RResidents in Japan

Weird interaction at the train station

Was walking along the platform when a middle-aged Japanese man waiting for a train notices me and waves me over. He pulls out his phone and shows me a Google translate page asking for some spare change. Didn’t look particularly hobo-ish or anything. Didn’t say a word at any point. Does this guy only beg for spare change from foreigners? What’s the angle here?

12 comments

  2. Yeah a friend of mine came to Tokyo as a tourist and was approached in the train also. The Japanese person asked if my friend had any ¥500 coins, and when she said no he demanded her to show what coins she had and proceeded to take all of them.

    My friend was caught off guard and she was under the impression that Japan is a very safe country so she was more welcoming and let her guard down. But scammers are everywhere, of course, in Japan too.

  3. Saw a similar guy once, his appeal might have had a little more gravity if his phone wasn’t nicer than mine….

  4. They have smart phones now, used to be poorly handwritten note, blessing you for getting them back to their somewhat distant station.

    Technology eh 😄.

  5. Some guy in Korea did that to me.. said he was Japanese and lost his wallet. Had this long thing in English. I almost gave him money but my wife stopped me.

  6. It’s exactly what it says on the tin.

    Handle it exactly the same way that you would in your country of origin.

    One question to ask though, is how did he get on the platform without a ticket?

  7. >Does this guy only beg for spare change from foreigners?

    No but foreigners are a lot more likely to respond rather than ignoring him.

    >What’s the angle here?

    To acquire currency to purchase goods and services without actually working for it.

  9. Yeah that’s happened to me too.

    It’s not so common but it does happen from time to time.

  10. If it happens to someone here, *please* him the translation is wrong. We might be able to do “Hovercraft Full of Eels”…

  11. Yea happened to me a few times, 1st time just told him I don’t carry any cash with me, second time just ignored him and kept walking.

  12. Ages ago in Osaka, when I was very much scraping by after being homeless for a while, an old guy stopped me and motioned “hungry.. Hungry.. Money..” with a hand out. Even though I thought “I should be asking you for money dude” I opened my wallet and pulled out some coins. He said “no no.. Paper money”.
    I laughed, closed my wallet and kept walking.

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