Nothing happened (nothing ever happens)
It's so weird being in such a safe place and I live somewhere where we generally never lock the front door. In the US some Karen would probably call the bomb squad or smth.
japan is relatively safe but still, if you're there for any serious amount of time and you continuously do stuff like that your stuff will get stolen like in any other country. it's still a capitalist country with all the struggle that comes with that. while most people are socialized in such a way that it'll control their behavior more than their struggling does, there's gonna eventually be someone whose conditions are so dire that they're just gonna take your stuff
Sexual assault and murder are likely much much higher than the official rates - CW SA - the case of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joji_Obara is pretty instructive, particularly the police response, and the level of forensic investigation of child death is shockingly low (less than ten percent of unexpected child deaths are even autopsied at all - that's not just no full internal (invasive) examination, but no external autopsy or post mortem CT either))
I have (unfortunately) heard of that particular case, but that statistic on autopsies is wild--do you have any recommended reading on the topic?
A colleague did an interview for a journalist for one of the big news agencies (in person so a bit of a trip from Japan) a decade ago but I can't find it, you'll get most of the relevant results in google scholar using expected search terms (Japan child death autopsy, child death review etc.)
when i was there working, i remember it blowing my mind when my coworkers and I were out would stop in at a shop and leave the windows down & doors unlocked for the truck with tools and shit in it while we all went inside to browse and get yimyums.
i remember explaining to them where i came from how theft was more routine and the english word they knew/used was "bandit" like we had lots of "bandits" running around. which isn't inaccurate, lol.
Same thing so far in Korea. And even though I'm a bit off the beaten path from down town seoul, I don't even notice any silly drunks that had a bit too good of a time.
Just lots of old folks, and a smattering of all the other age groups. With the old folks wandering around and having the time of their lives after the sun sets for like two-four hours.
Some rando definitely stole my umbrella from the front of my apartment and hasn't returned it 😑 Don't think I'm getting it back.
But still, it's nice to walk around alone at night and never worry.
Umbrellas aren't a part of the collective anti-theft culture. When it rains, it fucking dumps, and I totally get going "fuck it" and pinching an Umbrella after yesterday's rainstorm.
It wasn't raining the day it disappeared - otherwise, I would have been using it
I've taken umbrellas that haven't been mine from that same area too, but always returned them
Try leaving a camera at a bar. Or dropping your phone at a train station. Or living in Osaka for over a decade and never locking your front door
Civilization is a trip innit
of course I've heard about the bandits, they're me!
