Tag: scalpers

coming off   the golden  week   holiday that  is why  the podcast  is   technically a  day late  i’ve got  that

holiday vibe  going on  i’m all  relaxed i’m  all chill  uh i  was   questioning whether  to get  one

out but   then i   thought i   have this   one last   day before  i go  back to  work   everyone’s out  of the 

house that’s   when you   do a   podcast when   everyone’s out  of the  house in  the last  episode   we had   a police

officer who   was the   extra man   in a   extramarital affair  the husband  found out  that this  police

officer was   doing things   with his   wife that   they’re not  supposed   to be   doing and   threatened to  kill him 

and it   turned out   to not   be such   a good   idea well   here’s another  situation   police officer  liked a 

woman woman  has a  boyfriend   so i   guess you   just give   up and   move on   with your   life i   mean there’s

lots of   people in   the world   you can   you can   find the   one for   you or   you take   the only   logical course 

of action   you look   up the   boyfriend in  the   police database  and then  you hunt  him down  to his  house

and threaten   him because  that’s   gonna work  first of  all if  you want  to look  at this  i i  do often  want

to look   at this   from different  perspectives   but the   romantic point  of view  this is  a love  thing i 

find this   woman attractive  i want  to attract  her i  want to  be the  man she  falls in  love with  what is 

she going   to find   most appealing  about me  as a  person the  fact that  i do  really   creepy things  and

threaten people’s  lives   romantically speaking  will   this work  so   is this  the   kind of  woman   who’s going 

to find  you   illegally accessing  a   database to  get   information about  a   private citizen  so   that you  can   go to 

their house  and   threaten them  is   she going  to find  that   attractive that’s  question   number one 

and i   i’m gonna  bet   for most  like   statistically   speaking the  answer   is no  a   lot of   people are  not

really going  to go  for that  so he  could   have tried  to   be charming  so   charming in   fact that  the   woman leaves 

her boyfriend  or he  could have  gone   this circuitous  route   into circuitous  circuitous   circuitous he  could

have tried  to   go around  this   uh problem  and   then try  to take  care   of the  man   by himself  so   he went  for

the more  in   in some  ways   more direct  way to  get   rid of  the   competition and  if   you get  rid   of the 

competition then  of   course she’s  going   to fall  in   love with  you   which again  because   you clearly  have

creepy weird  and   violent and  scary   instincts might  not   be the  case he  called   the boyfriend  multiple

times to  threaten   him he  said   check your  car   i think  it’s   broken now  this   is a   problem with 

translating things  from   one language  to   another and  in   japanese i  didn’t   of course  get   to hear  the

actual japanese  or   how it  was   said or  anything   that might  be   threatening like  in   japanese they  don’t

have a  lot   of bad  words   uh it’s  the   way you  talk   to people  you   talk down  to   people and  stuff that 

implies that  you   look down  on   them and  there’s   a violent   threat there  maybe   so how  you   talk to 

someone is  actually   more important  than   what you  say   to them  sometimes   check your  car   i think  it’s

broken isn’t  a   very good  threat   in english  so   you got   to take   that there’s  an   element there  that

we’re missing  in   the translation  he   also said  what do  you   think will  happen   if you  don’t   break up  with

her by  today   so i   think there’s  more   of an   implicit threat  there   there’s more  of   like i  will   murder you 

if you  don’t   break up  with   her kind  of   feeling that  goes   with that  statement   at least  so   the second 

one felt  like   more of  a   threat to  me   in english  so   i would  like   someone a  more   nuanced someone  someone

who has  a   more nuanced  understanding   of japanese  to   explain how  the   first threat  is   a threat 

i mean  did   he is   he saying  i   messed with  your car  and   it’s gonna  like   explode did  he   say like  you

know you  can’t   trust your  car   anymore i  i   don’t get  what   that threat  was the  victim   the boyfriend  did   a

very logical  thing   he filed  a   complaint a  damage   report with  the   police uh  and   of course  the   cop was 

immediately found  out   because they  just   have to   go check  who   accessed the  database   to get  the

information about  this   guy who’s  claiming   that some  cop   is calling  him   guy’s login  credentials   are

there he’s  caught   immediately he  said   i’m very  sorry   to the  victim   which i  don’t   actually believe 

this is  one   of those  ones   where if  he   hadn’t been  caught   would he  have   been sorry  so   this is  now   a new 

sort of  like   psychological   philosophical   experiment this  is   more philosophical  experiment   or question  to

ask like  if   someone halfway  through   their bad  act   actually stops  their   bad act  and   is sorry  for   what

they did  to   another person  that’s   real but  if   you get  caught   it’s clearly  going   to take  away

any sense  that   you’re actually  sorry   for what  you   did so  i   don’t think  he’s   sorry just  like   every

other person  we   talk about  in   japan he’s  not   sorry for  the   victim or  what   happened he’s  sorry   that he  got

caught and  he   didn’t get  his   way and   he didn’t  get   what he   wanted which  is   part of  the   entertainment i  guess

burger king  in   japan is  the   little guy   i’ve been  out   of the  west   for long  enough   that i  don’t   know

who the   major players  are   in fast  food   i’m assuming  mcdonald’s   is still  basically   number one 

when i   listen to  other   podcasts they  talk   about taco  bell   a lot  i   was never  a   fan of  taco   bell

i don’t  hear   a lot   about wendy’s  but   i mean  there   was a   wendy’s near  my   high school  so   i was  kind   of

indoctrinated into  wendy’s   very early  in   life so  i’m   kind of   a wendy   stan but  burger   king was  always

kind of  like   for me  a   secondary one  and   i would  go   to burger  king   if it   was available  i   would never 

choose burger  king i  don’t   have anything  against   burger king  i   don’t have  any   problem with  burger

king but  burger   king in  japan   is looking  to   expand it  seems   like they’re  looking   to expand  all   over

like they’re  aggressively   trying to  expand   their presence  in   the fast  food   wars in  the   last few  years

they’ve gone  from   77 restaurants  in   japan to  352   so that  is   like three  to   four times  more

increase in  volume   of restaurants  so   that’s pretty  significant   so they’ve  actually   been

successful in  their   effort to  try   to expand  their   presence in  japan   they want  600   restaurants in  japan

by 2028   so in  2026   they want  two   more years  they   want to  double   essentially the  amount   of restaurants 

they have  in   japan the  way   they want  to   do this  is   they are  offering   40 million  yen   to any  franchise

owner of  a   rival chain  to   convert their  restaurant   into a  burger   king that  is   a lot  of   money and  i   mean

let’s face  it   if you   work if  you   run a  franchise   for mcdonald’s  or   a franchise  for   some other  company

for moss  burger   or something  one   of the   japanese hamburger  chains   the real  question   is how  much

loyalty do  you   actually have  like   do you  care   that you’re  serving   mcdonald’s food  or   burger king  food

uh i  think   at the  end   of the   day all   you’re really  going   to care  about   is the  money   you bring   in

so yeah  this   is it   i don’t   see any  loyalty   if you’re  a   franchise owner  if   someone comes  and   offers

you a  better   deal you  take   the better  deal   that just  makes   sense the  stipulation   is that  you   have

to have  been   in business  for three  or   more years  so   they want  to   know like  you   don’t just  open   a

restaurant and  then   immediately say  i’ll   take your  40   million yen  and then  open and  then   switch it  over

to a  burger   king because  maybe   you’ve chosen  a   really bad  location   maybe you’re  not   making any  money

but if  you’ve   been open  for   more than  three   years you’re  at   least surviving  that’s   maybe important 

in my   little town  there’s   essentially a  mcdonald’s   there’s a   zoteria they’ve  just   changed their  name

recently because  of   some some  holdings   companies did  some   finagling zoteria  used   to be  loteria   and

then there  was   some other  company   a holding  company   that bought  them   and they  changed   the name  to   zoteria

and it’s  just   getting worse  like   the naming  conventions   are just  getting   out of  hand   i don’t 

the fact  that   you’re naming  it   after the  the   holdings companies  that   own the  restaurant   and

not making  a   name that  sounds   good is  a   little weird  to   me completely  side note  if   you’ve been 

running your  zoteria   for three  or   more years  you   can take  burger   king up  on   this offer  to   convert

your zoteria  into a  burger   king burger  king   will also  cover   half the  initial   investment to  switch

and you  have   to do  it   before 2028  so this  is   on the  table   for now  and   this is   part of  their plan  to

expand to  600   restaurants by  2028   you can  take   part in   that if   you are  a   listener of  ninja   news japan 

and you  own   a fast  food   chain franchise  i’m   hungry there’s  nothing   i can  do   for you 

i’m not  part   of this  i   just report  the   news but  uh   i’ll look  for   sponsorships you  want   to sponsor  me

i’ll take  a   sponsor japan  is   putting a  lot   of effort  not   japan i  mean   it’s the  companies   within

japan but  japan   has a  big   problem with  scalpers   as it  seems   like every  country   in the   world has 

a problem  with   scalpers uh  i   don’t buy  a   lot of  stuff   that has  any   sort of   pop value  like   they’re

not popular  things   uh probably  the   most recent  one   that i  actually   would have  had   to deal   with

something similar  to   this was  the   playstation 5  when   i bought  the   playstation 5  i   of course  wanted   it

basically right  away   couldn’t get  it   right away  had   to join   lottery systems  with   different stores 

and different  companies   and then  when   your name  came   up then  you   could buy  a   playstation and  that

was to  stop   scalpers from  buying   500 playstations  and   then selling  them   at 10  000   times the  cost

on the  internet   scalping is  a   big problem  uh   we’ve done  a   couple stories  of   scalping with  pokemon   cards

and pokemon  goods   pokemon store  has   a lot  of issues  with   people just  coming in  and   try to   buy everything 

big camera  in   ikebukuro has  set   up a  system   where if  you   want to  buy   pokemon cards  you   have to   pass

a quiz  the   quiz is  15   questions now  they   didn’t give  what   the pass  fail   rate is  so   like what  is   the

do you  have   to get   all 15   or do   you have  to   get like  7   out of  15   like there’s  no   they didn’t  say

what the  passing   score is  i’m   assuming i’m  assuming   you have  to   prove you’re  a   true pokemon  fan   so i’m

betting it’s  actually   pretty high  like   you have  to   get 11  12   13 out   of 15  correct   to actually  pass

the quiz  the 15  questions   are taken  from   a larger  random   pool so  if   i take  the   quiz and  then   i go   and

tell you  all   the answers  to my  quiz   or all   the questions  so   you can  look   up all  the answers  you’re

going to  do a  quiz   it’s actually  going   to be   a slightly  different   quiz they  might   have some  of   the

same questions  but   overall there  are   a bunch  of   questions and  you’re   going to  have   to you’re  going   to

take the  quiz   legitimately every  time   you’re not  allowed   to use  your   phone if  you   try to  use   i mean 

of course  not   it’s not  really   a quiz  you’re   not really  a   true fan  if   you have  to   look it  up   on your 

phone uh  the   questions are  all   in japanese  so   this is  already   uh there’s  multiple   problems here 

i’m not  a scalper  and   if i  wanted   to buy  pokemon   cards for  my   kids let’s  say   i would  not   know any  of

the answers  to   the quiz  questions   and i  wouldn’t   be able   to read  the   japanese questions  anyways   so i

would fail  on   this is  a   whole separate  issue   so one  is a  legitimate   issue whereas  i am  not   allowed to 

buy a  product   because i   don’t know  enough   about the  product   background history  fandom   i don’t  know   what

you want  to say  about   that the  issue   for me  is   that’s not  really   fair to  me   but at  the   same time 

this is  how   scalpers get  multitudes   of these  tickets   so they  basically   they get  a   whole bunch 

of random  people   all going  to   buy and  they   give them  like   a dollar  each   or whatever  and   then they 

collect it  all   and they  that’s   how they  get   all the  stuff   they scalp  it   on the  internet   i’m against 

scalping so  i’m   willing to  sacrifice   my inability  to   buy pokemon  cards   which i  don’t   actually want 

so that  other   people don’t  get   scalped so  i   actually am  pro   this as  a   thing the  japanese   quiz

though that  means   foreign people  can’t   buy these  either   and that  could   bring up  a   bit of  again   a

ethical question  is   this okay  but   you’re in  japan   and if  you   want to  buy   stuff from  a   japanese store 

with japanese  fandom i  guess a  certain   amount of  japanese   is expected  i   came to  japan   with a  black   belt

and then  i   wanted to  get   my second  degree   black belt  and   i wanted  to   get my  third   degree black  belt   etc

etc etc  in   japan i  thought   that’d be  really   cool i  did   two of  the   tests they  have a  fighting

part so  you   cha cha  cha   cha and  you   fight and  you get  points   and then  they   have kata  which   is like  a

formal presentation  of   some very  set   moves and  then   they have  a   written exam  and a  written   exam for  a

sport to  me   always seemed  really   weird uh  i   could not  read   the kanji  the   chinese characters  on   the

written exam  so   the first  two   that i  did   they were  very   nice they  got   this uh  japanese   high school 

english teacher  uh who  also   did judo  he   ran his  judo   club come  to   the test  with   me and  again   this

was all   voluntary uh  he   would translate  the   question and  then   i would  answer   in english  and   then he  would

write down  the   answer for  me   so the  questions   weren’t necessarily  difficult   it was  like   the history 

of judo  and   some other  stuff   like that  but   because of  the   exam and  the   amount of  trouble   it would  go

through to  actually   pass the   exam i  actually   stopped doing  the   exam so  i   don’t know  what   level i  should

be in  the   in the  belt   system anymore  i   know i’m  way   below what  i   probably should  be   but also  in   my head 

i’m like  it’s   not worth  it   and it’s  one   of the  things   once you  get   the once  the   belt is  black   i mean 

if you  have   third dan  fourth   dan whatever  who   cares who  no   one can  tell   the difference  it’s   still black  belt

an investment  company   representative did  what a  lot   of investment  company   representatives do 

he went  to a  very   high -end  hostess   club hostess  clubs   are clubs  they   don’t really  exist   in the  west

i’ve never  been   to one  uh a  i couldn’t  afford   one uh  b   i don’t  think   i would  enjoy   the experience 

because you  basically   go and  drink   and then  they   have these  girls   come over  and   sit at  your   table and 

drink with  you   and they’re  encouraging   you to  drink   and then  they   talk and  they’re   very charming 

supposedly uh  it   because i  know   it’s fake  i   don’t think  i   would enjoy  it   so i  went   to the  japanese

hooters and  they   have it’s  not   the exact  same   thing because  you’re   not paying  those   prices but  the   girls

are pretending  to   be nice  to   you and  they’re   pretending to  like   you and  i   immediately go  she

doesn’t like  me   this is  fake   uh so   i’m going  to   sort of  not   be a  jerk   but i’ll  at   least try  to   play

with the  format   a little  bit   so i  kind   of reverse  hit on  her   by just  insulting   myself the  whole   time

but i  didn’t   want to  be   there i  didn’t   enjoy the  experience   of going  to   hooters hooters  is   not the 

kind of  place   i want  to   go a   hostess club  to   me is  even   a worse  version   of that  because   it’s a

way more  expensive   they’re trying  to   get you  super   drunk they’re  trying   to get  you   to think  you   like

them and  they   like you  or   they’re trying   to get   you to   think that  they   like you  for   realsies and  that

to me  is   the problem  this   is sort  of   this this  underhanded   dishonest element  to   it because  if   i went  and   i

actually thought  the   girl liked  me   and i   liked her   and it  turned   out to  not   be true  i’d   be sad  but not 

as sad   as the  man   who we  are   talking about  because   he had  a   really good  time   and he  believed   that they 

had a   real connection  so   they started  messaging   back and  forth   online line  is   the instant  messaging

service that  is   most popular  in   japan with  older   people it  seems young  people   are now  have   all moved 

to instagram  whatever   uh it  actually   gives you  a   sense of  how old  the   people are  now   if like  if   they

choose line  or   instagram for  their   way of  communicating   after a  few   months of  course   he

went back  to   the hostess  club   many times  he   showers her  with   gifts and  he   spends a  lot of  money he’s  an

investment banker  guy   so he’s  got a  lot   of money   uh via  line   he said  please   absolutely become  my   bride

and then  she   replied i  love   you i   will i  will   become your  bride   so then  she   further wrote  make   me your 

bride i  love   you and  then   he gave  her   more and  more   money and  presents   so i   could see  how someone 

saying i  love   you make  me   your bride  would   convince you  in   some ways  that   she might  actually   like you 

i think  that’s   a pretty  fair   assumption to  make   if you’re  saying   i love  you   and someone  says   i love  you

back you  might   protect be  able   to convince  yourself   that that’s  real   so this  is   i have  a   lot of  sympathy

for this  guy   even though  i hate  investment   bankers i’m   very torn  on   my feelings  on   this man  let’s   put it 

that way  i   have i   have a  hatred   towards what  he   does because  i   know he  exploits   people for  money

but then  also   does he  necessarily   deserve to  be   cheated in  love   maybe if  he   fell in  love   for real 

he would  actually   no he  wouldn’t   he would  just   spend more  money   on his  girl   and nothing  else

christmas eve  2021   he gave  her   a 35  million   yen ring  and   he claims  to   have given  her   over 2  billion   yen

in presence  in   money he  spent at  the   club 2  billion   yen is  the   lottery so  the fact  that he  has

2 billion  yen if  i   had 35  million   yen if  i   had the  money   he spent  on   her ring  i   would not  have   to work 

to my  retirement   age like  that   would be  enough   money for  me   to live  from   now to  retirement   and still  be

okay for  a   very long  time   2 billion  yen   i would  never   have to  work   again i  could   not only  live

my lifestyle  i   could increase  the   quality of  my   life and  the   life of  my   family for  2   billion yen 

yeah that’s  lottery   money in  january   2023 she  cuts   him off  i   assume i  assume   unceremoniously she  just

stops   responding to  his   messages he  gets   angry because  he   says like  you’ve   told me  you   love me  you’ve

taken 2  billion   yen of  mine   and i’m  really   upset about  it   he files  a   civil lawsuit  claiming   he was 

deceived which  i   actually agree  i   think he  was   deceived he’s  seeking   38 .5  million   yen in  damages

so the  ring   the ring  alone   he gave  her   one ring  that   was worth  35   million yen  so   38 .5  million   yen

in damages  is   a very  low   number he’s  not   really trying  to   get back  that   money he  spent   at the  club

and the  drinks   other presents  other   things because  if   he spent  35   million yen  on   one present  for   one time 

you know  other   presents were  worth   millions and  millions   and millions  of   yen so  he’s   not even  like

going after  the   big sum  of   money he’s  just   trying to  get   like a  little   bit this  is   almost like  a   moral

victory like  at   least if  you   give me  this   money back  you   at least  will   not have  gotten   the really 

expensive ring  that   i gave  you   uh he  claims   she maliciously  manipulated   him and  his   romantic feelings 

which again  i   actually agree  with   now you  don’t   go is  exploiting   a customer’s  feeling   for gain  so   this

is usually  hosts   hosts get  girls   to come  to   clubs and  then   they get  them   into debt  and   then they  try

to get  them   into   compensated dating  or   porn or  something   like that  now   the laws  have   been updated 

so this  is   primarily about  host   clubs but  it   applies also  to   host s  clubs   in this  case

uh the  court   has decided  that   the woman’s  actions   do not  meet   the legal  threshold   for marriage  fraud

so he  was   at the  court   class the  the   case was  dismissed   the guy   gets nothing  and   the girl  gets   her

two billion  yen   and she  gets   to walk  away   i would  this   is a  case   where i  would   actually like  to   know

how other  people   feel about  this   this feels  like   fraud to  me   because she  said   i love  you   because she 

said let’s  get   married because  she   took the  money   because she  took   the 35  million   yen diamond  ring

i know  it’s   not an  engagement   ring but  it   certainly is  going   that way  and   never sort  of   put this  guy

and said  like   look this  is   a professional  relationship   or anything  like   that she  was   exploiting him 

but then  i   go back  to   the very  beginning   of when  i   started talking  you   should know  that   going in  there

like i  go   into hooters  and   the waitress  is   nice to  me   i know  she’s   not really  nice   to me  she   just needs 

to do  that   to get  paid   uh they  don’t   really work  for   tips in  japan   but i’m   sure you  get   paid really 

well if  you’re   a very  popular   person if  you   go to  a   hostess club  they’re   getting paid 

to make  you   think they  like   you they’re  pretending   to like  you   so it’s  not   really manipulation  anymore

because you  should   know that  going   in so  when   a hostess  says   i love  you   you should  know   99 of  the

time that’s  probably   not true  so   how do  you   do you   think do  you   think this  guy   should get  his   money

back after  spending   this much  money   in this  situation   should this  guy   get his  money   back you 

can leave  a   message at  speakpipe  .com slash  chunk   of beef  chest   or send  an   email to  chunk   of beef  chest

at gmail  .com   and i  would   like to  hear   your opinion  of   the situation  a   man was  leaving   a business  deal

uh he  was   walking he’d  been   walking for  about   10 minutes  and   then suddenly  a   stranger splashes 

orange liquid  in   his face  this   is this  is   assault this  could   be terrorism  we   don’t know  what’s   going

on here  of   course you  freak   out someone  throws   orange anything  in   your face  you   freak out  that’s   just

how i  respond   really   negatively to  orange   let’s be  really   clear about  that   the police  arrive   and

start asking  questions   it turns  out   they ask  questions   about the  business   meeting that  the

man just  had   and it  seems   like he’s  just   collected 13  million   yen from  someone   and they’re  like   wow

that’s a  lot   of money  to   be collecting  in   cash from  someone   let’s look  into   that a  little   closer

these are  actually   good police  officers   so they’ve  moved   past the  initial   assault and  said   like hey 

it’s actually  suspicious   that you  have   this giant  bag   of money  with   you uh  let’s   look into  that   turns out 

the guy  who   was the  victim   of the  orange   liquid throwing  was   a scam  artist   who had  just   defrauded

a woman  with   an investment  scam   he was  probably   arrested uh  if   you’re a  criminal   so this  is   it if 

you’re a  criminal   we again  in   japan is  very   big on  criminal   advice and  trying   to advise  people   how to 

be the  best   criminal they  can   be only  because   i think  if   you can  take   these these  tenants   these ideas 

these facets  of   being a  good   criminal and  apply   them to  your   legal life  you   can also  improve   your

work your  job   your home  life   there’s a  saying   amongst   criminals if  you’re   going to  commit   a crime 

only commit  one   crime at  a   time so  this   poor man  he   had committed  a   crime and  then   he got  he   was the 

victim of  a   crime now  he   had to  make   a decision  he   i don’t  know   if he  called   the police  but   someone

called the  police   and he  hung   around he  should   have left  he   should have  let   that other  criminal   get away 

with it  and   just left  the   scene and  he   would have  walked   away with  his   13 million  yen   scam that  he

was successful  in   but because  he   decided to  stay   because he  decided   to try  and   get his  money   and get 

that other  guy   in trouble  and   this is  again   the sort  of   icarus flying  too   close to  the   sun kind  of   thing

because he  did   all that  he   ended up  getting   caught for  his   scam and  the   other guy  probably   still got  away

because now  the   cops are  going   to be  focused   on what  some   guy who  threw   fanta in  someone   else’s face 

versus a  guy   who just  scammed   an old  lady   out of  50   13 million  yen   the cops  are   always going  to   go

for the  big   one i  mean   when you  get   your bag  you   got to  cut   and run  this   is something  i’ve   had to  say

to uh  friends   when we  played   video games  there’s   a scene  in   in many  many   movies where  the   greedy person 

is holding  on   to something  like   they’re hanging  off   a volcano  and   holding on  to   a bag  of   gold or 

there’s a  bag   of gold  in   a treasure  chest   and they’re  holding   and it’s  sinking   and it’s  pulling   them

down with  it   and all  you   have to  do   is let  go   this guy  didn’t   even have  to   let go  of   the bag  of   gold

he had  to   hold on  to   the bag  of   gold and  not   attack another  person   but he  couldn’t   even let  go   of that 

if he  had   let go  of   that he  would   have been  fine   and i  actually   got to  keep   the gold  so   my original 

metaphor   doesn’t even  work   we’ve all  been   in a  situation   where we’ve  been   away from  home   and we 

don’t have  enough   money to  get   the train  or   a taxi  or   something back  home   so we’re  kind   of stuck 

or you  run   out of  gas   or something  like   that this  man   was in  a   similar   situation he  didn’t   have the 

money for  the   train it’s  4   30 in  the   morning but  you’re   a creative  person   you have  a   creative mind 

you know  how   to use  your   brain so  he   has a  big   brain thought  he   goes into  the   women’s   bathroom

and he  sets   fire to  a   wall in  the   women’s   bathroom now  what   happens here  what   happens now  is   that the  fire

department   arrives with  one   of those  big   trucks and  all   the firemen  get   out of  the   truck and  they   run in 

to check  the   fire to  see   if it’s  under   control now  what   they do  is   they leave  the   truck running  with   the

keys in  because   if they  have   to hook  a   hose up  to   the truck  to   start pumping  water   in to  put   out the  fire

they don’t  need   to turn  off   and turn  on   the truck  and   stuff so  what   do you  do   you get  in   the fire  truck

free fire  truck   and you  get   to drive  home   he got  nine   kilometers away  from   the train  station

before the  police   caught up  to   him the  fire   engine was  returned   but it  had   some front  end   damage where 

it had  ran   into something  now   the thing  is   fire engines  in   japan they’re  really   small compared  to

like western  fire   engines but  they   are stout  machines   they are  still   trucks so  a   truck that 

hit something  has   not only  if   it’s taken  damage   it has  certainly   done damage  to   that other  thing   it hit 

i would  really   like to  know   what it  hit   so between  the   nine kilometers  from   the station  to   where he  was

caught by  the   police there  is   something that  is   extremely damaged  and   i would  like   to know  what

that is  but   i’ll tell  you   right now  this   was not  a   really good  idea   a doctor  climbed   into the  ceiling

above a  hospital’s   duty room  around   11 30  p  .m the  the   sad part  is   as soon  as   i read  this   story it’s  so

interesting in  the   circumstances i  knew   i was  not   going to  get   a why  and   which leaves  my   brain going  but

having enough  experience   with nindiju  japan   i know  it   was a  creepy   weird reason  i   mean that’s  all   we

really have  to   say i  mean   probably our  imaginations   are more  exciting   than the  actual   reality of  the

creepy reason  but   it was  creepy   a female  doctor   was working  in   the room  and   she spotted  a   hand

emerging from  the   air conditioning  vent   so in  what   world are  you   sitting in  your   okay japanese  hospitals

are creepy  i   mean there’s  a   reason a  lot   of horror  movies   in japan  happen   in hospitals  because   they are 

just inherently  creepy   places uh  they’re   all pretty  blank   and that  actually   is sort  of   a weird 

aesthetic to  go   for and  i   understand it’s  sort   of industrial  and   functional but  it   does make  it

very very  creepy   so if  you’re   sitting in  a   place like  that   and then  a   hand starts  emerging   from a  vent

that is  going   to freak  you   out like  there’s   no way  that   works out  well   she called  the   cops uh 

the man  was   promptly   arrested and  they   said there  was   no doubt  i   entered the  ceiling   and they  gave   no

motive now  the   thing is  okay   so he’s  in   the ceiling  there’s   a woman  sitting   let’s say  at   a desk 

he reached  out   of the  vent   his arm’s  not   going to  be   long enough  to   reach the  woman   i don’t  think

in any  real   way and  she   was able  to   see it  because   he’s not  visible

what did  he   think was  going   to happen  that’s   this is  this   is the  psychological   question i  need

asked by  every   police officer  uh   so that  they   can put  it   into the  report   or at  least   the reporter 

to ask  so   they can  find   out what  did   you think  was   going to  happen   when you  climbed   up in  the   ceiling

this is  a   doctor we  have   this false  idea   that doctors  are   smart now  doctors   are just  people   now

they’ve maybe  done   a really  good   in medical  school   or they’re  maybe   really smart  in   one way 

i am  a   full believer  in   the there’s  a   variety of  kinds   of intelligence  i   think there’s  social

intelligence i  think   there’s like  book   smart intelligence  i   think there’s  like   the all  our   good

con artist  intelligence   i think  there’s   like physical  intelligence   like just  knowing   how bodies 

move and  stuff   and all  these   other sort  of   like minuscule  applications   of the  different   kinds of 

intelligence so  he   may have  been   a very  good   doctor i’m  not   even going  to   argue that  but   he was 

lacking a  very   specific kind  of   sort of  common   sense   intelligence of  should   i climb  up   into the 

ceiling and  reach   my hand  out   towards a  colleague   who’s working  at   a desk  at   a hospital  11   30 at  night

no no  you   shouldn’t but  this   is also  the   same guy  who   might be  giving   you very  good   advice about  your

health or  what   medicine you  should   take or  maybe   he’s a  surgeon   or something  and   he’s really  good   at it 

i don’t  know   what i  do   know is  that   make being  a   doctor doesn’t  automatically   make you  a   smart person 

the idle  world   is a  whole   different world  so   i think  if   you live  outside   of japan  you   have this 

image of  japan   as being  sort   of like  all   this underground  culture   stuff but  underground   culture

subculture is  still   sub even  within   japan so  i   live in  japan   and i  don’t   experience any  idle   stuff

unless i  went   out of  my   way to  look   for it  because   it’s a  different   world i  don’t   really like  the

music so  there’s   really nothing  for   me there  to   really enjoy  people   who do  like   it i’m  not   putting

them down  if   that’s what  you   like that’s  fine   i think  it   might be  a   little weird  and   creepy for  adult

men to  be   you know  watching   15 year  old   girls dance  and   stuff i  think   it’s   exploitative i  think   it’s

wrong i  think   a lot  of   the stuff  they   do shouldn’t  be   done but  also   i’m not  in   charge

even though  clearly   i should  be   so idols  live   in a  whole   different world  than   the rest  of   us

and a  lot   of it  is   exploiting the  weird   parasocial   relationship   between the  fans   and the  idols   again

this is  like   the earlier  story   you should  know   what you’re  going   in for  the   idol doesn’t  really   like

you she  just   wants you  to   spend money  on   her goods  on   her product  and   then coming  to   her show 

and stuff  like   that and  she   wants to  keep   that   relationship   going the  thing   is if  you’re   an

underground so  there’s   idols the  the   ones you  probably   know of  and   heard of  they   have like 

advertising   agencies and  big   agencies behind  them   and they  have   a bunch  of   rules and  stuff   these

underground   idols are  just   basically little  freelance   gigs they  make   their own  products   they

put on  their   own shows  they’re   all really  small   and so  the   amount of  income   they get  is   wholly

dependent on  how   successful they  can   be with  these   parasocial   relationships so  they   need people  to   come

and one  of   them is  blown   up recently  harida   matsumoto has  started   to let  fans   smell her  armpits

after shows  and   of course  it   went viral  it   went viral  for   all the  reasons   it should  go   viral you  have

creepy old  dudes   in the  the   video that  is   most commonly  seen   on the  internet   right now  is   he’s acting 

like a  puppy   dog and  then   he like  smells   her armpit  and   he’s like  and   he’s doing  like   that kind  of

stuff very  very   off -putting  uh   he’s in  that   age range  where   he would  be   ripe for  a   story on  ninja

news japan  she   is also  at   the alternate  end   of the  spectrum   where she  is   also right  at   the ripe  age   to

be at  a   story on  ninja   news japan  uh   in the  worst   way possible  so   there’s a  lot   of criticism  of   this

and again  i   end up  exactly   where i  was   with the  the   hostess club  story   like if  you   know this  going   in

and you’re  willing   to spend  the   money and  you   understand the  reality   of it  it’s   fine if  the

girl understands  the   reality of  it   and she’s  comfortable   with it  and   she knows  what   she’s doing 

and it’s  all   sort of  above   board it’s  also   fine it’s  when   one group  starts   to exploit  the   other group 

it goes  too   far and  it’s   wrong but  am   i in  a   position to  judge   that i’ve  never   done it  i’ve   never

seen it  it   does seem  like   too much  because   they have  handshaking   events and  then   they have  hugging

events and  we   had the  the   korean idol  who   hugged and  then   the girl  kissed   his neck  and   ran away  and

she got  in   trouble like  this   is all  priming   the fans  to   feel more  than   they should  but   that’s to 

get them  to   spend more  money   later at  what   point is  it   exploitation is  that   at what  point   is it 

exploitation is  the   actual question  i   think i  want   to ask  that   i don’t   have an  answer   to

smelling the  armpits   brought up  a   lot of  criticism   online and  i   think that’s  fair   because is  this   okay

is it  not   okay because  this   is an  old   creepy dude  and   a young  woman   is it  okay   i don’t  think   it is  it

feels wrong  to   me certainly  if   that was  my   daughter i  would   not want  her   doing it  i   would lose  my   mind if 

i saw  something   like that  happen   but that’s  my   morality and  am   i imposing  that   on someone  else   i

don’t know  if   that’s okay  for   me i  think   it just  comes   down to  if   everyone is  on   board from  the

beginning and  knows   the reality  and   doesn’t slip  into   the parasocial  relationship   where they’re  now

experienced   feelings that  are   not real  or   are not  reciprocated   that’s a  problem   and that’s  such   a fuzzy 

zone to  exist   in but  that’s   exactly where  they   have to  exist   to be  successful   she is  making   her

money and  that’s   what a  lot   of people  are   saying like  she’s   doing what  she   needs to  do   to make  her

money so  how   are you  going   to complain  about   that the  ground   self -defense  force   first infantry 

revealed a  new   patch and  logo   it’s an  elephant   holding a  machine   gun with  a   human skull  sort   of on 

its chest  and   a blue  flame   coming out  of   the left  eye   and it  was   created by  ai   and i  don’t   know

which part  i’m   most offended  by   the patch  itself   looks pretty  badass   but it’s  incredibly   aggressive

it’s it’s  sort   of i  why   they chose  an   elephant maybe  is   the first  one   like that’s  not   a japanese 

animal you  think   if you’re  going   to make  a   logo for  your   japanese   military unit  you   would use  a   japanese

thing doesn’t  necessarily   have to  be   an animal  but   if you’re  going   to use  an   animal use  a   japanese animal 

there are  lots   of cool  animals   in japan  they   have lots  of   cool symbols  in   japan like  the   family

houses and  stuff   so you  could   use one  of   those there’s  lots   of old  samurai   stuff so  use   some old 

samurai stuff  but   online they  were   actually saying  this   is way  too   aggressive the  ground   self -defense 

force because  it’s   not the  military   because it’s  not   an army  because   of the  rules   surrounding the 

military in  japan   they are  not   allowed to  be   the aggressor  they   are not  allowed   to invade  other

countries they  are   not allowed  to   put boots  on   the ground  in   other places  they   can only  offer   support

they can  only   offer to  help   people this  is   be her  part   of the  constitution   of japan  which   takai chi 

is trying  to   change at  the   moment she’s  actually   just changed  it   so she  can   sell offensive  weapons

to other  countries   france india  are   super happy  about   this because  they   want to  buy   some japanese 

gundam because  they’re   going to  start   selling those  parts   and then  build   up their  different

gundams from  different   countries we’re  seeing   that coming  very   soon i’m  sure   the aggressive  nature

of the  patch   actually drew  criticism   from people  who   saw it  online   it took  one   week for  the   gsdf group 

to say  we   have received  a   variety of  opinions   the unit’s  logo   was created  with   the purpose  of

boosting morale  and   enhancing a  sense   of belonging  among   our members  however   we must  also   emphasize

the importance  of   gaining proper  understanding   and   approachability   from the  public   so that’s  it   if you 

see someone  with   like really  aggressive   patches like  the   punisher skull  on   their chest  and   this like 

violent   elephant on  their   shoulder that  might   not be  someone   you trust  and   want to  walk   up to  whereas

peacekeeping   missions are  primarily   what the  gsdf   is supposed  to   be doing  so   they should  be

approachable   that’s actually  the   point we  have   decided to  discontinue   the use  of   this logo 

my weirdly  the   thing i  was   most offended  by   is that  it   was done  by   ai like  why   are you  using   ai you  got

hundreds of  people   in the  military   they work  for   you they  get   paid by  you   get one  of   them to  design

one get  one   of them  to   draw it  like   tell them  to   write to  draw   the violent  elephant   it’s it’s  the   ai

bit that  i   actually got  more   offended by  personally   it was  the   ai bit  that   i actually  didn’t   like because 

you know  you   have people  in   the military  who   can draw  and   who would  love   to design  a   patch

first off  yeah   i get  that   the theme  is   supposed to  be   friendly because  it’s   the gsdf  and   they’re   supposed

to be  approachable   i actually  kind   of agree  with   that but  they’re   also supposed  to   be tough  strong

people in  the   military so  you   know let  them   be tough  and   strong and  do   some cool  uh   scary elephant 

stuff but  don’t   use ai  to   do it  that   just sucks