Being punched while walking

21 comments

1. sumimase

2. I never understand the point of these posts lol. I guess if it’s just to vent that makes some sense… I’m sorry this happened to you, but in what world is anyone going to be like “Oh yeah, random assault is absolutely normal for the safest country in the world.”

3. Happened to my friend in Amsterdam once.

4. Maybe he was shoving you out of the way? I got football tackled when I was on the train during rush hour and the dude used his elbow lol. I wasn’t mad because I understand but if the street wasn’t crowded then maybe he is just mentally unwell?

5. Did he say “tag, you’re it”?

6. Sort of happened to me as well in Tokyo. I was standing in a very large open area outside of a station, looking at my phone and not near anyone or blocking any walkway whatsoever. This dude in a suit comes up from behind me and elbow punches in the side area me so hard he knocks my phone out of my hand. (As a woman) I was completely taken aback as there was no one else around me and the walking area was completely free of obstacles. Dude literally saw me and decided he was going to change his route to purposely try and knock me over. He didn’t turn around or apologize whatsover. I proceed to check my pockets, ect to see if he tried stealing anything, but nothing was out of the sorts.I am lucky though this been my only negative experience so far in my handful of times traveling to Japan. Took me probably an hour to shrug it off, but if I was at home and not on vacation it probably would have upset me quite a bit.

7. Any big city has crazies. Make an effort to be aware for the more visible ones.

8. It’s not pervasive by any measure but unfortunately it is a thing (hardly unique to Japan though). Deranged people (again hardly unique to Japan or an emerging trend) get off on deliberately encroaching on other people’s personal space to the point of outright battery. These losers count on their targets not retaliating because it won’t necessarily turn out well for the victim (i.e., targeting women)

   https://old.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/x5jyg9/people_aggressively_pushing_past_you_silently/

   https://old.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/12c6sfr/increase_of_aggressive_people_around/

9. Sometimes is a red herring for pickpockets to bump into to you so you check your wallet thinking you know better but it’s really a ploy to see where your wallet is. Common when I used to go to Mexico but don’t know how common it is in Japan

10. It is actually a thing in Japan. ぶつかり男 or ぶつかりや “Bumping Men” “Bumpers” are guys who purposely bump or ram into people (mostly women). Sorry it happened to you!

11. Maybe this person, has incredible anxiety. I find that when I am experiencing extreme anxiety, I tense up all of my muscles and ball my fists. I don’t think this person meant to punch you. Maybe they did! Did you have anything stolen from you? Are you missing anything? Essentially, if you want to steal something from someone, you have to touch them. The human mind notices hard feelings over soft ones, this tactic is used for pinching pockets or cutting open bags.

12. Why didn’t you punch back? If it’s intentional I would return the favor.

13. I’m really sorry that happened to you. As others have mentioned, it is a thing (in so much as a word, ぶつかりや, exists to describe it).

    To answer your question though, I think you were unlucky to have run into this, and I would defnitelely not describe it as common. Having lived in Japan for better part of a decade, I’ve never encountered this, nor have I ever heard anyone I know describe having encountered it.

    I do think it’s one of those cases of an unlucky interaction with a person with serious issues, that could happen anywhere in the world. But I think on the whole it happens far less in Japan than in most countries.

    Sorry again that you had to experience that 🙁

14. I was in Japan this past December, and something like this happened to me. I was walking to the Tokyo train station and the sidewalk had the yellow line down the middle of it. I was walking in front of my family closer to the line. I see a guy walking by himself towards me on the other side of line. When he gets closer to me. He crosses the line with his shoulder and checks me. I twisted my upper body and I pushed his shoulder back. When I turned back to look at him. I was hoping to give me a bow. He adjusted his coat, moved away from the line and never turned around. I don’t think he was a drunk business man. The reason he stuck out to me was that he was well dressed. I was digging his fit.

15. What would happen if you slap him?

16. Oh my god, this happened to me when I visited Japan, and I always thought that the hurt from the bump felt like a little, hard punch, but coped with it by telling myself, never would Japanese ever.

    As a Chinese-American tourist, I was treated so well there, that I still am somewhat in denial that it could have been intentional.

17. Something similar happened to me walking in Tokyo. I felt like I was hit by a truck on my right shoulder and the guy kept walking away without stopping.

18. Yeah. I got “bumped” on a subway train that was not crowded at all. Was clearly intentional and likely directed at me because I was a tourist.

    Japan has a very bad problem with woman being groped and assaulted on crowded trains. And there are people who just want to violate societal norms like your personal space or hit you because they get a sick little thrill out of it.

19. Johnny Somali , is that you?

20. Happened to my wife while we were walking in Kyoto. She said it was a hard intentional punch, not even a shove. I almost chased down the guy

21. Happened to me but I screamed (in Spanish lol) and scared him away before he bumped into me.