Japan’s plan to beat public transport sex attacks? A grinning otter

HONG KONG — An otter in handcuffs as he attempts to look up a schoolgirl’s skirt has been selected as the winning entry in an annual competition to create a badge designed to deter “chikan” perverts – the gropers who plague Japan’s public transport system.

But while the message behind the campaign by the General Molester Prevention Activity Centre is undoubtedly a serious one, the use of a cuddly, grinning otter has raised some eyebrows.

“Using a cute-looking river otter as a symbol of chikan just doesn’t make the point effectively,” said one poster on the JapanToday website.

Another added, “Making ‘characters’ the focal point of the campaign softens the image of a very real problem! Get hard, focus on it from the standpoint that it’s a crime, let these perverts know they could go to jail.

“Stop the pussy-footing around these issues and get serious!”

The winning image, with a prize of 50,000 yen (S$619.85), was by a male high school student in Miyazaki Prefecture, who told the organisers he hoped the image would “help people to not be molested and injured”.

As well as the image of the otter, it carries the messages “Groping is a crime” and “We won’t put up with this in silence.”

Mr Akika Saito, who acted as an adviser in the competition, has been involved in the treatment of more than 2,000 sex offenders, around 800 of whom targeted schoolgirls in uniform for their assaults.

“It was not simply because they like uniforms, it’s because the symbol of a uniform is of obedience,” he said in a post on the competition’s web page.

Mr Saito’s research also suggested that sex offenders consciously shied away from women wearing badges indicating that they were ready to stand up to anyone who attempted to touch them.

There are more than 2,500 arrests in Japan every year for molestation, with campaigns by police, transport companies and citizens’ groups failing to stamp out the problem.

Groping is not solely a Japanese issue, but there is a growing sense here that women should no longer endure being touched while on a train or bus, with more people saying they should overcome their reluctance to “cause a scene” and to publicly identify and shame their assailants.

“Why the hell would you let yourself be groped multiple times and not say anything?” asked a poster on the JapanToday site. “If a guy puts his hands on you, start screaming. There are dozens of witnesses around you. Not saying something during the crime only encourages the chikan doing it.”

Others said using a cute animal character to front the campaign was “infantile” and detracted from a serious problem.

Another message suggested the “lighthearted and jovial” campaign was not in keeping with a “demented, creepy and far too common scenario in Japan”.

Another joked: “Well at least I now know to beware of otters on public transport.”

The competition attracted 581 designs from 126 schools around the country.

Other entries shortlisted included an angry-looking schoolgirl declaring “Groping is wrong” and a camera lens to suggest that chikan were being watched.

Some of the best badges will be sold on the organisation’s website with each costing around 550 yen. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST