Meiwaku Podcast

(upbeat music)

An update on the Yasakuni
Shrine graffiti situation.

The original one happened
about a month ago.

Nothing really came of it,
the guy who did the graffiti,

he wrote toilet on it, he said
this was a political message

about Fukushima power plant and how the
Japan is treating the world like its toilet.

So therefore he was going to take
this shrine and treat that like a toilet.

So he wrote toilet on it
and then he peed on it.

And that was all done on video.

Well this week, it’s
been about three, four

weeks since that initial
event had occurred.

Yasakuni Shrine was vandalized again.

And the political message this time was
dog toilet poo and militarism go to hell.

So I think the toilet message
is now going to be a through line.

Anyone who goes to
vandalize any of these sort of,

sacred areas that I
understand the controversy.

People are going to
just, I’m just wondering

if everyone who vandalizes
it from now in the future.

Now that this is now a copycat
thing and it’s now a thing,

are they all going to put something
toilet poop slash related on it?

And then they’re message,
the message that militarism

go to hell, I’m actually
kind of on board with that.

And it is a far more appropriate and
sensible statement compared to the first one.

So like, I don’t agree with the vandalism.

Let’s be clear about that.

But the first one, the message
of, I’m angry about Fukushima.

So I’m going to take
this shrine that has

militaristic connections
and write toilet on it.

That connection isn’t that strong.

That’s the problem.

So I think really the guy I
wanted to deface that shrine.

It’s famous and Chinese and
Korean people are angry about it.

I understand the controversy.

It’s very serious.

But the connection isn’t there.

Fukushima in this, the
relationship isn’t quite right.

This one, dog toilet poo, no poo, not poop.

It’s very important to be
accurate in our statement.

It’s not poop, poo, dog toilet poo.

That bit, I would say
it’s a bit extraneous.

Militarism go to hell makes perfect
sense to put on Yaskuni Shrine.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It was the holiday.

So the holiday, there’s a lot of
people out having a good time.

There’s a lot of tourism, but
it means a lot of Japanese.

People are off.

Everything’s very busy.

I spent the last two weeks on my holiday,

basically staying inside
and clean my house.

So hot outside, I did
not want to go outside.

My family didn’t want to go outside.

We just didn’t want to do anything.

We just decided to stay home.

It was a very good holiday.

It was actually relaxing,
which is really nice.

Not everyone has the same thing.

Some people, they want
to get out in on August 14.

They’re out, they’re partying,
they’re having a good time.

Two men tried to climb up onto
the sign outside of a family mart.

One guy boosted his friend,
and then his friend from the sign

was able to get onto
this like outcropping

roof of the family
mart, and he’s up there.

People are his friends
and filming him going like,

hey, ha ha, you’re doing
something you know is bad.

A bunch of people are
saying like, this isn’t cool.

Some people are laughing.

Some people are saying this is bad.

Then the staff come out and
they’re like, hey, get down from there.

And when he doesn’t get down from there,
they of course go and call the police.

His friends are like,
hey, police are coming.

We should maybe, upscond,
they didn’t know that word.

We should maybe run away.

The guy did not get down
fast enough to police show up.

They bring him down.

And then they give him a
verbal warning and they let him go.

I don’t– so this–
it’s a dual-edged sword.

I mean, every sword is a dual-edged sword.

I guess not.

That’s a dumb tangent
I just went on in my

head like is every sword,
a double-edged sword.

No, there’s lots of single-edged swords.

That’s not the point.

That’s not what I was talking about.

I’m talking about foreigner’s
behavior and the police.

And the question is,
should the police be stricter

or more kind with foreigners
the way they behave in Japan?

I don’t have a good answer.

This is actually really tough because
you want to encourage tourism.

But they are having a lot
of problems with tourism

because tourists are not following
the cultural norms or rules of Japan.

They keep doing things like this.

Like I actually don’t think there’s a
normal back wherever these guys came from.

They didn’t say the nationality,
but they just said foreigner.

That’s enough.

Climbing on to buildings, I
don’t think is OK anywhere.

If there is a place where it’s OK,
culturally speaking, please let me know.

I would actually be
really interested in that.

But I don’t think that’s
a normal common thing.

So he knew he was doing a bad thing.

The police, what should they have done?

So they don’t say if these
are permanent residents

or they’re on a visa or they’re
on a holiday or whatever.

So that’s really the
question I would have more

than anything else is
are these guys residents?

And I have this weird
thing where I think residents

should get treated more
harshly than tourists.

Tourists should get
warned, maybe once or twice,

and then if they get in trouble,
a third time, deport them.

It’s fine.

If you have committed
to living here and yet you

flaunt the rules, I feel like
you should be dealt with like

a Japanese person, which
I feel would be more harsh.

I’m not sure.

I think there’s again, it would
depend on the police officer.

Some police would be like
more harsh with foreigners

and one that someone would
be more forgiving and vice versa.

Like that’s just I think the case.

‘Cause these are people who have to
make interpretations on the moment.

But online, there is a
new term that has come up.

It is, “Mei waku gai goku jin.

” So, “gai goku jin” is foreigner
and “Mei waku” is nuisance.

And that is the foreigners coming, doing
whatever they want, getting away with it.

And I think, so just went into my head,
was the one Logan Paula came to Japan.

He went to the suicide forest and
found a body, and he videoed all this.

And just, I didn’t watch all that stuff.

I saw this sort of
essentially highlight clips.

And it was a lawyer
talking about how many

crimes he had actually
committed over the course

of the like five minutes of
highlight videos that we saw.

And it was numerous and
yet the guy didn’t get in trouble.

And I think that’s it.

And I think when, maybe this is my opinion.

I haven’t formulated my opinion strongly.

So that’s why I have to be a
little careful with what I say.

‘Cause I might actually talk myself through

and come out on the other
end with a different opinion.

If the nuisance is purposeful,

I think the police should
treat it in a purposeful way.

So I’m climbing on a building.

I know I’m not supposed to climb on.

I’m causing problems that I
know I’m not supposed to do.

That should be treated harshly.

If someone wanders into a building
site where they’re not supposed to be

and is genuinely confused and
just doesn’t know where they are,

I don’t think that should
be treated harshly at all.

That, I think I think I’ve hit on it.

I think this is where intent becomes the
factor as to how they should be dealt with.

So since this guy purposefully climbed
up there, knew he was doing a bad thing.

They were filming it probably
going to put on social media.

I think he should have
been dealt with more harshly.

I think this is a case where this guy
should have been treated more harshly.

I’m thinking back to the Johnny Somali.

Johnny Somali pushed these
boundaries again and again and again.

And he got arrested and he got held, but
he never actually got in any real trouble.

I think they should have
deported him right away.

Like after the first or second
time, he got in trouble to

just deport the guy because
he was doing it on purpose.

Whereas if it was a guy live streaming
and he’s done some things by accident

and maybe caused some problems,
but he didn’t do it on purpose,

it’d be like, “Hey,
don’t do that again.

” And then we’re fine.

A woman got arrested for throwing
eggs at her neighbor’s house.

They cited two days
specifically because they had

video footage of the events
happening on those days.

So those were the specific ones.

surveillance cameras show her throwing
eggs sort of sniper style from her window.

So you can see the window open

and you can see her huck
an egg out at the other house.

And she would throw two or three at a time.

And according to the
neighbor, the person actually

lived in the house
that was getting egged.

This happened every day.

And she threw five or six eggs every day.

So she seemed to take like
one or two shots at a time,

closed the window, wait 40 minutes,
opened the window, shoot two or three eggs.

And again, my mind stopped right there.

There’s more to this story
about what the fallout and what.

But five eggs, six eggs every day.

So you’re using a carton of
eggs, dozen eggs, every two days.

You’re paying for that.

She’s paying for the eggs she’s
throwing at the house next door.

She’s going through an
insane amount of eggs.

During the pandemic, there
was this story that we did.

And it was how the price
of eggs had gone up so much.

And I was like, this story seems to say

that over this entire period
she was throwing eggs.

So even when eggs got like,
oppressively expensive in Japan,

she was still buying a dozen eggs and
using them over the course of two days,

not for nutrition, but to
throw at her neighbor’s house.

The neighbor said at times it was 20 eggs.

I haven’t done anything to her.

She started throwing eggs at
my balcony around December 2019.

It has been happening regularly since.

So she’s implying that it’s
happening this whole time.

She’s probably complaining
to try to talk to them.

She’s talked to something else.

She talked to the police.

But there’s been no real proof.

There’s just a ton of eggs.

They have pictures around the house

where there’s just literally eggshells
and egg yolk and just egg everywhere.

And then the reporter
who’s going up to this

house is like, you can
smell the house from here.

The other secondary part of this though,

the woman who’s
throwing eggs has to live

next to the house that
smells of rotten eggs.

She’s the one who’s actually living,
she’s like punishing herself in a way.

They’ve been neighbors for about 20 years.

So 2019, we’re talking
about five years in the past.

That’s how long this has been reported for.

This is her second arrest for this.

She was arrested three years
ago for the exact same thing.

So this is a question.

So throwing eggs at a
house, form of vandalism,

I’m gonna get in trouble, maybe you gotta
find, maybe since it’s the second arrest,

you might get a little bit of jail time,
but it’s not going to be significant.

She’s gonna go back to that house and
then she’s going to continue the behavior.

We kind of know this.

So how do you stop this from happening?

Like, should you be able to
force this woman to move?

I got a lot of questions this
episode that I don’t have answers to.

And it seems like she
should bear the burden.

She’s the one causing the problem.

She’s throwing the egg.

She’s committing vandalism.

She’s attacking the neighbor.

She should bear the financial responsibility
of cleaning up first things first.

Then I would actually say if she
commits the crime again or she continues.

I think they should force
her to move somewhere else.

Like I’m not saying cost her extra
money, like put her out of self or sale,

whatever that house
goes for, put that money

into the next house
where she has to move to.

They’ve lived next to
each other for 20 years.

And it seems like at the
beginning there was no real problem.

And then it sort of developed over time.

When the neighbor says,
I haven’t done anything

to her, I don’t know
if I fully believe that.

I like, as much as this conflict
seems to be one side of,

I don’t know if I honestly
believed you did nothing.

Or maybe the fact that you ignored her

and did nothing actually
is what pissed her off.

‘Cause Japan does have this whole thing

where you’re supposed to
go like greet your neighbors

when you move in and try to form a positive,
social relationship, that kind of stuff.

That’s baked into society here.

We’ve had a couple
people show up to our house

and they give us like, traditionally
it’s literally cleaning products.

It’s laundry detergent or dish
soap or something like that.

And they give that and say like,
we’ve moved into the neighborhood.

If we have any trouble, can we rely on you?

Can we be friends like that?

You never actually see
them again after that.

Like I have this happen
maybe two months ago.

It’s a very nice couple
and their kids showed up.

And I said hello to the
kid and they were like,

whoa, foreign person living in our
area and they gave us the thing.

They said, we’re moving
in around this area.

Spoke Japanese too quickly.

I didn’t actually catch where they lived.

I haven’t seen them since.

But if I do ever see them, I do have a
positive feeling from that first interaction.

So I actually think there is a benefit
to doing this Japanese traditional thing

and showing up at someone else’s house
and being like, I moved into the area.

Hope we can have a good relationship.

Maybe she didn’t do that.

Maybe she did something
she’s not admitting.

But clearly the person she’s dealing with.

I can’t just going through
the volume of eggs

that she went through is
just lost her sense of reality.

So this is her second arrest.

I am going to see if I can follow up
and find out what the punishment is.

Because this house is littered in
eggshells and the smell is horrendous.

I didn’t actually smell it.

But there were multiple reports.

The woman says it always smells like eggs.

The reporter said, you
could smell it from here.

They talked about how like
from the area smells like eggs.

So she’s like negatively impacting houses

that aren’t essentially
part of this conflict

because she’s decided
to use like a smell attack.

Smell attacks are, of course.

Some of the worst attacks you can use.

(electronic music)

I haven’t done panty-feet
stories in a long time

because panty-feet
stories, they get repetitive.

I mean, there’s only so many
creative ways people can steal panties.

And sometimes I would do one because
the sheer volume of panties they found

when the police went to the
guys house was astonishing.

So it was like a lifetime career’s worth
of panties found in this dude’s house.

Like I remember like 4,000, 5,000,
like thousands and thousands of things.

These guys have stolen.

There were two stories though this week.

So it seemed like we’ve
hit the end of the break.

This is when the panty-feet
kind of like make their shot.

They go out there and they do their thing.

So there was a police
officer and he was caught

climbing over a balcony to steal the
panties that were hanging out to dry.

He said, I stole them.

I apologize to the victim
and the other police officers

because of course their reputation
has been damaged by my behavior.

Then we get a standard police statement.

And it’s a standard apology.

I’ve actually read it easily a
dozen times on the engineer’s trip in.

It’s regrettable.

They say that every time.

They apologize.

And then they get to this line.

We will thoroughly
instruct and educate our

officers to prevent this
from happening again.

And I find that when
you’re talking about

cops, do you need to
educate them in the fact

that you should not steal
stuff from people’s balconies?

Like let’s ignore even the panty bit and
sort of like weird purvey aspect of this.

Should you need to educate police more
thoroughly on not stealing stuff from people?

I think that’s already baked in there.

So it’s not an education issue.

This is a hiring issue.

You’ve hired a guy
who’s purvey in some way.

Now there’s no way to really suss that out.

So I don’t actually hold this
against the police force at large.

I wouldn’t hold it against this perfectural
police force or this town’s police force.

Because they hired a guy and I
like to steal women’s underwear.

It’s something you could very
easily hide by just not talking about it.

And this is what you should
do if you’re a good criminal.

Don’t talk about it.

We’ve had a dozen stories where it was like
they filmed it and put it on social media.

They talked about it to everyone they knew.

That’s how they got caught.

That is something you can prevent.

At least not make it easier
for the police to catch you.

So this guy I’m assuming knew I’m a cop.

I shouldn’t tell my
co-workers that I stole 70 pairs

of panties last week
or something like that.

Then we get on to our
second story, August 2nd, 8 p.m.

He broke into an apartment
to take a woman’s underwear,

go into the closet and sort of like
make a little nook and sniff them.

This guy was a former ballet dancer.

I wouldn’t go ahead and
say famous, but successful

in the dance world
had worked overseas in

America in multiple
productions as a dancer.

Productions of things I’d heard of,

because I mean they had
fisted in the rest of her.

He was in that.

And this is the pretty
privilege psychology issue.

When I saw a picture of him, I’m
like, this is a good looking dude.

Why does he need to do this?

Like, he’s good looking.

If he’s a ballet dancer, he’s fit.

All he has to do is get a girlfriend.

And then, yeah, get
someone who would be find

it acceptable for him
to sniff her panties.

When I’m like, make it
part of your relationship.

But then we get deeper into it.

And this makes more sense to me now as to
why he felt he had to break into a house.

I wanted to feel a strong sense of
tension by sneaking into someone’s home.

So for him, the pervy aspect wasn’t enough,

like just having women’s
underwear that he could deal with.

That wasn’t enough for him.

He needed the extra tension, the
danger of breaking into someone’s house.

And then doing this
perverted act in their

house is what actually
was exciting to him.

So it wasn’t even I bet
the panties or the stealing.

It was the breaking in and being
somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.

And the chance that he could
get caught was a big part of it.

So he broke in, he got into the
closet, he started sniffing away.

The couple came home,
and of course he bolted.

They didn’t say if he
ran out the front door

or out back over the balcony or
the window or the way it came in.

Did this see how he came in?

No, just as he broke in.

I’m assuming he came in through a window.

I don’t know why I assume that.

But I’m pretty sure he didn’t, I guess
he didn’t come in through the front door.

He probably didn’t like Jimmy the lock.

That would have been noticeable
to the couple when they came home.

So he ran, they chased him, he gets caught.

Turns out this is not his first arrest.

And it turns out he’s very
serious about this practice.

In his first arrest, he was
using night vision goggles.

So this is a guy who’s
dead serious about this.

He’s like, I’m going to get equipment

that I can use to better
break into people’s houses,

break into their house and
then do this perverted act.

But I want the real tension.

I’m actually doing it in someone’s house.

That’s the bit that actually
makes it exciting for me.

(upbeat music)

A man had had some cocktails back in 2015.

We have to go back to the original.

This is when the actual story
happens and now we’ve had

lawsuits and the lawsuits
have basically just finished up.

So I do like when the story has
a finish like an actual conclusion.

The stories are exciting,
but the conclusion is also,

to me, very big part of
it, are they successful?

Do they win?

Do they lose?

That becomes part of the story for me.

You have a guy, he’s had some drinks.

It’s already, you know,
this story’s going a really

good way if it starts
out with, he was drinking.

And he’s like, huh, you
know what, let’s go into the

haunted house and this
little park thing over here.

You know, the haunted houses are,
they’re exciting, they’re fun, I’m drunk.

It’ll be more visceral for me, maybe.

I’ll have more, it’ll
have more of an impact.

It’ll be more fun, let’s do that.

So he goes in and he’s holding
his partner’s hand and going forward.

And then a actor jumps
out dressed as a ghost.

Now, I did not mention at
the beginning of this story

that this man was a fairly
high level karate practitioner.

So when a ghost jumped
out at him, he did a kick

and he kicked the actor
in the jaw and broke it.

So he, this actor,
probably like a teenager,

dressed up as a ghost,
doing like a summer job,

jumps out to scare a guy, like
he’s done a million times before.

Everyone has a good laugh,
ha ha, and then they move on.

In this case, he jumps
out, goes to scare the guy,

gets kicked in the face
and his jaw gets broken.

Then there’s a lawsuit and
the lawsuit is this karate guy,

he needs to pay the
actor for the damages done.

10 million yen, he accepts that.

Then he launches a counter lawsuit.

And the karate guy says that the management
company is also partially responsible.

Now, there are four points in the lawsuit

as to how the company
that runs this haunt his house

is actually responsible for
the results of this situation.

Number one, there was no barrier
between the ghost and the customer.

Now, the jumping out aspect
of it usually means there’s no

barrier ’cause they’re
kind of hiding around

a corner, they jump
out, that’s the scary bit,

they get very close to you,
that’s also part of the scare.

I think that is on purpose.

And therefore, I personally,
let’s pretend I’m the

judge, I think that’s an
unreasonable expectation.

This has also gone on for
years and years and years.

The actors, I bet, are not
allowed to actually touch you.

They jump out and they
go, well, well, well, well, well.

Or they do something right in
your face, but they don’t touch you.

There’s kind of like an
unwritten rule probably

for all these places where you’re not
touching the actual customers or guests.

Number two, the park failed to
train employees to avoid attacks.

That seems like an
unreasonable expectation.

So, hey, high school kids
who are gonna do a summer job

for me, we’re gonna
have to do a two week

training camp to avoid
high kicks to the face.

Because there is the off
chance that a single drunk

individual also practices
karate and booty in the face

while you’re doing your
job here at minimum wage.

I don’t think, I mean,
if this went through,

this would actually
imply that every company

where someone interacts
with the public in some way

needs to train them in
some form of self-defense.

Might actually not be a bad thing,
but in this case, what he’s saying is,

your staff need to be prepared
to stop or avoid attacks

of patrons, which again, I
think is quite unreasonable.

Number three, the park did not inform
customers that real people were inside.

I don’t know if you have to do that.

Because the whole point is we’re gonna
go in, you don’t know what’s going on.

It’s supposed to be scary,
it’s supposed to be a surprise.

So, if you told
everything that’s gonna

happen, then you’re
taking away the scare part,

and now you’re actually
messing up the whole ride.

I see the logic there,
like there’s real people

in there, but if a machine
jumped out at you,

and you kicked to the machine,
and you broke the machine,

I think you’d still be responsible
to pay for the machine.

The breakage or the damage
you did to the machine.

This is just more serious,
’cause it’s an actual

human being that
you’ve booted in the face.

Number four, the park, should
have stopped a drunk man.

I actually vaguely agree with this,
that when drunk people wanna do things,

they often don’t make good
decisions because they’re drunk.

But at the same time, how drunk was he?

Like, was it noticeable?

Was the fact that he
was drinking like an issue?

But also, I think drunk
people are more likely

to go on haunted houses,
because it’ll be more fun for them.

So, I actually would say that being drunk

might even be part of the
attraction of the haunted house.

So, I flip flop, the first three I’m saying,
no, but this one I kind of flip flop on,

because I think it should be up
to the management’s discretion.

I think if they say you’re too
drunk, you shouldn’t be going here.

I think that should be allowed.

But, they’re also in a
situation where it’s like,

well, am I gonna refuse
every drunk person’s

money, ’cause then I
might not make any money.

The karate guy asked
the park to pay 4.

8 million yen of the 10 million
yen that he was supposed to pay.

That was thrown out.

Then he came back to a higher level court.

So, this guy, he’s
showing the karate spirit.

He’s not giving up, and
he’s now trying to get

the park to pay 7 million
of the 10 million yen.

And, of course, it was also thrown out,

because he didn’t really
have anything new to add.

He didn’t have any sort of better
justifications than the ones I just read you.

But we did get the courts ruling.

The courts ruling was, it is
the aim to surprise customers.

So, the whole point of a haunted
house is to surprise people.

I’ve actually gone into
haunted houses a few times.

I would say they were
pretty low key, cheap ones.

You stepped on a panel, and
when you stepped on the panel

it was basically a giant button,
and then a thing going, “Maha!

” And then came
out at your face.

I was with my girlfriend at the time,

and she would scream every
time, and I would go like, “I had

no surprise reaction,” because
it wasn’t surprising enough.

I think an actor in a ghost costume probably
would have got a reaction out of me.

But the fact that I could
feel I would take a step

into a good chunk, and
then something happened,

I just was like, “Okay,
I’m actually gonna make

the front of my girlfriend at
the time, and I’m gonna tell her,

okay, something’s happening,
and then it happens.

” And she thought I was psychic.

But it’s because she was
walking slightly behind me,

so I could feel the big buttons
on the floor, and she couldn’t.

She was also just way more into it.

I’m also not really fun, you
know, amusement parks and stuff.

I ride roller coasters,
and my facial

expression does not
change, and I do not scream.

I have a good time, I
enjoy it, I just sit there,

and I enjoy the feeling,
and I go on the ride,

but a lot of people
say it’s actually not fun,

because I don’t react to the
stuff you’re supposed to react to.

It is done on the principle
that the haunted house is safe.

So yeah, if a haunted
house was actually

dangerous, it wouldn’t
be open to the public.

So the fact that the
public’s allowed to go in there

means there’s an understanding
that it’s a safe environment

that you’re not going to get hurt,
that nothing’s actually gonna happen.

Yes, they’re going to surprise you and
scare you, but nothing bad’s gonna happen.

Therefore, it is unreasonable
for you to react as if

something like this is
actually gonna happen to you.

It’s unreal, I’ve lost the sense.

It’s unrealistic for your reaction
to be as if something were real,

and something was
actually going to hurt you.

So you don’t need to defend yourself,
I think it’s what the judge is saying.

It is difficult to find
a justifiable rationale

for the action of
kicking a minimum wage,

probably teenager or university student
actor in the face and breaking his jaw.

And I think that is a very good judgment.

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

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