Defense in Japan

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joe6486

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I'll be traveling to Japan in late March (yep, I get to see the Sox games!) and am wondering about appropriate and fully legal defensive options. I know Japan is extremely safe in general, but then again so is my suburb.

I'm trained in firearms and folding knife defense, and while the former is obviously out of the question, I haven't been able to find definitive information about Japanese folding knife laws, or pepper spray for that matter. I usually carry a Spiderco locking folder, which I'd love to continue doing, but I don't want to do anything remotely illegal there.

Does anyone have more definitive information, or advice on alternatives?

I suppose a surefire light would be OK, and/or possibly a leatherman tool. But in certain places I've read that knives should not be "easily accessible", which sort of defeats the point.
 
A surefire will be fine for sure. I don't think a small knife is a problem, but IANAL or Japanese so IDK.
 
Not to say that it's totally safe, but I think the worst neighborhood in Tokyo is probably about as safe as the best neighborhood anywhere in the US, based on reported crime rates. I think the average assault rate is about 1% of that in the US.
 
joe6486 said:
I'll be traveling to Japan in late March (yep, I get to see the Sox games!) and am wondering about appropriate and fully legal defensive options. I know Japan is extremely safe in general, but then again so is my suburb.

I'm trained in firearms and folding knife defense, and while the former is obviously out of the question, I haven't been able to find definitive information about Japanese folding knife laws, or pepper spray for that matter. I usually carry a Spiderco locking folder, which I'd love to continue doing, but I don't want to do anything remotely illegal there.

Does anyone have more definitive information, or advice on alternatives?

I suppose a surefire light would be OK, and/or possibly a leatherman tool. But in certain places I've read that knives should not be "easily accessible", which sort of defeats the point.
Click to expand...

Try bladeforums.com if you haven't already.

I had an weird encounter on a train out of Roppongi one night. I was standing up and a drunk guy starts talking shit at me and start trying to put his sunglasses on me. (Very strange). I pushed him away from me and he stumbled down into a seat and started yelling at me. I got looks from the people around me that I had actually done something wrong, even though he was clearly harassing me and almost put my eye out with the glasses. He was harmless, but I got tired of his bullshit. I bailed out at the next stop and waited for the next train.

To be safe, assume you can't legally carry either pepper spray or a folder. The laws are complex and are different for gaijin and citizens. Best to practice up on your run-fu. It's going to be real hard and very expensive to find a lawyer sympathetic to the plight of the round eye if you ever get into a jam. Especially if you have a weapon.
 
According to wikipedia (not necessarily accurate but better than nothing as a starting point):

Japan

With the exception of any type of switchblade, any knife with an overall length of 15 cm (about 5.9 in), with a blade length of no more than 6 cm, is legal to carry. Knives must be concealed and should not be easily available. The Japanese Guns and Knives Control Law forbids knives being used as defensive weapons, but is relatively tolerant toward knives which can be opened using a single hand. For example, any type of butterfly knife is legal.

With the exception of Japanese Katana, any other swords are regarded as offensive weapons. However, if they have artistic value, possession is legal as long as the sword is registered.

Violations of the law come with a sentence of up to one year in prison and a fine of ¥300,000 or about U.S. $2,600 or about U.K. £1,300.
 
Slim said:
Try bladeforums.com if you haven't already.

I had an weird encounter on a train out of Roppongi one night. I was standing up and a drunk guy starts talking shit at me and start trying to put his sunglasses on me. (Very strange). I pushed him away from me and he stumbled down into a seat and started yelling at me. I got looks from the people around me that I had actually done something wrong, even though he was clearly harassing me and almost put my eye out with the glasses. He was harmless, but I got tired of his bullshit. I bailed out at the next stop and waited for the next train.
Click to expand...


I had a couple of similar encounters as well, there are a *lot* of drunk guys on the trains in the evenings. One guy was trying to be overly friendly when I was holding my two year old daughter on the train. The other time was a loud belligerent drunk yelling abusive sounding stuff at a bus stop.

I think there is so much public drunkeness in Tokyo that is tolerated, but you don't tend to get the kind of violent behavior that you see in the US.


But I still feel like it is an order of magnitude more dangerous to walk down the sidewalk in Cambridge or Boston any hour of the day.
 
I couldnt believe the amount of public drunkeness after the suits get out of work and hit the karaoke bars. The drunks were usually too sloshed or busy oggling girls to bother anyone.

I guess if you were were really concerned about pushy drunks, improvize and buy a glossy thick magazine and carry it with you. When bored, you have something to look at and if in a real pinch, roll it up nice and tight and get it on with your SMACK-Fu aka Jason Bourne style.
 
I lived in Japan for 4 years and defensive options for foreigners is basically none in the big cities. Most of the crimes are blamed on foreigners and the gov't actually tries to put fear in the citizens with fliers telling them to watch out for the gaijin and to report any "suspicious" activities. The police actually do pull the "your papers, please" and have been known to harass non-japanese at night. You will be extremely screwed if you do end up hurting a Japanese citizen, even in self-defense because believe it or not you will be blamed for starting whatever caused the incident. Also Japanese law permits police interrogations to last 21 days without a lawyer present, bad interpretation & hollow promises for a confession. Tactics include sleep deprivation, physicality and giving minimal food and water. The 21 days can be extended by a judge also, and with violence against a citizen you can guarantee that you won't be going anywhere. Any confession "signed" (strong armed/coerced is a better term) is ironclad in court...and the Japanese courts have a 100% foreigner conviction rate, even with cases with innocent people are documented. Your best defense is to ignore the drunks the best to your ability or just walk away if you just can't take it. Japanese prisons are extremely brutal and medieval believe it or not.
 
I got the best possible solution......DON"T GO TO JAPAN,if it's business no choice but that's what video conference is for. Small rant here,as much as I would like to "see the world" as an American,I can't see why I should. Most of the world hates "us" except when they have their had out for aid etc. As far as I'm concerned they can all starve cause they ain't getting my tourist dollars any time soon.
 
highlander said:
I got the best possible solution......DON"T GO TO JAPAN,if it's business no choice but that's what video conference is for. Small rant here,as much as I would like to "see the world" as an American,I can't see why I should. Most of the world hates "us" except when they have their had out for aid etc. As far as I'm concerned they can all starve cause they ain't getting my tourist dollars any time soon.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's that bad, in fact Japanese tourists coming to America probably have about a much greater chance of getting harassed or assaulted.

The Japanese justice system is pretty amazing, with their 99.5% conviction rate or whatever it is. If you have ever wondered what would happen if we let the police get tough on crime, Japan is a good proof of concept. I personally would not like to give up all my civil rights like they do, but the criminals there are sent to jail quickly and without all the endless appeals and probation and other crap we have here.

On the other hand, their organized crime is big business, and is tolerated by the police so long as they keep things running quietly and don't make waves. For example, all of the Pachinko parlors are technically for amusement only, but it is a huge gambling industry run by the Japanese mob (with cooperation with the North Koreans, bizarrely).
 
highlander said:
I got the best possible solution......DON"T GO TO JAPAN,if it's business no choice but that's what video conference is for. Small rant here,as much as I would like to "see the world" as an American,I can't see why I should. Most of the world hates "us" except when they have their had out for aid etc. As far as I'm concerned they can all starve cause they ain't getting my tourist dollars any time soon.
Click to expand...

You're way off base. The Japanese (and many others) love Americans, and are friendly, respectful, and welcoming. You don't have a clue what you're talking about.
 
Aren't they generally small people anyway? Why not just step on them?!

Seriously though, read the post I linked on the first page, it has some great information.
 
It's kind of sad to see people who have never traveled beyond New England professing about how bad it is "over there."
I travel the globe for my job and have had the pleasure of seeing much of this planet and meeting people from all over the world. It is the ONLY thing that can open your eyes to the way things really are. When I speak with foreigners about the US, they think you can not go out on the streets at night in ANY American city without getting gunned down by roving gangs. Just like people here think that if they visit Israel, they will get hit by bomb shrapnel. They only know what the Communist News Network (CNN) tells and shows them. I’ve ridden the buses between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and would not hesitate to do it again.
When people ask what my favorite city is, I usually say Tokyo. It is a fscinating place to visit.
 
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highlander said:
I got the best possible solution......DON"T GO TO JAPAN,if it's business no choice but that's what video conference is for. Small rant here,as much as I would like to "see the world" as an American,I can't see why I should. Most of the world hates "us" except when they have their had out for aid etc. As far as I'm concerned they can all starve cause they ain't getting my tourist dollars any time soon.
Click to expand...

Yay for xenophobia.

I've been through a lot of Europe and had no problems. Even the Parisians were more friendly than a lot of what I've encountered in the US.

I don't plan on visiting Egypt or Iran anytime soon though.
 
A couple weeks ago, the NY Times travel section had an article about visiting Yemen. No thanks.

I would go back to France, however. Preferably the south of France in the summer...
 
+1 for going to Japan and enjoying it.

Been there several times and the only thing that sucks is the flight.
 
Jet lag.

Jose said:
+1 for going to Japan and enjoying it.

Been there several times and the only thing that sucks is the flight.
Click to expand...

+1 to that. Melbourne and Singapore are even longer. [crying]

Now to stop the thread drift and get back to the question.
The Surefire is always a good travel companion. I don't leave home without it. You may wish to pack a small folding pocket knife in your checked bag. I use a cheap folder for this purpose incase it needs to be left behind. It always comes in handy however your chances of seeing any crime especially violent crime on your trip to Japan.
The Japanese are and extremely respectful, helpful, and generally honest people.

Enjoy.
 
I was attached to a VF squadron on board the USS Midway, which was ported in Yokosuka. When we were back in port the squadron would go up to Atsugi and we also spent time down in Okinawa. I can honestly say that the people of Japan were very friendly towards us and I traveled all over their country. I've even slept many a nights in the Tokyo subway systems with the other drunks waiting for the trains to start back up and I never felt any fear for my life. Would never do that in NYC unless I had a death wish. My impression of Japan was very positive.

Then again, I didn't run afoul of the mafia over there. I can't say the same for a buddy of mine who dated a daughter of a very powerful man. That's a WHOLE other story.
 
PaulD said:
Even the Parisians were more friendly than a lot of what I've encountered in the US.
Click to expand...

I experienced just the opposite each of the three times I visited France. The French Parisians were snobbish and looked upon their tourist lifeblood with contempt.

Foreign born people working in Paris, however, were very nice. The French on the Mediterranean were also quite welcoming.
 
Kimber said:
I experienced just the opposite each of the three times I visited France. The French Parisians were snobbish and looked upon their tourist lifeblood with contempt.

Foreign born people working in Paris, however, were very nice. The French on the Mediterranean were also quite welcoming.
Click to expand...

I didn't say the Parisians were offering to give me a tour of the city gratis but compared to a typical big American city, they weren't really that bad. The people in the south of France were great.
 
M1911 said:
Oh, do tell.
Click to expand...

My buddy started dating a very attractive and nice japannese girl he met in Tokyo. Very quickly into the relationship the girl said that her father wanted to meet him. Figuring this was standard custom in Japan my friend went to her parents house. He indicated that they had a very nice dinner and the mother and father were very nice to him. After dinner the father asked my friend to join him in his study. Once they got to the study, the father asked him if he really liked his daughter and if his intentions were honorable. My friend of course said yes and he told me that the father just stared at him for a minute or two. The father then got up and picked up a VCR tape that was sitting on his desk and handed it to my friend. He told my friend to watch it when he got home and that to come back the next day and let him know if he loved his daughter and that his intentions were honorable.

Once back my buddy watched the tape and ran out into the hallway in our barracks right after. He told me and a few other guys who were in the common area that he needed us to see this video. He looked rather pale. At this point we knew nothing about what had transpired with his dinner. The tape was from a hand held video camera. There were a few guys in some kind of truck or van watching a stairwell from a train station. After a while this lady came down and started walking down the street. The guys in the van started following her. As they came abreast of her one of the guys jumped out and pulled her into the van. Of couse she's flipping out, but they tie her up and the camera goes blank. When it turns back on they are in a warehouse of some kind and the lady is tied down to a metal framed bed. The guys start raping her at that point. At first us guys though it was some kind of kinky porno tape or something, but the lady on the bed was really freaking out. Once they were done with raping her you hear some kind of small motor fire up in the background and the lady goes absolutely out of her mind. She's trying to free herself something aweful as this guy with a chainsaw comes into view of the camera. Before any of us guys can say a word, the guy on the video with the chainsaw starts cutting one of the ladies arms off. I know some of you are thinking this is BS and that it must of been fake, but I've seen my fair share of horror movies and never once did I see anything like that. I couldn't watch anymore. I almost lost my lunch. Me and a few other left right away. The few who watch the whole thing said that after the arm, the guy cut off her leg. The lady was in shock and pretty much dead at that point from loss of blood. They cut her apart piece by piece and stuffed the parts into a barrel.

The next day my friend went back to the fathers house and gave him the tape back. He also promptly and respectfully broke up with his daughter.
 
PaulD said:
I didn't say the Parisians were offering to give me a tour of the city gratis but compared to a typical big American city, they weren't really that bad. The people in the south of France were great.
Click to expand...

On my trips to France, I've found the Parisians almost comically rude. It actually made me laugh on a few occasions. Outside of Paris though, in central and southern France the people couldn't be nicer.

In Japan I found the people annoyingly over polite.
 
I married a woman from Sapporo and she made me want to kill myself shortly after moving back to the US of A. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Japan (Tokyo is my favorite city in the world) and eating the food helped me lose the 40+ pounds that I gained in Germany married to a country German woman. Of all of the suggestions here I would go with the surefire light as a defensive tool. I would hate to have to explain why I stabbed someone. There are police boxes every few blocks in the cities and they would give the argument that there is no need for self-defense, or they would make the scenerio out to you taking the law into your own hands. FYI all non-Japanese are fingerprinted upon arrival into Japan for the reason of foreign crime and terrorism. If you absolutely need to have a knife I would recommend you buy one there. That way if you do have to use it then you can say you bought a knife as a souviner to bring back...not bringing a "weapon" into the country for the purpose of defense (violence).
 

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