legal, but everyone seemed to do it, including the Japanese, so she thought it was fine.

When I first arrived here 17 years ago I heard stories about the good old days of the bubble when you could fully furnish your apartment with with sodai gomi. I always figured there was some truth to it but it was greatly exaggerated. Either way the point is that in the late 90's those days were already over. I'm surprised that story has survived.

Quite. I first heard it at university in the early 90's. I think it's one of those long-lasting legends like the $10 cups of coffee and $100 melons.

...except now $10+ coffee is out there and we have 1,500,000円 melons

[Samurai_Jerk]

Like the way that, twice a year, when everyone receives their bonasu, or seasonal bonus, families put furniture and TVs out on the street. Lots of foreigners I know get stuff that way.

What year is it?

The bubble era called and wanted its apocryphal sodai gomi stories back.

In the next episode, Sarah Lewis is arrested for mailing herself US-style hard prescription drugs because a friend intimated to her that it wasn’t quite legal, but everyone seemed to do it, including the Japanese, so she thought it was fine.

When I first arrived here 17 years ago I heard stories about the good old days of the bubble when you could fully furnish your apartment with with sodai gomi. I always figured there was some truth to it but it was greatly exaggerated. Either way the point is that in the late 90's those days were already over. I'm surprised that story has survived.

Quite. I first heard it at university in the early 90's. I think it's one of those long-lasting legends like the $10 cups of coffee and $100 melons.

...except now $10+ coffee is out there and we have 1,500,000円 melons

That's not the point. Expensive coffee and melons have always been around. However, they're the exception not the rule. A fact that has generally been lost in stories about Japan.

[matsuki]

You mean not all Japanese are anime, tentacle, and bukkake loving pedophiles?

[wagyl]

You mean not all Japanese are anime, tentacle, and bukkake loving pedophiles?

The ones without robots delivering used panties are, for sure.

[matsuki]

The hikikomori tribe...I've read about those!

[legion]

When I first arrived here 17 years ago I heard stories about the good old days of the bubble when you could fully furnish your apartment with with sodai gomi. I always figured there was some truth to it but it was greatly exaggerated. Either way the point is that in the late 90's those days were already over. I'm surprised that story has survived.

The idea of getting usable appliance and furniture off the streets isn't unique to Japan. It's pretty common (or at least it was at one time) for people in NYC to do that. I guess the people who are surprised by this are those who've never lived in an urban environment with centralized points for garbage collection.

I knew guys who furnished their apartments with gomi, kotatsu, rice cookers, tvs, stereos, speakers, beds, chairs, tables.... there were even guys who would then try and sell the stuff when they departed for home.

TVs off the gomi were roach motels.

[legion]

:jawdrop:
This one takes the cake.

The Bicycle Thief



My God she is beyond dumb. How the fuck did she survive till age 29?

A few days later, shame still burning, I bought a bicycle of my own. Recently, it was stolen — outside a subway stop. I had forgotten to lock it. The police returned it to me within the week, bowing deeply after handing it over.

I call bullshit

The police don't bow, and they don't deliver bicycles.

[Russell]

:jawdrop:
This one takes the cake.

The Bicycle Thief



My God she is beyond dumb. How the fuck did she survive till age 29?

A few days later, shame still burning, I bought a bicycle of my own. Recently, it was stolen — outside a subway stop. I had forgotten to lock it. The police returned it to me within the week, bowing deeply after handing it over.

I call bullshit

The police don't bow, and they don't deliver bicycles.

I was thinking the same.

I can't believe they would release her after she signed a confession.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I call bullshit

The police don't bow, and they don't deliver bicycles.

Her story does sound a little fishy. The cops definitely didn't bow deeply. They probably did the head bop when she went to pick her bike up. She doesn't actually say they delivered it but it is kind of implied the way she wrote it.

I was thinking the same.

I can't believe they would release her after she signed a confession.

I guess the question is was it a confession or an apology? In cases like this police won't always pursue charges if the victim of the crime is satisfied. Since the guy got his bike back and she wrote a formal apology, he might have felt justice was served. One of my buddies got drunk one night and punched a small window on the backdoor to a building in Ueno cracking it. The cops were called and he was detained but in the end the owner decided not to pursue anything in exchange for twenty or thirty thousand yen compensation.

[matsuki]

:jawdrop:
This one takes the cake.

The Bicycle Thief



My God she is beyond dumb. How the fuck did she survive till age 29?

A few days later, shame still burning, I bought a bicycle of my own. Recently, it was stolen — outside a subway stop. I had forgotten to lock it. The police returned it to me within the week, bowing deeply after handing it over.

I call bullshit

The police don't bow, and they don't deliver bicycles.

I was thinking the same.

I can't believe they would release her after she signed a confession.

That rushed little BTW at the end reeks of "I'm also a victim" bullshit.

As to releasing her over a stolen bike, drunk friend of mine grabbed one and was caught at 2am on his attempt to get home. Spent the night in detention, owner showed up for the bike, they let him go. When a crazy ex of mine stole a cell phone and other shit from me, the cops literally refused to press charges "because if she returns it, it's no longer stolen."

Also relevant: Sooooo many of the comments on the article are talking about how "civilized" and "honest" Japan is while ignoring the claimed second theft in the story and other comments, pointing out how bicycle theft happens to everyone here. Obviously the area has a lot to do with it but in big cities, locks on everything and shutters on all the first story windows are SOP. Speaking of urban legends, the locals reasoning for most of the security measures always seems to be "gangs of Chinese thieves."

[Samurai_Jerk]

When I arrived on JET I inherited a bicycle from my predecessor that was a total piece of junk. I didn't want it so I used to leave it unlocked in front of my apartment building hoping someone would steal it. Thankfully it was gone one day. What a disappointment when it was returned two weeks later.

[matsuki]

By the deeply bowing/apologizing police?

[Yokohammer]

I can't even count the number of times I've had nice, expensive umbrellas stolen from store umbrella stands.

SOP seems to be just take the nicest looking one. And it's not like they can't tell the difference. I had a series of umbrellas with carved animal handles that were impossible to mistake for the standard plastic handled variety. None of them survived more than a couple of umbrella stands.

Honest? Yeah, right.

Honest when dishonesty might result in a direct face-to-face confrontation, but otherwise not so much (perhaps "not always" would be better here, 'cause sometimes they are).

And let's not forget ol' Honest Abe (Shinzo, not the other one).

[matsuki]

I can't even count the number of times I've had nice, expensive umbrellas stolen from store umbrella stands.

SOP seems to be just take the nicest looking one. And it's not like they can't tell the difference. I had a series of umbrellas with carved animal handles that were impossible to mistake for the standard plastic handled variety. None of them survived more than a couple of umbrella stands.

Honest? Yeah, right.

After I was stuck out in drenching rain for the second time because some asshole decided to steal my umbrella from one of those stands, I just started just bringing it in the restaurant/store with me unless they have those locking type stands at the entrance. Better their floor gets dripped on than me drenched.

As with anything here, nothing unique about the dishonest fucks in the country. It's the same as anywhere else. It's just disgusting to see the constant "Japanese are honest/erai" patting themselves on the back shit being portrayed as if people here can be trusted and are honest "because Japanese." I mean, I've literally had customers tell me they were worried about doing business with a foreigner until they saw I was working with a J-dude. 「日本人が居るから安心しました。」 Why thank you good sir, I'm glad I've "earned" your trust, not because the products are used by most of the pros and you never hear complaints...but because I have a Japanese dude working with me and that means I must be honest.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Matsuki and Yoko,

You two sound borderline Debitoesque. Yeah, people here steal shit but you're definitely less likely to have your iPhone or bag walk away while you're not paying attention at a bar in Tokyo than in a lot of other cities in the world. Everyone I know here who's had their bike stolen left it unlocked. The only people I know in cities in the US who haven't had their bikes stolen are people that NEVER leaved them locked on the street unattended. Everyone pretty much assumes their bike will be stolen at some point if they do and they're right.

Matsuki,

Most people are more comfortable doing business with their own kind whatever that happens to mean to them.

[matsuki]

SJ - not claiming Japan is as bad as NYC, it's obviously not and neither of us are trying to make out Japan to be some crime-ridden shithole. Just saying it's fucked to brag about "the unique honesty of We Japanese" (like we so often see) to the point that you'd think crime here is rare and dishonest Japanese people don't exist...or go further and acknowledge that crime exists but make leaps of logic and stretch everything to link it to Zainichi/Chinese in one way or form.

Matsuki,

Most people are more comfortable doing business with their own kind whatever that happens to mean to them.

Fair enough...but wouldn't you say that "doing business with their own kind" mentality is stronger here than elsewhere? Hell, most Chinese I know would prefer NOT to do business with other Chinese.

[Yokohammer]

Matsuki and Yoko,

You two sound borderline Debitoesque. Yeah, people here steal shit but you're definitely less likely to have your iPhone or bag walk away while you're not paying attention at a bar in Tokyo than in a lot of other cities in the world. Everyone I know here who's had their bike stolen left it unlocked. The only people I know in cities in the US who haven't had their bikes stolen are people that NEVER leaved them locked on the street unattended. Everyone pretty much assumes their bike will be stolen at some point if they do and they're right.

For sure.

The point was that the oft-repeated myth of total Japanese honesty is exactly that ... a myth.

And like I said, if they think there's a chance of confrontation they often won't try anything. That's why so much crime in Japan is "ore ore sagi" or other types of fraud that can be perpetrated by remote control. Similar with break-ins: the vast majority are "akisu" while the occupant is absent rather than the full-on home invasions you have in other countries.

There's less in-yer-face crime, but there's still plenty of crime. It just takes different forms.



~ Tapatalking ~

[wagyl]

Similar with break-ins: the vast majority are "akisu" while the occupant is absent rather than the full-on home invasions you have in other countries

I'm pretty sure that this factor is as unique to Japan as the number of seasons.