No stranger to living in Japan having been here for the majority of my life. Having said that this was the first time I have ever met such spiteful and belligerent old people which some people talk about on this sub.
I had booked a local community centre for a Sunday lunchtime with the intention of throwing my son and his friends a party to celebrate a few birthdays and to catch up with people after COVID. In total I invited 20 children and 34 adults with the booking made 4 weeks in advance as per the community centre rules.
The day before the party I called up most people to confirm their attendance and also confirmed with the the venue. The call with the venue caretaker was brief and he told me how to collect the key and the rules on how to clean the room after we finish.
I show up at 9am with a van loaded with food and drink let my self in and turn on the electricity. To my surprise I find the main hall already set up for a event with desks and seats lined up in front of a TV. Furthermore in the lobby was cartons of drinks and food. I quickly call the caretaker to confirm that there wasn’t a double booking. The caretaker reassured me that I had correctly booked the community centre and I was free to move any items that must of been forgotten by the last group who used the hall.
I am hard at work for an hour and a half setting everything up. I recruited a few other dad’s to help and between three of us we had the place ready to go for an 11am start. The place looks great, food all laid out and cool drinks in the fridges. Come 11 am and our group arrives en mass. The place is absolutely buzzing with energy.
At 11:45 two older gentleman dressed in lawn golf attire supporting lawn golf clubs barge through the swathes of children and adults directly into the kitchen area where I and another dad are frantically serving up hot dogs to ravenous 5 year olds. Without saying anything one old man reaches for the circuit breakers and shuts off all the electric in one fell swoop. I immediately shout out to the gentleman explain what they are doing.
The two old guys are furiously shouting at me, demanding that I tell everyone to leave. Taken aback a little I look for some backup and grab other hotdog wielding dad. Two two of us standing between the circuit breakers and the old guys, barbeque tongs in hand started to try and explain that we had booked the hall and confirmed it with the caretaker. After another barrage of incoherent shouting form the men we asked them to step outside away from the kids.
The four of us marched through the packed room to the lobby were we saw a whole throng of lawn golf clad grey hairs all ready for a rumble. There must of been a mix up with booking I thought as we stepped outside amidst the possy. Their leader, from what I deduced, demanded that we all had to leave before 12 and that they had already booked the room well in advance. I politely told them no and told them to call the caretaker to resolve the misunderstanding. This was met by jeering from the 30 odd strong mob who didn’t take my comments nicely. I gulped and took a look at the other dad, sure we were both about to be lynched from the community centre flag pole.
Heading back inside and firmly closing the door in retreat we went back to the now subdued party while the coffin dogers made some calls. Not 15 minutes pass and the police are on the scene. A patrol car, two scooters and a kei patrol car. Police clubs drawn they barge through the hall of children playing games and adults lounging about. The scene from the kitchen serving hatch looked like a modern day fresco. The leader of the grey hairs point me out to the officer who abruptly takes aim at me with his collapsible truncheon. The music stops, the party is over.
After a long chat with the popo we are all equally confused as to what’s going on. From what I gather; the old guys are part of the local gate ball league who have just finished their morning session. The leader of the group is also the secretary of the community hall. The gate ball league after a hard morning shuffling about a wet field have all come for their regular hang out at the community centre. They don’t bother to book the community centre as the leader is the secretary and no one uses it on a Sunday. They called the police claiming we were trespassing and had been threatening towards them.
Now here I am, buckets full of warm soft drinks, enough cold sausags to feed an army, everyone has gone home, even the old people. The police left after calling the caretaker and I didn’t even get an apology for anyone. I can’t even use the electricity anymore as the old guy padlocked the breakers.
Those spiteful old people. Instead of seeing a children’s party and letting us have our fun they phone the police. How hard would it of been for them to make some calls, realise there was a mix up and fuck off back to dieing.
I understand this isn’t a Japan thing or even an age thing. It’s a group mentality thing. My observations are that; there is a significantly growing population of entitled old people in Japan who expect the same respect they may of given their elders but without the humbleness the previous generation had.
End of rant.
34 comments
Karens are a global phenomenon.
I shudder to think about what happened to the poor caretaker.
Wow, that sucks hard. Sounds like you handled it better than I would have.
Maybe it’s time to start booking the hall every Sunday for the foreseeable future. Book it, turn the breaker off and padlock it, then leave. Come back when your coming ends and reset it. Not sure how much it costs though.
I vow that I will never let myself become as entitled as the mass of elderly people I encounter in Japan and my home country. Seems like the real pandemic is entitled old folks.
So sorry to hear about your experience, that suuuuucks.
>expect the same respect they may of given their elders but without the humbleness the previous generation had.
Seems to be the same with boomers in the US too. They were handed everything in life by a generation that worked hard, enjoying the wealth of their predecessors’ labor. Then squander everything they’ve been given, ruin life for future generations, pull the ladder up behind them, and act surprised and play the victim when everyone hates them.
You could be petty and just reserve the center for the next month or two of Sundays. Just sit in there twiddling your thumbs and watch Netflix or something. Not sure what else you can do. If the old people’s first response is to call the police on you in that situation, they are already lost. They’ve been that way for decades and they’ll go to the grave unchanged. You could rally the rest of the community that isn’t old and try to send them a letter. Or talk to their wives and otherwise socially/publicly shame them.
Personally I’d just book up the Sundays and fuck with them cause I’m petty. Ideally you should let it go, and if you book the venue again call the police ahead of time saying/showing you have permission and booked the place.
That’s some crazy shit. The news would be all over this, I would make this public.
Seconding what a few others have said, I would go to the local media. I have to ask, were you and the other guy who were mainly talking with the group both clearly foreigners? It’s insane to me that they just screamed at you without listening at all to your side of the story. I wonder if they would do the same to Japanese people having a kids birthday party.
I fucking knew this was gonna be about gateballers. Every single one of them are cunts. Not a single exception.
Isn’t there some minimum requirement for police to actually respond and move out to a call? They wouldn’t normally come to the location unless a crime is in progress, and when a quick call to the caretaker would confirm there was no trespassing going on, surely there would be no need for police to arrive. Since they did arrive, do you think there’s a chance that, aswell as trespassing, the caller invented some other reason to give them probable cause? If there is a record of the call, you could ask for it to be looked at so any further shenanigans by the community centre mob won’t be so easily acted on by law officers.
Sorry to hear that but, hey, at least you got a great “entitled jiji” story out of it!
When you booked the center, did you get some kind of confirmation document with a hanko on it?
I always feel safer doing something in Japan with that kind of document to show people.
Since it’s a community hall, I’m assuming it’s operated by / owned by the municipality where you live and at least partially funded through municipal taxes. In that case, you should make an official complaint to the head manager of the community centre indicating you were being harassed by the secretary of the centre although you had confirmed and paid for a reservation. Be sure to point out that it appears the secretary is improperly using a tax-funded facility and abusing his position by not following the proper protocols for the use of the centre which include making a reservation and paying a usage fee. Your next stop should be the city office where you again formally file the exact same complaint with the section responsible for overseeing community facilities. Tell them you would like the deposit you paid refunded and a formal apology from the secretary of the community centre or else you will need to escalate it further. ETA: And be sure to rent it out for the next few Sundays just to f with him.
There really needs to be more accountability in this country for police and old people
The boomers in the US carry the same sense of entitlement. You’re right that it’s a global thing and not unique to Japan. Sorry you had to put up with that.
If I were you, I would have the community center reserved every Sunday for the next 2 months.
Those kind of people exist in all countries. They reach a certain age were they believe they’re entitled to anything and everything, plus they don’t give a fuck about consequences because they know there are none for people their age. So they just go around acting like they own the place.
Can I have some cold sausages? Poor student currently with 300¥ to my name and a rumbling stomach ಥ_ಥ
Imagine ruining a party for kids just because you presumed it would be free for you and all your other old farts. That’s just sad no matter what way you look at it.
Well what can you do. They’re already the vast majority and getting older each year.
Sounds like a typical Japanese elderly association lol.
I rent community center rooms all the time and there are usually 2 types of community centers. One has several rooms and an office with a reception and some city workers. The other has one main room with a small kitchen. The single room centers tend to have random seniors show up out of the blue and leave their shit in there like they own it. I feel you man.
> I can’t even use the electricity anymore as the old guy padlocked the breakers.
Why not have the police tell the old man to unlock the breakers?
What the hell is it with gateball and a false sense of entitlement?? White, Mexican, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese, they were, as a group, total shitbags, without exception, in my experience in three different countries. What gives?
You say the police turned up and just started swinging at you with their truncheons. That sounds like the discussion had escalted. While it is not unknown, the police tend not to start swinging infront of kids and families.
If the gateballers were aggressive, you should menton that when complaining. They leader may have done this before and complaints can eventually add up
Definitely book it every sunday from now on and call the cops the second the old fucks get there.
Dude… seriously, I consider myself quite integrated and accepting of what are probably just outdated values masquerading as “Japanese culture”; but something like that would make that fucker my enemy for life. You should absolutely raise hell over this, contact his employers, media, as much people you can. That sort of BS is what cancel culture actually is good for.
How many of the parents invited to the party were PTA members at the local school? Fight karen’s with karens.
Classic case of rougai! I feel for you my friend.
Also, it seems worrying that the police withdrew their truncheons without a valid reason in front of children…
Well, this fucked me right off, and it’s not even 09:00 on a Monday morning yet 🙁
Damn their eyes! Even the false ones.
This sounds like a complaint to the mayor is in order. Not that the old coot will give a fuck. But intimidating parents and young children with a one second lobotomy by the cops is not how a civilised society is supposed to function.
If we’re sharing stories about grumpy old codgers, here is mine that happened many years back. I was walking my dog at a big park and routinely started to cross this big open field to get to the other side. That’s when a styrofoam airplane glider fell from above and almost hit my dog. Of course my dog became curious and started to sniff at the object. That’s when I heard a bunch of yelling and a mob of old guys started to come my way. Expecting an apology, I just smiled to let them know that it was fine and my dog was okay. No harm no foul. Boy was I wrong. Once they reached me they started shouting at me. Telling me to leave the area. Accusing me of letting my dog damage their little toy (my dog didn’t even touch it). I was so taken aback by the situation that I just continued on my way. I just hope I don’t turn into one of them when I get older.
Wow what a tough guy you are to destroy a children’s party. Agree with everyone else who says to NOT let this go and complain about these old wankers and go to the media. Also you have my sympathy. I have never met such a shitty demographic as when I came to Japan and met the elderly men here. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t want to interact with them at all and feel suspicious as soon as I see one approaching me and trying to talk to me. Elderly ladies are often quite nice and I have good experiences with them.
Gonna need updates on this OP
And this is why “the future” of Japan is losing to “the past” which is very silly.
Best of luck to you brother.
“Must have” “could have” “would have”
We need an update to this you must not let this shit slide.
Abruptly turned-off the breaker. What an entitled piece of shit.
Well…. First off: F#$ those assholes.Just reading this is pissing me off to no end.
*If they were going to use it, they NEED TO BOOK it like EVERYONE else does.Doesn’t matter if one of the guys is a secretary or not.*Also **if** he is a secretary PERHAPS he should CHECK to see if it’s BOOKED OR NOT???- The F#$”er apparently **can’t even do his god damn job. Perhaps** he shouldn’t have that responsibility, **HMMM???**
Seriously, this kind of shit can’t be excused and **REALLY** needs to be reported, **both** to the “manager” of the community center as well as to the town hall or the equivalent.
You also **definitely** need to be sure to tell the town hall that the bunch of Old f#%s actually had the balls to call the **Cops** on you AS WELL as having the gall to lock the breaker so you couldn’t even use the facility Which you **BOOKED AND PAID FOR**.This isn’t just a case of “Oops, we made a mistake” anymore, it’s outright **harassment** and **power harassment/abusing privilege** and it is NOT ok and may even entail legal action.
I’m totally flabbergasted that they even had the gall to call the cops on you WITHOUT even checking if you actually did book the place or not. Perhaps they are already **senile** and can’t think rationally anymore? Who in their right minds does that?
If this kind of shittery happened in my town someone would be in for a SHIT TON of hurt and excluded from the rest of the community… I swear, What in the actual hell??
*Edit: For added effect, ask to talk to the top person at the town hall, if there is a mayor or vice mayor you can get ahold of, speak to them DIRECTLY.
They will **have** to do something about it.
If you just speak to the random town hall employee they may or may not decide to just wipe it under the rug, just because they don’t want the hassle of ruffling someones feathers.