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ALC Newsletter No. 080 3/26/08
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By the International Marketing Team at ALC Press http://www.alc.co.jp/international
Contents:
1) The "Dear Readers" Column: Messages from the International
Marketing Team at ALC Press
2) Topics in Japan #31: Will "men-only train cars" be adopted?
3) Quiz on Japan #19: "What do members of the audience throw at sumo wrestlers?"
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Dear Readers,
Greetings from Tokyo!
The cherry blossoms in Tokyo started to bloom this weekend and will be in full bloom in a few days. The best season to visit Japan has started. We hope that you will be able to visit Japan in spring if you have a chance.
Best wishes from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press.
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Topics in Japan #31: Will "men-only train cars" be adopted?
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The latest movie by Masayuki Suo ─ the Japanese movie director who directed the original version of "Shall We Dance?" ─ is "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai (I Just Didn't Do It)." Released in January 2007, the movie looked at false charges of molesting on trains ─ a theme very different from that of "Shall We Dance?" The movie is based on the true story of a 20-something guy, who was falsely charged with having molested a junior high school girl on a jam-packed train.
He fought a long time for his honor in court, and was finally found not guilty.
Some people may wonder what "molesting on trains" means in the first place. Unfortunately, there are people who touch women's bodies on jam-packed trains, and it's been a long-time social problem.
Some railway companies responded to female passengers' requests and introduced "women-only cars" a few years ago. Of course this is not the fundamental solution to prevent such crimes, but it can provide a temporary sanctuary for women. The police and station staff have also tightened their monitoring of such crimes.
On the other hand, false charges of molesting is now becoming a social problem. If a woman points at some guy and claims that he's molested her, the police as well as other passengers are likely to believe the woman and think that the man actually molested her, even if he didn't. In fact, a 58-year-old man suffered a false charge of molesting last month. It turned out that a 20-year-old college student and his girlfriend accused an innocent man of the crime to try to get compensation money from him. If their attempt hadn't failed, the man probably would have been fired from this job and lost his social status for doing nothing.
Against such a background, railway companies are now getting more and more requests from men to introduce "men-only cars."
While women are afraid of being molested, now men are afraid of being falsely charged with molesting ─ just because of a few despicable criminals, all the other passengers are being forced to suffer. Will the "men-only cars" really be adopted in the near future? So far, no one has figured out a fundamental solution to molesting and its related problems.
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Quiz on Japan #19: "What do members of the audience throw at sumo wrestlers?"
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How much do you know about Japan? We'll give you a quiz in each issue, so try to find the right answer!
［Answer to last week's quiz］
Last week's quiz question was "What is true about taxis in Japan?"
The answer is (c) You're supposed to allow the back door to open automatically before getting out. So, don't try to open it by yourself!
Just pay the fare to the taxi driver and wait for the door to open for you.
Quiz for this week: The spring sumo tournament in Osaka has just ended. Sometimes, the audience throw something at sumo wrestlers after a bout. This act can be an expression of both the audience's anger or praise for the bout, although it's not officially allowed since it can be quite dangerous. What do the audience throw?
(a) Money
(b) "Mochi" (rice cakes)
(c) Cushions
(d) Tofu
Check out the correct answer in the next issue!
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Thank you for reading!
*Back issues of the ALC Newsletter are available at:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter.html
*If you wish to be removed from this newsletter or change the e-mail address to which it is sent, please let us know by e-mailing us at:
intl-mag@alc.co.jp
Publisher: ALC Press, Inc.
2-54-12 Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8611 Japan
Writers: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press / Ayako Ishimoto
Editor: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press
Copyright (c) 2008 ALC Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
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