My downstairs neighbor’s wife came today asking if I was doing construction work because there was too much noise.
At the time I told her I was not doing any work.
I was cleaning my balcony scrapping the floor with a brush. I thought it was okay since it was 1 pm on a Sunday
At the time we were talking didn’t clicked, and didn’t mentioned I was cleaning my house.
So I went outside again to explain, and saw not my neighbors wife but instead I saw him standing in the stairs, I asked if I was making to much noise and apologized.
He didn’t say a word and asked me “you live here?” I said yes and he opened the door and went inside my apartment.
At the time my wife was taking a shower, I I stood there for a few seconds trying to process what was happening. But I rushed inside and stopped him.
I just stopped him so he couldn’t go inside any further until he stepped outside. He got mad and told me not to clean and if I do clean clean but without making noise.
I though of beating him and dragging him outside, but I couldn’t since I know that here in Japan even in self defense japanese officers usually don’t listen to foreigners and was afraid of getting in trouble.
I really want to call the police and have my wife testify and get charges pressed against him, but I don’t know if it’s now too late.
In japan Is it possible to beat someone’s ass for trespassing and not get arrested?
Edit: grammar.
Just to make things clear, I did told him to step tfo of my property,
22 comments
So you had the ability the process Japanese self defense laws in a split second but you weren’t able to spit out a “hey, don’t go in my place”?
This reads like hindsight fanfic. Unless your wife showers with the doors open, I don’t see how that even matters. The guy’s an ass – what more is there to say? But, I doubt you have much of a case to press charges unless he didn’t leave when you told him to.
Is this one of these chatGPT things I keep reading about? It ticks a lot of the boxes.
“he opened the door and went inside my apartment. ”
been living here for more than 15 years, and i can hardly believe something like this could happen in japan
A neighbor simply walking into someone’s home is fairly common here, especially in smaller cities and towns. One evening an elderly neighbor from next door simply opened the front door and walked in looking for my husband. Our startled dog ran over and attacked her. We’ve had several similar incidents like that where people opened the door unannounced and let the dogs out onto the street. We ended up putting a locked gate between the carport and the entrance to the garden to stop people from coming up to the door unannounced.
Watch out for salary man on mamachari while going to the police station.
Trespassing is absolutely a crime, yes.
It may be a good idea to go to the Koban with your wife to explain that your neighbour broke into your home without permission accusing you of making noises you didn’t make.
Just in case things escalate from here.
Are you sure he said “do you live here?” and not “can I go in?”?
Japanese self-defense laws seem to be so confusing to Americans. just because you’re not allowed to shoot on sight anyone that gets near your house doesn’t mean you need to allow any stranger to just walk straight into your house. for example you could’ve grabbed him and pulled him back out. or just do what police here like to do and get in front of him and walk forwards. if he starts pushing you that’s when you can push back. no need to beat him up, but grabbing him and forcing him outside would be well within your rights. there’s a millions ways you can get “physical” without actually beating someone up (which of course would be illegal).
ChatGPT makes a better job of keeping the story straight; this feels like a r/thathappened tale.
Why was your door unlocked?
Hmmm, for many J-People the Genkan is not really private, it is a kind of limbo, not really in but also not really out of your House.
In the Inaka it is very common that you go inside of the Genkan and ask for permission to come into the real House.
You should demand a deep bow and let the Wife clean your House as a sign of goodwill!
He’s a dickhead. Unfortunately, you need to start locking your doors.
This is one of the worst “things that happened” I’ve ever read
Damn, OP posted a situation that is horrifying and is asking for some info and advice and this sub is like, “ThAt WoUlD nEvEr HaPpEn In My JaPaN!!! YoU’rE tHe PrObLeM!!!!!”
OP, sorry that happened to you. Regretting what you should’ve/could’ve done can eat a person alive, so try not to bottle it up. Go to your Koban and ask for some advice on how to deal with a neighbor like that. At least then you’ll have it on record that you have issues with that person. If the neighbor ever does anything crazy wild, you’ll at least be able to defend yourself legally to the police.
Now, I am in no way condoning or promoting violence. I am simply passing on 3 accounts of real things I know to be true.
1) a creeper panty theif climbed to the second story and entered my friends bedroom (Gaijin, US Military actually) during the night while his wife Japanese ) and he slept. He damn near put the creeper into a coma. Creeper arrested, friend: not even a hint of being charged with a crime.
2) an Japanese woman coworker had her door forcibly pushed in by creeper that had very bad intentions . He was a stalker and knew where she lived and that she lived alone. What creeper didn’t know is her very large (also Japanese) BJJ instructor Boyfriend was staying the night. Things ended painfully for creeper, Boyfriend not charged with a crime.
3) a female friend that I served with and lives close by my place had some drunk old Japanese dude who very clearly hates anything American ( I know this person, he is a local pain in the ass, and always drunk. The locals dislike him as much as the gajin crowd does too. He was pissed off about something random my friend was doing ( I think she was washing her car in her driveway) , and he charged he while ranting. Now, usually that’s all it is. A bit of ranting and he loses interest. My friend does not speak Japanese well and this apparently mad him lose his shit even more. To the point that he tried to follow her into her home, even grabbing her arm hard enough to leave a bruise. I guess he got brave her being a usually quit spoke and gentle woman. She actually put him on his face and melt on him until the cops came. Angry old drunk asshole: charged, the woman: not charged.
Take what you will from these. There is no law that says you are not allowed to defend yourself. It just has to be when all other reasonable choices have been taken away.
Make sure your door is locked at all times and call the cops to report it. They may not charge him but it starts a paper trail of behavior. My hope is that they do charge him with trespassing
Did you report it to the police?
You’re far nicer then I would have been….also I don’t really understand your wife’s hesitation to report him. He was trespassing, as a woman who’s often alone with a child (and a cat) in the house I would have zero understanding, tolerance for what he did and absolutely no compassion for the consequences any strange guy suffers from barging into my home. It’s not only disrespectful, if this happened without my husband being there I would find it very threatening too. Part of me also wonders if the creep heard the water running and guessed your wife was showering.
You should file a report at the Koban to start a paper trail on this person for entering your home without permission, because they are going to be trouble.
Definitely deserves a good beating.
“I though of beating him and dragging him outside, but I couldn’t since I know that here in Japan even in self defense japanese officers usually don’t listen to foreigners and was afraid of getting in trouble.”
If your first thought is of beating him, you’re going to have fun here.
Ridiculous. Call the cops? Sure. Beating him? You’re a bit much.
I live out in the sticks, and we started locking our doors to keep the old people from walking in the front door.
To be fair, though, they just stood in the *genkan* and called politely.
I guess some of them still haven’t figured out doorbells.