Why is there no looting in Japan?

jackiebaron · 14-03-2011 07:41PM

I remember after the Kobe earthquake a reporter was talking to a Japanese gentleman. The Japanese man was expressing his shock and outrage at looting in the city. The reporter asked him how could Japanese citizens conduct themselves in such a manner. The man said "No, you don't understand. The looters were foreigners." :P

southsiderosie · 14-03-2011 07:41PM

Soren Whining Bargain wrote: »

Nobody knows the full stories of either caption. The first one may have entered a store and looted, the second pair may have come accross items outside the store, but don't let other possibilities or lack of fact get in the way of a good rant.

Did you actually read the captions?

Black "looter": "A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans"

White "finders": "Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area"

Setun · 14-03-2011 07:43PM

I was in Japan a few years ago, and it was incredible to witness their total trust in strangers. The way I always thought while travelling there was if I happened to be robbed or attacked, it would most likely be another traveller and not a japanese person.
EDIT: Just saw this post earlier which repeats what I say above. I agree totally!

HenryChinaski wrote:

Japanese people would never steal it'd be considered the most shameful thing you could ever do it's simply not in their psyche. In fact if you went into a bar and left your wallet on a stool and it got stolen you could be nearly guaranteed it was a foreigner.

You'd see bags left with bikes, unlocked, on streets, and would still be there hours later completely untouched. People would get off the subway when it wasn't their stop to chase down somebody who left their wallet on the carraige seat. Feck all litter on the ground too, mainly because eating in public is frowned upon.
There are many stories and anecdotes you'll hear from people who have been around Japan that can only praise their honesty and respect.

mickydoomsux · 14-03-2011 07:43PM

Japanese people are decent, polite people.

They have a fairly low crime rate as a result. Drug related crimes, robberies and murders are miniscule in number compared to most of the rest of the 1st world but they are starting to see a rise in white-collar crime.

Most Japanese people wouldn't even consider the idea of looting.

Knasher · 14-03-2011 07:44PM

southsiderosie wrote: »

The photos involved show people wading through water with a garbage bag full of food. One was classified as looting. One was classified as finding. Two different interpretations of the same situation, with the only difference being race. I think crying racism is an absolutely appropriate response in this case, especially when set against the backdrop of the wider Katrina coverage.

No as has already been noted they come from two different new agencies. So while both situations depict looting the view that the second news agency took is that its harsh to label it looting if you are "finding" food that would save you from starvation and would otherwise rot. The fact that the first news agency didn't take (or express) the same view isn't proof of anything.

I would accept it was racism though, if the person in the first photo was prosecuted for looting while the people in the second weren't.

rainbowdrop · 14-03-2011 07:44PM

KeithAFC wrote: »

The japanese have amazing dignity. A bit like English people. Amazing dignity. I really hope they can rebuild and save as many people as possible.

FYP

Struck out the part that is totally irrelevant to this thread. I know you like to bring England into every thread, but what the hell has it got to do with what's happened in Japan?

You do it to wind people up and derail threads regularly, there's no need for it!!

KeithAFC · 14-03-2011 07:46PM

Sorry, didn't mean to use the example. My bad. Just thought i was being nice. Anyway, back on topic.

Yeah, amazing dignity from them. Hopefully it gets sorted out soon.

jackiebaron · 14-03-2011 07:49PM

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

The Triads must be very dissappointed with themsleves.

Aren't they Chinese?

syklops · 14-03-2011 07:50PM

tampopo wrote: »

yeah, more like this.

I left an SLR camera on a train and the station master called the last station and it had been handed in. We just went and collected it.

More to the point, why do WE loot here???

and those two British girls that got murdered...

I left a HTC Desire HD phone in a taxi on the North Side a few weeks ago. The taxi driver found it and rang my mother to arrange dropping off the phone.

The world is full of good and bad people. We just hear about the bad ones more often.

Edit: The north side of Dublin.

Guy:Incognito · 14-03-2011 07:51PM

Manic Moran wrote: »

Aren't they Chinese? Don't you mean the Yakuza?

That'd be them.

I took the poster I was quoting more in a general sense than any specific Tsunami related criminality.

As for their behaviour during the emergency situation, it's what most organise dcrime groups should do . You strike on peoples vulnerability in times like these to build suport. Germany in the early 30's etc.

RichieC · 14-03-2011 07:53PM

KeithAFC wrote: »

Sorry, didn't mean to use the example. My bad. Just thought i was being nice. Anyway, back on topic.

Bollocks you didn't.

Dyr · 14-03-2011 07:55PM

heyheyhey1982 wrote: »

i can understand people looting for food in desperation. But some of the items that where looted in New orleans was nuts, computers and tvs etc... thats where its just pure scum bags using it as an excuse to rob.

The population of New orleans who didnt leave with the Hurricane were uneducated african Americans, Looting would be considered a past time.

When 9-11 happened the people of New York didnt loot.

Haiti is a Sh1t hole,..... looting

The day of the Orange parade in dublin a few years back we had looting, they broke into footlocker on O'connell st and robbed 28 left feet runners. there was footage of idiots tearing shutter off shops and running out with odd runners.

Actually I read that some new york cops maintained that members of the fire dept went on the rob at ground zero but it was'nt acted on

Oranage2 · 14-03-2011 07:58PM

now not too troll but hasn't 'science' proved that blacks have the lowest intelligence of all the races. and lack of education leads to poor moral behaviour?

southsiderosie · 14-03-2011 07:58PM

Knasher wrote: »

No as has already been noted they come from two different new agencies. So while both situations depict looting the view that the second news agency took is that its harsh to label it looting if you are "finding" food that would save you from starvation and would otherwise rot. The fact that the first news agency didn't take (or express) the same view isn't proof of anything.

I would accept it was racism though, if the person in the first photo was prosecuted for looting while the people in the second weren't.

My point is that the way that the media portrayed the 'black response' to Katrina versus the 'white' response to Katrina is to essentially label blacks as out of control animals who stole anything they could get their hands on, while whites were just trying to survive a terrible situation. This approach extended far beyond the photos in question, and was pervasive in media coverage of Katrina.

Clearly the people who took the opportunity to steal televisions and the like were muppets - who needs a tv when you don't have a house or electricity? And the overly hysterical television interviews with New Orleans public officials only added to the sense of chaos in what is, even in the best of times, a chaotic, dangerous city. But when it comes to crime and other forms of what might be called pathological behavior, the way the media covered (and covers) non-white people in the US is very different than how whites are treated.

I'll stop here because this is a thread about Japan, not the US. But the fact that the third response on this thread to the question of 'why no looting?' was "African-Americans" (and several people have agreed with this) really, really pisses me off.

johnny_ultimate · 14-03-2011 08:01PM

Walk down a street in Japan.

99.9% of the time you feel safer than anywhere else I've been in the world. The other .1% you're likely mildly uncomfortable as opposed to scared, or potentially in a yakuza bar.

As said, they're the most respectful people you'll ever meet, and they don't take advantage of situations such as the earthquake.

biko · 14-03-2011 08:03PM

Oranage2 wrote: »

now not too troll but hasn't 'science' proved that blacks have the lowest intelligence of all the races. and lack of education leads to poor moral behaviour?

That's a discussion for another time/place.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 14-03-2011 08:03PM

unless you're a woman in which case you're liable to get fondled on a train or have a phone shoved between your legs to get pictures of your underwear

Setun · 14-03-2011 08:05PM

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

99.9% of the time you feel safer than anywhere else I've been in the world. The other .1% you're likely mildly uncomfortable as opposed to scared,

Roppongi! /shudders

Latchy · 14-03-2011 08:09PM

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

unless you're a woman in which case you're liable to get fondled on a train or have a phone shoved between your legs to get pictures of your underwear

Just like on x Hamster

tampopo · 14-03-2011 08:09PM

syklops wrote: »

I left a HTC Desire HD phone in a taxi on the North Side a few weeks ago. The taxi driver found it and rang my mother to arrange dropping off the phone.

The world is full of good and bad people. We just hear about the bad ones more often.

Edit: The north side of Dublin.

Yeah, I left a Canon IXUS 320 in a taxi on the south side, never saw it again. Journey was less than 5 mins. I was furious. Carriage Office not much help either....

jackiebaron · 14-03-2011 08:12PM

It's probably social conditioning though. I think we can all safely assume that if there was the opportunity to loot in a city in Ireland or England then people would loot. If people have no qualms about beating the fück out of some complete stranger outside the chipper on a Saturday night then looting isn't going to make them feel all ashamed of themselves. Having said that, go back a few generations and it probably wouldn't happen. Like I can't somehow picture there being widespread looting during the London Blitz or the Coventry and Birmingham bombings of WW2.

Looting occurs when there is a breakdown in order....but in Japan there was no breakdown in order. Emergency services and army and police were on the case immediately unlike during Katrina when the people were just abandoned to their fate. Plus a lot of these people in New Orleans, you must remember, have spent their entire lives with little chance of any kind of upward mobility or even a sense of justice and fair play because of the colour of their skin. So when the opportunity presents itself they're naturally gonna say "fück it" on robbing a tv or a jacket since being honest and law abiding has gotten them nothing but a life of unemployment.

Can't say I know whether or not I'd loot, but I'm not really materialistic so I would have no interest in clothes and gadgets and crap like that. But if I was starving and isolated I'd definitely lift a bit of grub and maybe snag a bottle or two of whiskey.

Latchy · 14-03-2011 08:25PM

jackiebaron wrote: »

Having said that, go back a few generations and it probably wouldn't happen. Like I can't somehow picture there being widespread looting during the London Blitz or the Coventry and Birmingham bombings of WW2.

You better belive there was .. ..it just isin't mentioned as much in the bigger picture of the blitz but spivs were around after every bombing ( sometime even during if the takings were good ) knowing they had the excuse of looking to help trapped people .

Star Bingo · 14-03-2011 08:31PM

they may not steal so much but i remember Kato an exchange student at my uncles was son of a minister n had a serious stack of porno. all japanese, promoting his home wares he gave me a few hotties to ogle but women probably know the deal over there don't sit on glass chairs, ensure the train you're about to board is not a movie set in disguise, is that hidden toilet-cam necessary or are you just happy to see me, etc etc.. pussy plundering is a form of looting no nation is immune to

JupiterKid · 14-03-2011 08:34PM

Oranage2 wrote: »

now not too troll but hasn't 'science' proved that blacks have the lowest intelligence of all the races. and lack of education leads to poor moral behaviour?

What a disgusting, utterly racist statment.:mad::( Do you have any evidence to back your racist theory up?

Biggins · 14-03-2011 08:35PM

JupiterKid wrote: »

What a disgusting, utterly racist statment.:mad::( Do you have any evidence to back your racist theory up?

Noooooo. Don't provoke it!

faw1tytowers · 14-03-2011 08:38PM

the police and military are hard core.. you dont mess around in Japan or u disappear...

Cork boy 55 · 14-03-2011 08:39PM

tiger55 wrote: »

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100079703/why-is-there-no-looting-in-japan/

http://nation.foxnews.com/culture/2011/03/14/why-there-no-looting-japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp-dJ1k_DbI

As well as cultural factors
There is also racial factors at play

One of the most important is the level of the various hormones
The japanese have the lowest level of the sex hormone testosterone
in the world.
Testosterone acts as a "master switch." It affects things like self-concept, aggression, altruism,crime, and sexuality

See
Ellis, L., & Nyborg, H. (1992). Racial/ethnic variations in male testosterone levels: A probable
contributor to group differences in health. Steroids, 57, 72-75.

Also note the japanese ex-pat communities in the Americans
USA and Brazil and their behaviour.
In Brazil, there are 1.5 million Orientals, mostly Japanese whose ancestors went there as laborers in the 19th century, and who are the least represented in crime.

jackiebaron · 14-03-2011 08:50PM

Latchy wrote: »

You better belive there was .. ..it just isin't mentioned as much in the bigger picture of the blitz but spivs were around after every bombing ( sometime even during if the takings were good ) knowing they had the excuse of looking to help trapped people .

Oh I'm well aware that the spivs preyed upon housewives whose husbands were at the front but these petty gangsters generally operated within a network of corruption. The biggest problem facing the populace during this time (apart from trying to avoid being blown to smithereens) was food...so a bit of black market coffee/chocolate/corned beef was pretty much top of the agenda. I just can't see kids raiding shops and making of with radios and fur coats.

dr strangelove · 14-03-2011 08:51PM

Was watching a hideous report on Sky News this morning about the aftermath of the tsunami, and the female reporter (Anna Botting i think) was visiting what had been a car show-room.
She pointed out that some of the cars still had water in them (shocker) and then she mentioned that there were groups of people hanging around, and, wait, some of them had petrol cans,
"well," she said, "they're probably after the petrol from the cars, none of the garages will be working"

would that be looting? no?

tampopo · 14-03-2011 08:53PM

faw1tytowers wrote: »

the police and military are hard core.. you dont mess around in Japan or u disappear...

yeah, conviction rate is up around 90% or so...

Why is there no looting in Japan?

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